Logic in an Age of Persuasive Imagery: Hasty Generalization
statement aside as ludicrous, there is actually a fallacy represented here by my
hyperbolic enthusiasm for my own writing: a hasty generalization.
normally two problems involved:
#1.Too small of a sample
#2. Not a representative sample
generalization because I do not have access to all the posts written on
apologetics in order to know if the post I just wrote is the best post
ever. The sample size for my inference
would be too small.
representative of the broader class which we are referencing. In our political campaign examples, a
Democrat candidate might claim that because Republican Randy Presidential
Hopeful demeans other candidates then all Republicans are demeaning to other
people; therefore a democrat cannot vote for any Republican. But Republican Randy doesn’t represent how
all Republicans would treat Democrats (or other republicans, independents, etc).
The sample size here is too small to
make an accurate judgment. However, I’ve
heard this kind of inference from members of both parties!
sample.
sample size but it may not be a sample that aptly represents the class.
convention and studied 3,000 plumbers there.
They all made over $100,000 a year.[1]
Though 3,000 plumbers sounds like a big enough sample size,
the sample does not aptly represent all plumbers. What about the plumbers who do not make
enough to go to an international plumbers convention? This sample size is probably only taken from
wealthy plumbers (or plumbers able to afford attending the convention) and therefore is a hasty generalization.
generalizations; including throwing around poll percentages, tossing out
figures supporting a view, and attributing ideology to entire classes of
people. When you hear these figures you
should ask: Where are you getting that from?
What is the source of your information?
What were the control factors used in the study (ie. how many people
were surveyed and who were the people surveyed and did the survey have an apt
sample of the representative class)? These
are important questions to answer in order to avoid manipulation through the
logical fallacy of hasty generalization.
The Fallacy Detective: Thirty Six
Lesson on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning.
(Muscatine, IA: Christian Logic, 2002, 2003), 122.