Deductive and Inductive Reasoning

Although often misused by people, inductive and deductive reasoning are actually quite opposite.  After the class lecture on inductive and deductive reasoning, I just realized that I, myself, had been using the terms of logic incorrectly.  Inductive reasoning is “reasoning from a specific case or cases and deriving a deriving a general rule. On the other hand, deductive reasoning “assumes that the basic law from which you are arguing is applicable in all cases.”  Overall, inductive reasoning makes conclusions and assumptions from observations in order to make generalizations about something while deductive reasoning begins with the generalizations and “deduces” specific instances.  Use of the following reasoning techniques helps one to make more educated guesses and think more effectively.