Patterns of abduction

Abstract

This article describes abductions as special patterns of inference to the best explanation whose structure determines a particularly promising abductive conjecture (conclusion) and thus serves as an abductive search strategy (Sect. 1). A classification of different patterns of abduction is provided which intends to be as complete as possible (Sect. 2). An important distinction is that between selective abductions, which choose an optimal candidate from given multitude of possible explanations (Sects. 3-4), and creative abductions, which introduce new theoretical models or concepts (Sects. 5-7). While selective abduction has dominated the literature, creative abductions are rarely discussed, although they are essential in science. The article introduces several kinds of creative abductions, such as theoretical model abduction, common cause abduction and statistical factor analysis, and illustrates them by various real case examples. It is suggested to demarcate scientifically fruitful abductions from purely speculative abductions by the criterion of causal unification (Sect. 7.1).

Infrastructures, lock-in, and sustainable urban development: the case of waste incineration in the Göteborg Metropolitan Area

“…It is also pragmatic in the sense that it is neither purely inductive nor deductive, but follows patterns of creative abduction (Schurz, 2008). Inspired by Strauss and Corbin (1990), our collection, coding, and categorizing of data has involved back-and-forth moves between sorting, coding, probing the data, and collecting new data until we could reconstruct the multi-layered historical developments with the present state of waste governance in Göteborg.…”

On Abduction in Design

“…Schurz [15] cogently argues that there exist rather different kinds of abduction patterns; while some of them enjoy a broad discussion in the literature, other important patterns have been neglected. This fixation to the syllogistic form of abduction has been inherited to treatments of design abduction.…”

“…Although schematic examples are often good for purposes of presentation and demonstration, the advancement of scientific understanding on abduction requires the examination of abduction-like inferences in design as they occur in practice. Perhaps, in this way, a thorough classification, as done by Schurz [15] for scientific abductions, could be carried out for design abductions. Interestingly, already the work of Takeda et al [22] has challenged the completeness of Schurz' classification from a design viewpoint.…”

“…Researchers still disagree on the exact nature of induction [14] and certainly on abduction. Schurz [15] presents a thorough classification of abduction patterns, all of which are "special patterns of inference to the best explanation". He identifies many types of abduction based on three dimensions.…”

A Structuralist Theory of Belief Revision

“…Nothing depends on how appropriate this use is. For an excellent systematic survey concerning abduction see Schurz (2008).…”