Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
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Abstract
Deductive and inductive reasoning are both used to complement each other in research. These methods have their pros and cons which must be considered before using them. Deductive reasoning is a dependable method since it is not flexible. Only one hypothesis is used in this approach and therefore when the hypothesis is true, the inferences will also be true. The fault of the deductive approach is that it does not allow for thoughts. On the other hand, the inductive approach is flexible and therefore it accommodates thoughts, and it can, therefore, be adjusted to them. The disadvantage of this approach is that sometimes it can be misleading due to many ideas and hypotheses that are used. It is vital for researchers to use both of these methods since both of them have merits and demerits that can be overcome when both of them are used. The deductive approach is effective in can be the best method when validating knowledge to improve practice since nursing is a scientific field.

Inductive reasoning uses the inductive method to validate knowledge. The inductive method is a process that involves making numerous observations until the researcher feels confident that the knowledge gained can be used to make generalizations as well as predictions from the observations. On the other hand, deductive reasoning employees the deductive method.

A researcher who uses the deductive method starts first with creating a hypothesis and then tries to test the accuracy of the hypothesis.
The deductive reasoning has a disadvantage in that it is not feasible in most cases. Researchers need to guess or imagine what laws could be true from the patterns that are observed from nature. It is more useful in scientific researches since it supplies scientists with hypotheses that can be tested to explain the phenomenon that is being studied. This method is not easily changed, and it is a dependable approach since it cannot lead researchers astray. This approach limits the probabilities of thought (Basford, 2003).
On the other hand, the inductive approach can mislead researchers since it is open to more probabilities. There are no restricting axioms. It is a flexible approach which is very effective in problem-solving. This method employs more than one hypothesis that is guessed to be true and therefore this makes this approach suitable for research fields.
Deductive reasoning ensures that the conclusions arrived at during a research are going to be true provided that basic hypothesis is true. Inductive reasoning allows thoughts to be challenged by arriving at pattern shifting generalizations from precise instances. With inductive reasoning, there is a likelihood of going wrong since many hypotheses are used (Grove, 2013).
Both of these methods can be employed to complement each other since they have merits and demerits. Given the advantages of the deductive method, it can be the best method when validating knowledge to improve practice since nursing is a scientific field.
References
Basford, L. &. (2003). Theory and practice of nursing: An integrated approach to patient care. Cheltenham, U.K: Nelson Thornes.
Grove, S. K. (2013). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier/Saunders.