1.

Stratton goes to his first day at classes at PCC and concludes he is going to like his
anthropology course. You can just tell, he says to his girlfriend later, its gonna be a great
course. The teacher brought up all these interesting subjects, and it was just the first day!
This is an inductive generalization. The sample is the teacher brought up all these interesting
subjects, and it was just the first day. The target is his anthropology course. The property in
question is anthropology is gonna be a great course based on the first day.
2. The cocktail Betsy that orders before dinner is watery, so she decides not to eat at the
restaurant after all. I dont think they can make a decent dinner if they cant even make a
decent martini, she mutters.
This is an analogical argument. The analogues are the cocktail Betsy order before dinner is
watery so the restaurant cant make a decent dinner. The basis of comparison are the cocktail and
the dinner. The feature in question is based on the cocktail can the restaurant produce quality
food. This is a hasty generalization in that rating the food based on the quality of the drink is not
a correct representation.
3. Stortz has heard from his friends that the folks in North Carolina are pretty friendly, so he
looks forward to going through there on his bike trip.
This is an analogical argument. The analogues are the folks in North Carolina and Stortz
upcoming bike trip at North Carolina. The basis of comparison is how friendly the folks are and
how that affects his bike trip. The feature in question is whether or not that has anything to do
with how well his bike trip goes.
4. Agnes has read that fair-skinned, blonde, blue-eyed people are more likely to develop
problems from over-exposure to the sun, but she discounts these reports. After all, she
reasons, my Uncle Bob works outside all day on a boat, and Ive never heard of him having
problems with sun exposure, even though he is blonde, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned.
This is an inductive generalization. The sample is Uncle Bob works outside all day with no
problems despite the fact he is blonde, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned. The target is that Agnes
discounts these reports based on that fact. The property in question is do people with fair-
skinned, blonde, blue-eyed people are more likely to develop problems from over-exposure to
the sun. This is a hasty generalization on that fact that Agnes stops believing in the report based
on one person representing all fair-skinned, blonde, blue-eyed people.
5. Mr. Al C. Holic reads a report in the newspaper that a daily glass of wine or two might be
good for the heart, so he decides to get hammered. Why in hell not, he says. If one glass
of wine is good for you, then surely five or six is really good for you!
This is an inductive generalization. The sample is he reads a report in the newspaper. The target
is if one glass of wine is good for you, then surely five or six is really good for you. The property
in question is whether five or six glasses of wine is equivalent or even better for you than a daily
glass of wine.
6. Overheard: You dont think this country is in a slump? Get real. George here was laid off
before Memorial Day, and Howies wife and a whole bunch of other people lost their jobs
when the Safeway over on Jeffrey closed down. These are tough times.
This is an analogical argument. The analogues are the whole bunch of people who lost their job
and this country is in a slump. The basis of comparison is how George, Howies wife, and the
people at Safeway who lost their jobs are affecting this country. The feature in question is
whether these are tough times for our country based on those people.
7. Fewer than 20% of college professors think of themselves as shy, according to a new study
by two psychologists. We were surprised by this result because other studies have reported
almost 50% of adult Americans think of themselves as shy, said Jane Smalley, professor at
Chico State University. College professors are sometimes considered an introverted group
and so we expected perhaps a majority to think of themselves as shy, she said. Smalley and
her associate John Mason interviewed 150 college professors who were identified by their
deans and other administrators at 25 American universities as typical faculty. The
universities were selected by a random procedure from a list of American colleges and
universities.
This is an inductive generalization. The sample is the 150 college professors who were
interviewed. The target is fewer than 20% of college professors think of themselves as shy
according to the study. The property in question is whether the college professors are considered
introverted based on recent studies.
8. Juanita has taken six courses at Valley Community College, and she has a grade average of B
so far. All the courses she has taken have been in sociology and psychology. Shes thinking
of enrolling in another course next term, and she expects to make at least a B in whatever she
takes. Suppose that when she took the previous courses, Juanita had done all her studying
alone because she didnt know any of the other students at Valley but that now she knows
several good students and plans to study with them when she takes her next course. Would
her argument be stronger or weaker than if she were planning to study alone? Discuss.
This is an analogical argument. The analogues are Juanita has taken six courses at Valley
Community College and whether she will successfully make at least a B in whatever course she
takes. The basis of comparison is whether her previous success with sociology and psychology
and studying alone will help her pass now that she knows several students. The feature in
question is whether she will be able to pass even if she were to study alone since shes only ever
taken sociology and psychology. This is a biased sample in that just because Juanita has gotten
Bs for her past classes which were consistent of sociology and psychology does not guarantee
her a B since the class will be different.
9. A random survey of 1000 callers to a drug-help hotline produced the following results: 535
of the callers were heavy users of cocaine freebase, amphetamines, or heroine; 220 were
recreational users of cocaine or marijuana, 92 were not drug users at all, and the remainder
refused to answer. This survey proves that most people who use drugs are not of the
recreational type.
This is an inductive generalization. The sample is the random survey of 1000 callers. The target
is that the survey proves that most people are not using drugs for recreational uses. The property
in question is whether this survey is whether this survey would help the drug-help hotline in
finding drug abusers. This is a biased sample on the fact the survey concludes most people use
drugs when there are many people without telephones that arent represented.
10. Goldman may have won the Supervisor of the Year award, but that just means they didnt
look very hard for a winner. I know a couple of people who work in Goldmans division and
they say that hes a real pain to work for. Id sooner trust my friends than some awards
committee.
This is an analogical argument. The analogues are the Supervisor of the Year Award and that
the award committee didnt look very hard for a winner. The basis of comparison is whether
Goldman deserved the award since some people in his division say hes a real pain. The feature
in question is whether your friends and the people in Goldmans division know better than the
award committee.