Definition of deductive method – What it is, Meaning and Concept

The Deductive method is a scientific method what do you think the conclusion is implicit within the premises. This means that the conclusions are a necessary consequence of the premises: when the premises are true and deductive reasoning is valid, there is no way that the conclusion is not true.

The first descriptions of deductive reasoning were made by philosophers in the Ancient Greece, among them Aristotle. It should be noted that the word deduction comes from the verb deduct (from Latin I will deduct), which refers to the extraction of consequences from a proposition.

From the general law to an inference from the observed

The deductive method achieves infer something observed from a general law. This differentiates it from the so-called inductive method, which is based on the formulation of laws based on the facts that are observed.

There are those who believe, like the philosopher Francis Bacon, that induction is preferable to deduction, since it allows moving from particularities to something general.

Examples of deductive method

Among the examples that we can use to understand more exactly what the term deductive method means would be the following: if we start from the statement that all English are punctual and we know that John is English, we can conclude by saying that, therefore, John is punctual.

In the field of Mathematics, much use is also made of the aforementioned deductive method. Thus, in this matter we can find examples that prove it: if A is equal to B and B is equal to C, we can determine that A and C are equal.

Tools to consider

When talking about this deductive method we have to underline that it, in which the thought goes from the general to the particular, makes use of a series of tools and instruments that allow achieving the proposed objectives of reaching the required point or clarification .

In this sense, we can state that summaries are frequently used, as they are the documents that allow us to focus clearly and concisely on the essentials of a matter. However, it should also be noted that, in the same way, the synthesis and the synopsis are used.

But the list of procedures and tools goes much further. Thus, in it, maps, graphs, diagrams or demonstrations could not be ignored either. The latter in particular help especially to demonstrate that a specific principle or law is true, and for this we start from all established truths as well as logical relationships.

Classification of the deductive method

The deductive method can be divided as follows direct and immediate conclusion (in cases where the judgment is produced from a single premise without others that intervene) or indirect and mediate conclusion (The major premise contains the universal proposition, while the minor one includes the particular proposition: the conclusion, therefore, is the result of the comparison between the two).

In all cases, researchers who use the deductive method begin their work by making assumptions (consistent with each other) that are limited to incorporating the main characteristics of the phenomena. The work continues with a logical deduction procedure that ends in the statement of the general laws.