Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Four bold claims
- 3 A brief history of truth
- 4 Science's contested rationality
- 5 Science's presuppositions
- 6 Science's powers and limits
- 7 Deductive logic
- 8 Probability
- 9 Inductive logic and statistics
- 10 Parsimony and efficiency
- 11 Case studies
- 12 Ethics and responsibilities
- 13 Science education
- 14 Conclusions
- References
- Index
9 - Inductive logic and statistics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Four bold claims
- 3 A brief history of truth
- 4 Science's contested rationality
- 5 Science's presuppositions
- 6 Science's powers and limits
- 7 Deductive logic
- 8 Probability
- 9 Inductive logic and statistics
- 10 Parsimony and efficiency
- 11 Case studies
- 12 Ethics and responsibilities
- 13 Science education
- 14 Conclusions
- References
- Index
Summary
The logic that is so essential for scientific reasoning, being the “L” portion of the PEL model, is of two basic kinds: deductive and inductive. Chapter 7 reviewed deductive logic, and Chapter 8 probability, which is a branch of deductive logic. This chapter reviews inductive logic, with “statistics” being essentially the term meaning applied inductive logic.
A considerable complication is that statisticians have two competing paradigms for induction: Bayesian and frequentist statistics. At stake are scientific concerns, seeking efficient extraction of information from data to answer important questions, and philosophical concerns, involving rational foundations and coherent reasoning.
This chapter cannot possibly do what entire books on statistics do – present a comprehensive treatment. But it can provide a prolegomenon to clarify the most basic and pivotal issues, which are precisely the aspects of statistics that scientists generally comprehend the least. The main objectives are to depict and contrast the Bayesian and frequentist paradigms and to explain why inductive logic or statistics often functions well despite imperfect data, imperfect models, and imperfect scientists. Extremely important research in agriculture, medicine, engineering, and other fields imposes great responsibilities on statistical practice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Scientific Method in Brief , pp. 150 - 173Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012