Question

With example, discuss the common bias/errors under inductive reasoning?

Answer 1

Common biases in inductive reasoning are:
1. Availability bias: This bias is caused by the limited amount of information that the researcher has or the dependence on the information available to him or her. People just tend to make conclusions on the basis of the information which is easily accessible to them or is on the surface. There might be some information that is "less accessible" or isn't very emphasized upon which is generally missed. For example, you might ask someone about information of recent disasters people might come up of terrorism but not disasters like a major outbreak of a particular disease which they are not accessible of

2. Confirmation bias: This happens when there is a tendency to confirm a certain hypothesis which is quite natural rather than to deny it. Research tells us that people or researchers are generally inclined towards making the hypotheses true or seeking answers that fit the established hypotheses. This causes confirmation bias. For example, when you have a hypothesis that John is unsocial, hence you might be asking questions that would produce answers in such a way to prove this hypothesis.

3. Non-representative bias: This bias is caused when the information is based on a sample which is not entirely representative of the entire population of which the hypothesis is made. For example, you have a hypotheses about the US population but you seek answers from a sample through a fax machine. Now everyone might not have a fax machine and thus it will produce biased results.