Copyright © 2020 Statswork. All rights reserved 1

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

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.

Will my Research be Inductive or Deductive?

Copyright © 2020 Statswork. All rights reserved 2

6. Research-based on causal inference –

Here, the conclusion is based on casual

understanding (Neuman, 2014).

Example, you know all crows are

black, if you look at some bird in a

building and you conclude that it may

be a crow.

Inductive research keeps on

updating the hypothesis of interest or the

probability every-time new inference has

been made previously.

IV. DEDUCTIVE RESEARCH

In deductive research, the inference

cannot be a false statement concerning the

past findings (Sharma, Sengupta, & Panja,

2019). That is, if a fair coin is tossed, the

outcome will be either success (head) or

failure (tail), and it cannot be inferred

partially. In other words, you conduct the

research with a known theory, develop a

research hypothesis, and test the methods

with the data collected for a valid

conclusion.

In this type of research, the

hypothesis is already framed, and we

collect evidence to support the inference.

For example, if X is equal to Y, and Z is

equal to X, then Z=Y.

Let us consider our crow example;

you concluded that all crows are black by

taking a sample often. This hypothesis is

correct in all situations. Thus, it can also

be considered as deductive research.

However, the two types of research may be

the same except for a few situations, as I

mentioned before.

V. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE

RESEARCH

The main difference between the

inductive and deductive research is that

deductive research is to test the theory

while the inductive research is to generate

the new theory from existing data.

Inductive research is qualitative and

deductive research is quantitative in

nature. However, the study could be a

combination of both inductive and

deductive. Deductive research is based on

known facts, and inductive identifies new

patterns. Inductive research lacks the

validity of the hypothesis and produces

bias, whereas deductive reasoning yields

valid and reliable inference. Inductive

research is actually carried out from

observation to ideology, whereas

deductive research is carried out from

ideology to observation. Inductive research

generalizes the results, and deductive

research provides a specific or empirical

result. Data analysis services provide the

inductive and deductive researches.

In short, inductive research is said

to be an innovation whilst the deductive

research is a discovery. Inductive proposes

a new theory, and deductive is to test the

theories with data (Vázquez-Sánchez et al.,

2019). Inductive is an experimental study

and deductive is an empirical study.

In conclusion, inductive researches

involve seeking new patterns with the

observations and make it as a theory and

deductive researches involve analysing the

data with already proven theory and test

the hypotheses of interest. Deductive

method of research yields a perfect and

valid inference than inductive research. In

addition, both inductive and deductive

research can be conducted together for

complex datasets. However, inductive

research is the most widely used Research

Methodology in practice. The key thing is

to keep in mind whether selecting the type

of research is first to understand the

purpose of the research. Identify which

method is suitable to test the hypothesis

and then draw conclusions based on the

research question.

REFERENCES

[1] Burns, S. R. (2019). Impact of Inductive and

Deductive Teaching Strategies in Art Classes.

Retrieved from

http://thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/7451

[2] Neuman, W. L. (2014). Basics of social research.

Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/download/54642680/_

Copyright © 2020 Statswork. All rights reserved 3

W._Lawrence_Neuman__Basics_of_Social_Resea

rch_QuBookSee.org.pdf

[3] Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Daniel, L. G. (2003).

Typology of analytical and interpretational errors

in quantitative and qualitative educational

research. Current Issues in Education, 6.

Retrieved from

http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/do

wnload/1609/651

[4] Sharma, S. K., Sengupta, A., & Panja, S. C. (2019).

Grounded Theory: A Method of Research Inquiry.

In Methodological Issues in Management

Research: Advances, Challenges, and the Way

Ahead. Retrieved from

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1

108/978-1-78973-973-220191012/full/html

[5] Vázquez-Sánchez, J. M., Fernández-Alcántara, M.,

García-Caro, M. P., Cabañero-Martínez, M. J.,

Martí-García, C., & Montoya-Juárez, R. (2019).

The concept of death in children aged from 9 to 11

years: Evidence through inductive and deductive

analysis of drawings. Death Studies, 43(8), 467–

477.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1480545