Social Research Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Home
Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2012-24, Social Research Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/socialresearch/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for additions or amendments.
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Deductivism
Deductivism is the process of asserting the validity of a conclusion from a set of premises which have been allotted a truth value.
Deductivism isintegrally entwined with the concept of logical argument.
While essential for the presentation of a logical argument it in no way provides for the empirical testing of the truth value of the premises.
As a discoursive system it entails no necessary grounding in empirical data and is an abstract scheme. 'Proof' for classical deductivists therefore resides in extralogical elements. Intellect, through one process or another, provides the grounds for the assertion of truth value of premises. Revelation, intuition or experience provides the basis for the asserertion of such truths which are subsequently backed up by logical argument.
Such synthetic a priori principles have only tenuous links with a materialistic knowledge. Consequently, science sought an empirically grounded knowledge and inductive principles came to dominate theories of science.
Hoyningen-Huene (2006) wrote
Deductivism is an attempt to develop a position that avoids the difficulties that beset inductivism. It is accepted that theoretical elements enter science at all stages and that inductive generalizations lack proper justification. The basic idea of deductivism is that theories are not built bottom-up from theory-free data, but that they are deductively tested against data. Inductivism and deductivism share the view of scientific explanation and prediction.
Hughes (undated) wrote
Deductivism emphasises that theories come first, then observations. According to deductivists, inductivism is invalid, because scientific theories cannot be proved from any particular observations. They can only be disproved. Experiments can be done to test the theories, but the theories are only approximations.
See also
Researching the Real World Section 2.2.1.5
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