Inductive structure: characteristics of this way of organizing a text

When it comes to capturing the information, you can choose between a series of structures, depending on the objective of the author.

One of these possibilities is known as the inductive structure. We are going to carefully analyze what this modality consists of, what are its characteristics, what is it difference from other possible models, and we will even see some examples with which we can better understand this information

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What is an inductive structure?

When we speak of inductive structure, we are referring to the way of ordering a series of data, that is, of information, throughout a speech, story or text. This form of structuring is based on induction, a concept that we must define adequately in this introduction in order to better understand the subject at hand.

Induction, or inductive reasoning, is a way of reasoning in which A series of premises are first analyzed to try to reach a conclusion that, although supported by the first ones, does not offer absolute certainty

about its veracity. That is, we know that this conclusion is fulfilled for all the premises analyzed, but we cannot be sure that it is applicable for those that we do not know.

Another way of describing induction, which is the basis of the inductive structure, as we have already seen, would be that reasoning that starts of the most particular, that is, from concrete and known cases, to try to arrive at the general considerations for all cases. As we have said, we can only be convinced that those considerations apply to known cases, but not to the rest.

In order to illustrate this question with an example, we can think of the discovery of a new species of animal, say, a rodent. Researchers studying this new species could observe a series of premises, related to the hair color of each specimen found, which could be brown in all cases. Through induction, they could conclude that all members of that species would be brown in color.

This reasoning is inductive, since the conclusion reached is valid with absolute certainty only for the known cases (the premises), that is, for the specimens that have been studied. But the researchers could not guarantee that a new specimen of such a rodent would suddenly be found whose fur was a different color, for example, white. This will help us to understand later the implications of the inductive structure.

In that case, the conclusion would no longer be valid and a different conclusion would have to be reached, for example, that members of that species have either brown or white hair. As before, this conclusion would continue to have validity for the known premises, so if a new one were introduced, as examples have been observed with the black fur, once again, a new conclusion should be established, updated based on the known data: the fur of this animal can be brown, white or black.

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Inductive structure characteristics

In the introduction we have seen an example of induction that will help us understand the characteristics of the inductive structure. In this case, it is about applying this form of reasoning to the structure of a text.

Next, we will collect some of the fundamental features of this writing style, the main characteristics by which we can identify a text with an inductive structure.

1. Premises first, conclusion last

As we observed in the previous example, there is a basic characteristic in induction that is transferred to the inductive structure. It is none other than the order of the elements that will be needed in the text to be able to convey the message that the writer intends to convey to the readers.

In that sense, It will be essential that the author begins by establishing the whole series of premises on which he is going to base the reasoning.. In that part of the text, the writer must make clear all the data that he will need, since an inductive structure requires that all this information be located at the beginning of the writing.

After listing all those specific cases, examples or data that are known regarding the subject that the author is analyzing, you can move on to the next point, which is the compilation of the information that has been appearing in the concrete examples, in order to synthesize the data and reach the step final.

The last step of the inductive structure is none other than the conclusion. At that point, the author of the text will present what is concluded from all the cases studied in the previous points. It is essential to remember that this conclusion, being based on inductive reasoning, is true for the examples studied, but we cannot guarantee that it is true for those we do not know.

Therefore, that conclusion will have the category of certainty in terms of the cases from which it has been established, but the author will not be able to venture to extend it to other examples or situations, at least not with the absolute assurance that it would continue to be fulfilled as has been observed.

If new data is found, the conclusion reached in said letter should be updated by means of a new text that takes into account the finding made., in order to maintain validity.

2. Dialogue between the writer and the reader

Unlike other texts, the inductive structure gives rise to an active participation of the reader, establishing a kind of dialogue with the data that little by little the author is offering throughout the writing. Logically, it can also be read in a passive way, but in order to properly understand the reasoning that is being carried out, it is convenient to pay attention, with the mind awake.

Only in this way will we be able to accompany, as readers, on the path that the writer is marking us, thus understanding the information with which we start and the reflections that we must carry out to reach the final conclusions that are established, and that are applicable to the information that has been offered to us beginning.

If this process is followed, the reader himself who has before him a text with an inductive structure, he will be able to reach the conclusion at the same time as the writer, because he will have indirectly accompanied him throughout the reasoning. Likewise, you can tell if the author has made a mistake and overlooked a detail that invalidates the conclusion reached.

In this way, reading becomes a participatory act, in which we can become for a moment researchers and put the pieces of the puzzle together to make a judgment that is appropriate for the information collected initially.

3. Funnel structure, from disorder to order

Another characteristic of texts with an inductive structure is precisely the funnel system in which they present the information. Under this prism, we could observe that at the beginning of the text would be the wide part of the funnel, it would be the most disorderly part, consisting of all the information, apparently unconnected.

It is at the beginning of the text where all the premises are located, as we have already seen. Each of them will provide a series of data, but at this time it may not be too obvious what is the relationship that could be established between all of them. For this, it is necessary to continue advancing through inductive reasoning, or what is the same, the funnel, from its widest part to the finest part.

Halfway, we would find the second point, in which all the data has been ordered, in order to establish relationships between them. At this point we would find ourselves in the middle of the funnel, and the initial disorder would begin to turn into order, but it would still be too early to reach the final result.

To do this, you have to continue advancing on the path of the inductive structure, and therefore reach the narrowest part of the funnel, which represents the end of the path. That's where finally a synthesis of all the disordered information has been made, the corresponding relationships have been established and therefore, the author or researcher is in a position to establish a conclusion or conclusions on the subject studied.

We observe, therefore, how the funnel serves as a simile to understand how it is possible to establish a reasoning from a series of particular cases and to be able to extract the generalities that are hidden behind all the data obtained, obtaining the conclusion that applies to all of them, although we do not know if it does so to the examples that we do not know.