can reasonable guess the number of students in the room (i.e., twenty). Meanwhile, inferences can be verified (e.g., conduct a head count when you enter the room).

HOW TO DISTINGUISH INDUCTION FROM DEDUCTION

Use INDUCTION to determine those things that can be observed and use DEDUCTION in those matters where induction won't help. Our predictions are based on deducing the likelihood of future events. Deduction, then, means "drawing out" specific cases from a general law (e.g., Sherlock Holmes deduces facts about the murderer by applying his knowledge of general laws to observations he makes at the crime scene).

In reasoning well you must define the terms of an argument as
precisely as possible. Before you test any statement, you should reduce it to its "standard form" (the simplest statement of subject and predicate). On this basis, test the statement's soundness. Logical reasoning relies on distinctions made among "all,” "some," and "none." For example, conventional teaching cautions against making "blanket" statements (e.g., "X holds true in every case), because there is usually an exception or two to every law (e.g., Murphy's Law). Choose your words deliberately.