The Purpose of the Business School by Edward W. Miles

Author:Edward W. Miles
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030157814
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Use of Inductive Inference

Hume’s challenge of justifying inductive inference leaves us pondering: Going through life in general and conducting research in specific indicate that operating without inductive inference is unimaginable. Yet, how do we reasonably justify the use of inductive inference ? What is our basis of asserting that the future will resemble the past? What is our basis of claiming that contexts we have not investigated will resemble those which we have investigated?

Because of where they fall on a hierarchy of sciences , physics, astronomy, and chemistry often are on more solid footing in reasonably justifying inductive inference because they deal in principles that time has shown to be less variable across contexts. The prediction of lunar and solar eclipses is so reliable that we take as a given when we are told that one will occur at a stated date and time. Biological sciences are on less firm footing, but believing new contexts will resemble previous contexts is still not unreasonable in many situations. For example, in planning a knee replacement, a surgeon is usually on firm footing to believe that the mechanics of how one human’s knee operates and the physical parts involved in that process are essentially identical to how another human’s knee operates. As we move up the scientific hierarchy and more into domains that include complex systems , the degree of certainty in generalizability decreases.

Once we move into social sciences, our ability to assume that new contexts will resemble previously identified contexts becomes more and more limited. In social sciences, we often use statistics to help us describe the degree of risk that reasonable dependence on inductive inference is warranted. However, Coleman (2007, p. 124) admonishes us to remember: “Most of what we know about physics was discovered without benefit of modern statistical hypothesis testing.” That is because physics, being at the bottom of a hierarchy of sciences , has fewer causes and, at times, all causes are believed to be identified. In physics, causality can be “black-and-white,” “yes-or-no” dichotomous declarations. Further, those declarations (e.g., gravity) seem to hold across a broad array of contexts. Again, this advantage is not intended to say that physics is superior to other domains of inquiry. Indeed, some observers assert that, as a discipline of study, physics is the easiest:None of this is to say that social scientists are less capable or knowledgable about their fields than natural scientists. Their fields are much harder!…Physics is the easiest subject of all, which is why we know enormously more about it than any other science. (Carroll, 2011)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.