Will my Research be Inductive or Deductive? Dr. Nancy Agens, Head, Technical Operations, Statswork
info@statswork.com In Brief Practically, in all fields of research, proof for a specific situation is not possible; only the scientist makes evidence of that situation and draws inference by Data Collection. Similarly, a hypothesis cannot be shown. Instead, it makes evidence of being right. Now what makes sense is establishing the evidence by inductive and deductive research methods with past data. I. INTRODUCTION Now, let us look at the topic whether my research will be an inductive or deductive or you can say qualitative or quantitative? Well, the answer depends on the objective of the study and the type of research you conduct. If you want to validate an existing or a known theory, then your research is deductive. However, if you're going to do analytical research or develop a new approach based on the sample data, then it is inductive. In some situation, the study may be both deductive and inductive depending upon the research problem at hand and the complexity of the problem. In this blog, I will explain to you the difference, meaning of inductive and deductive research with examples, and it’s up to you to decide whether your study comes under the inductive or deductive category. The statistical support services offered the inductive research with different types. II. INDUCTIVE RESEARCH Inductive research makes an inference from the logical facts. For instance, if your friend has good taste in food and recommends a specific recipe for Copyright © 2020 Statswork. All rights reserved
you to try, you may think that the method will be useful to eat (Burns, 2019). In other words, if there is no existing literature related to your study, and you are developing a new theory, then your research is inductive. The main limitation of the Inductive Analysis is that it can invalidate the inference and produce bias. III. INDUCTIVE RESEARCH INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING TYPES 1. Study by generalization – Here, the conclusion is based on generalization. For example, a crow cannot be white. Therefore, it becomes a generalization of a crow, probably in colour other than white. 2. Research through statistical approach – Conclusions based on the statistics (Onwuegbuzie & Daniel, 2003). Example: statistics say 80% of the crows are black, therefore if you select a random sample of crows then it results in the same conclusion that mostly the crows are black. 3. Research-based on a sample – Conclusions are made on the sample taken. Example: The crows in New Delhi are all black; therefore, the crows in other region are also black. 4. Research-based on analogous – Here, the inference is based on comparable results. Example, imagine you have other bird similar to crow; thus, one can say that all crows are probably black. 5. Research-based on Prediction – Here, we predict the inference through past samples. For example, I went to India last year and noted that all crows are black; therefore if I visit again, probably all crows are still black.
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