Inductive reasoning in the media?

Question

Could anyone please give me an example of inductive reasoning that has appeared in the media - ie on a website, on a newspaper editorial, an opinion piece, an article whatever - or even in a piece of literature?

.... a recent example would be nice but I'm not picky!

Thanks so much.

Answer 1

Gosh where do I start.  The media does it all the time.  First the difference between the two kinds or reasoning.  Deductive reasoning can be described as reasoning of the form if A then B. Deduction is in some sense the direct application of knowledge in the production of new knowledge. However, this new knowledge does not represent any new semantic information: the rule represents the knowledge as completely as the added knowledge since any time the assertions (A) are true then the conclusion B is true as well. Purely deductive learning includes methods such as caching, building macro-operators, and explanation-based learning.

In contrast to this, inductive reasoning results in the addition of semantic information. There are a great many ways in which inductive inference has been characterized but most are similar to those specified by the philosopher John Stuart Mill (1843). Basically, in this paradigm, positive instances of some phenomena that have a common trait identify that trait as indicating some larger commonality. Similarly, negative instances that differ for some trait from the positive instances are also indicative of a crucial feature. This methodology is at the center of concept acquisition programs and plays a key role in many AI systems. In general, induction is more difficult than deduction because of both the addition of new semantic information and because the inferred concept may not be the correct one. In induction, assertions do not necessarily lead to true conclusions.

How about this one on cnn.com just today?

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CHICAGO, Illinois (AP)  -- Barack Obama celebrated Father's Day by calling on black fathers, who he said are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," to become active in raising their children.

Black fathers are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," Barack Obama said Sunday.

"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday at a largely black church in his hometown.

Reminding the congregation of his firsthand experience growing up without a father, Obama said he was lucky to have loving grandparents who helped his mother. He got support, second chances and scholarships that helped him get an education. Obama's father left when he was 2.

"A lot of children don't get those chances. There is no margin for error in their lives," said Obama, an Illinois senator.

"I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle -- that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls," added Obama, whose daughters, Sasha and Malia, and his wife, Michelle, watched from the audience.

Obama's appearance at the Apostolic Church of God was his first address to a church since he ended his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ, where he had worshipped for 20 years, following inflammatory remarks there by his former longtime pastor and others.

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Obama frequently emphasized the importance of God in his life and ended the speech by asking the congregation to "Pray for me. Pray for Michelle."

Obama often speaks about the importance of parental involvement. In Washington, he sponsored legislation to get more child support money to children by offering a tax credit for fathers who pay support, more efficient collection and penalties for fathers who don't meet their obligations.

The issue adds to his family values credentials and lets voters see him delivering a stern message to black voters.

"We can't simply write these problems off to past injustices," Obama said Sunday. "Those injustices are real. There's a reason our families are in disrepair ... but we can't keep using that as an excuse."

Obama urged black parents to demand the best from themselves and their children.

He compared it to his own presidential campaign and early comments from black voters who said they liked him but didn't think a black man could ever be elected president. He said they were admitting defeat before the competition had even begun.

"That was when I wasn't black enough. Now I'm too black," he said in a joking aside.

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He said parents who proudly tell him their child gets great grades, all B's, should encourage them even more.

"All B's? Is that the highest grade?" Obama said. "It's great that you can get a B, but you can get a better grade. It's great that you've got a job, but you can get a better job."

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Note that in the quotes selected by the story writer, Obama is suggesting that all black fathers are failing their children and even abandoning them.  Obama sounds, from this article, like he is suggesting that he is some kind of rare exception to this rule.  There probably are a lot of "deadbead dads" in the "black community" but it wouldn't have hurt Obama to find some examples of the exceptions besides himself and give some praise to them in his speach.  The writer of the article doesn't put any balance in his article either by adding any quotes from other people who might have had something positive to say about fathers and about black fathers in specific terms.  In the quotes, Obama seems to be inducing that since his father left him when he was two, all or at least most black fathers have left their kids too.