Do now! Last class we looked at inductive reasoning and generalisations

Can you remember the generalisations we discussed?

This man was possibly a God. Who was he?

Generalisations

• French people are rude.• Water boils at 100 °C.• Most graffiti artists are

under 25 years old.• All generalisations are

dangerous.• When spelling in English

“i before e except after c”.

Generalisations

• In Spanish, if a words ends in “o” it is masculine.

• Pit Bull dogs are dangerous.

• Norwegians are good at skiing.

• IB1 students are lazy.• Metals expand when

heated.

Generalisations

• There have been no AIDS cases amongst OIS students. OIS students must be free from AIDS.

• Afro-Caribbean people are good at sports.

• Boys are better at physics than girls.

• No-one succeeds without hard work.

Inductive reasoning

What makes a good generalisation?

Inductive reasoning

What makes a good generalisation?

You’ve got 5 minutes in your groups to think of “Five rules

for making good generalisations”.

When you’ve agreed your five rules can you write them

in your books?

Inductive reasoning

What makes a good generalisation?

Let’s have a look at what the book

says!

Good generalisations

• Number

You should look at a good number of examples. If you see one dog swimming, this is not enough to decide that “all dogs can swim”

Good generalisations

• Variety

You should look at a variety of circumstances. In the example of dogs swimming, looking at different breeds of dog.

Good generalisations

• Exceptions

You should actively look for counter examples. Look for dogs that can’t swim!

Good generalisations

• Coherence

You should look for more evidence to support surprising claims! If somebody suggests that all dogs have superpowers you may demand greater proof!

Good generalisations

• Subject area

Generalisations may be more reliable in some subject areas (e.g. science) than in others (e.g. economics or other social sciences).

Can you now look again at the generalisations we

discussed.

Do the “good” generalisations pass these tests?

What is wrong exactly with the generalisations that you

thought were “bad”?

Can you now think of two “good”

generalisations and two “bad”

generalisations of your own. Write them in

your books.

That’s it.

Have a good holiday.

Can you try to fill the left hand pages of your book with your OWN examples of some of the things we

have discussed?