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Inductive Reasoning (inductive + reasoning)
Selected AbstractsInductive reasoning in medicine: lessons from Carl Gustav Hempel's ,inductive-statistical' modelJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2003Afschin Gandjour MD PhD Abstract The purpose of this paper is to discuss both the fundamental requirements of sound scientific explanations and predictions and common fallacies that occur in explaining and predicting medical problems. To this end, the paper presents Carl Gustav Hempel's ,covering-law' model (1948 and 1962) and reviews some of the criticism of the model. The strength of Hempel's model is that it shows that inductive arguments, when applied with the requirement of maximal specificity, can serve as explanations as well as predictions. The major weakness of the ,covering-law' model, its inability to portray causal relatedness, has been addressed by philosophers such as Wesley Salmon. While few philosophers today agree with the ,covering-law' model in its original formulation, there is widespread consensus that the law has made a central contribution to describing the fundamental requirements of sound scientific explanations. Applying this model and its revisions in the medical context may help uncover potentially undetected fallacies in reasoning when explaining and predicting medical problems. [source] A CROSS-CULTURAL EXAMINATION OF THE LINK BETWEEN CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND ADOLESCENT ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2000RONALD L. SIMONS Several studies with older children have reported a positive relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and child conduct problems. This has lead some social scientists to conclude that physical discipline fosters antisocial behavior. In an attempt to avoid the methodological difficulties that have plagued past research on this issue, the present study used a proportional measure of corporal punishment, controlled for earlier behavior problems and other dimensions of parenting, and tested for interaction and curvilinear effects. The analyses were performed using a sample of Iowa families that displayed moderate use of corporal punishment and a Taiwanese sample that demonstrated more frequent and severe use of physical discipline, especially by fathers. For both samples, level of parental warmth/control (i.e., support, monitoring, and inductive reasoning) was the strongest predictor of adolescent conduct problems. There was little evidence of a relationship between corporal punishment and conduct problems for the Iowa sample. For the Taiwanese families, corporal punishment was unrelated to conduct problems when mothers were high on warmth/control, but positively associated with conduct problems when they were low on warmtwcontrol, An interaction between corporal punishment and warmth/Wcontro1 was found for Taiwanese fathers as well. For these fathers, there was also evidence of a curvilinear relationship, with the association between corporal punishment and conduct problems becoming much stronger at extreme levels of corporal punishment. Overall, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that it is when parents engage in severe forms of corporal punishment, or administer physical discipline in the absence of parental warmth and involvement, that children feel angry and unjustly treated, defy parental authority, and engage in antisocial behavior. [source] Qualitative Data Analysis for Health Services Research: Developing Taxonomy, Themes, and TheoryHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007Elizabeth H. Bradley Objective. To provide practical strategies for conducting and evaluating analyses of qualitative data applicable for health services researchers. Data Sources and Design. We draw on extant qualitative methodological literature to describe practical approaches to qualitative data analysis. Approaches to data analysis vary by discipline and analytic tradition; however, we focus on qualitative data analysis that has as a goal the generation of taxonomy, themes, and theory germane to health services research. Principle Findings. We describe an approach to qualitative data analysis that applies the principles of inductive reasoning while also employing predetermined code types to guide data analysis and interpretation. These code types (conceptual, relationship, perspective, participant characteristics, and setting codes) define a structure that is appropriate for generation of taxonomy, themes, and theory. Conceptual codes and subcodes facilitate the development of taxonomies. Relationship and perspective codes facilitate the development of themes and theory. Intersectional analyses with data coded for participant characteristics and setting codes can facilitate comparative analyses. Conclusions. Qualitative inquiry can improve the description and explanation of complex, real-world phenomena pertinent to health services research. Greater understanding of the processes of qualitative data analysis can be helpful for health services researchers as they use these methods themselves or collaborate with qualitative researchers from a wide range of disciplines. [source] Assessing mild cognitive impairment among older African AmericansINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 7 2010Alyssa A. Gamaldo Abstract Objectives To examine the frequency of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in African American older adults. The study also plans to explore the specific cognitive domains of impairment as well as whether there are differences in demographics, health, and cognitive performance between MCI and normal participants. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Independent-living sample of urban dwelling elders in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants The sample consisted of 554 subjects ranging in age from 50 to 95 (Mean,=,68.79,±,9.60). Measurements Socio-demographics and health were assessed. Several cognitive measures were administered to assess inductive reasoning, declarative memory, perceptual speed, working memory, executive functioning, language and global cognitive functioning. Results Approximately 22% of participants were considered MCI (i.e. 18% non-amnestic vs. 4% amnestic). A majority of the non-amnestic MCI participants had impairment in one cognitive domain, particularly language and executive function. Individuals classified as non-amnestic MCI were significantly older and had more years of education than normal individuals. The MCI groups were not significantly different than cognitively normal individuals on health factors. Individuals classified as MCI performed significantly worse on global cognitive measures as well as across specific cognitive domains than cognitively normal individuals. Conclusion This study demonstrates that impairment in a non-memory domain may be an early indicator of cognitive impairment, particularly among African Americans. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Solving Inductive Reasoning Problems in Mathematics: Not-so-Trivial PursuitCOGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 2 2000Lisa A. Haverty This study investigated the cognitive processes involved in inductive reasoning. Sixteen undergraduates solved quadratic function,finding problems and provided concurrent verbal protocols. Three fundamental areas of inductive activity were identified: Data Gathering, Pattern Finding, and Hypothesis Generation. These activities are evident in three different strategies that they used to successfully find functions. In all three strategies, Pattern Finding played a critical role not previously identified in the literature. In the most common strategy, called the Pursuit strategy, participants created new quantities from x and y, detected patterns in these quantities, and expressed these patterns in terms of x. These expressions were then built into full hypotheses. The processes involved in this strategy are instantiated in an ACT-based model that simulates both successful and unsuccessful performance. The protocols and the model suggest that numerical knowledge is essential to the detection of patterns and, therefore, to higher-order problem solving. [source] | ||||||||||