Week 9 — Inductive Generalization and Analogy

Welcome to your Week 9 Start Here page.

Why this matters

A nursing student weighing one person's story against a study of thousands and a business major reading a survey of the customers who bothered to reply both need to ask who was in the sample and how they got there, before trusting how far the result can travel.

In plain language

This week is about claims that reach from a few cases to a whole group. You will learn to ask two questions of any such claim: who was actually checked, and how did they get picked? The whole group is the population (everyone the claim is about), and the part that was checked is the sample (the people or things actually observed). You will see why a huge sample can still mislead, why one vivid story is weak evidence, and how to test an analogy (a comparison that says two things alike in some ways are alike in another). These tests help you decide how far a result can travel before you repeat it.

• Already covered: Week 3 judged inductive arguments as strong or cogent, and Weeks 6 to 8 tested words and reasons.
• This week: populations and samples, three sampling traps, the 1936 poll, the two campus surveys, hasty generalization, and analogy.
• How they connect: a generalization is an inductive argument, so strength and cogency judge it.
• Where we're going next: Week 10, Causal Reasoning.

Focus

When can a few cases speak for a whole group, and when does a comparison hold?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• [ ] name the population and the sample behind a claim
• [ ] spot a sample that is too small, biased, or skewed by nonresponse
• [ ] explain why how a sample is chosen matters more than its size
• [ ] test an analogy by its relevant similarities and disanalogies

To-do

Plan your week

1. Read Chapter 9 (about 40 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
2. Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes) and the practice set (about 20 minutes).
3. Do the Argument Workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
4. Take the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: explain why the doorway sample's 75 percent is a weaker guide to the campus than the random sample's 60 percent, even though both asked 400 students.

You've got this

Take it in order, and ask your instructor if a step snags.

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