Inductive, Deductive and Abductive Reasoning
Inductive
Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which a general principle is derived from a body of observations. It consists of making broad generalizations based on specific observations.
Deductive
Deductive reasoning is often referred to as 'top-down reasoning'. If something is assumed to be accurate and another relates to the first assumption, the original truth must also hold true for the second. For example, if a car's trunk is large and a bike does not fit into it, you may assume the bike must also be large.
Abductive=
Abductive reasoning is to abduce (or take away) a logical assumption, explanation, inference, conclusion, hypothesis, or best guess from an observation or set of observations. Because the conclusion is merely a best guess, the conclusion that is drawn may or may not be true.
The learning and the transformation of the world-views of the participating stakeholders during the production of the Clusters and the Influence Trees is by far more valuable than the actual graphic snapshots of the problem situation being addressed through the Structured Democratic Dialogue Process.
More specifically, the use of Abductive Reasoning for the construction of the Influence Tree and Inductive Reasoning for the construction of the [[Clusters|Clustering Process], emancipates the stakeholders from the prison of the extrapolation and perpetuation of the current situation. In this manner they can create futures and construct world-views that have never been.