Determine which of the following items are inductive generalizations and which are statistical syllogisms. Explain your answer.


1. I don’t think camphor trees are deciduous; at any rate ours isn’t.
2. Blu-ray disks aren’t any better than regular old DVDs; so don’t expect this
disk to be better than what you are used to.
3. Target gives refunds no questions asked. I found that out when I returned
a shirt without a receipt.

To determine whether each item is an inductive generalization or a statistical syllogism, we need to understand the characteristics of these two types of reasoning.

1. I don’t think camphor trees are deciduous; at any rate ours isn’t.
This statement is an example of an inductive generalization. An inductive generalization involves making a general conclusion based on specific observations or instances. In this case, the speaker has observed one camphor tree that is not deciduous, and they are generalizing to conclude that camphor trees, in general, are not deciduous.

2. Blu-ray disks aren’t any better than regular old DVDs; so don’t expect this disc to be better than what you are used to.
This statement is a statistical syllogism. A statistical syllogism involves making a conclusion based on statistical data or probabilities. In this case, the speaker is comparing the quality of Blu-ray disks and regular DVDs, suggesting that there is no significant difference between them. This conclusion is based on general statistical information or personal experience.

3. Target gives refunds no questions asked. I found that out when I returned a shirt without a receipt.
This statement is an example of an inductive generalization. The speaker has experienced receiving a refund from Target without any questions being asked after returning a shirt without a receipt. Based on this specific instance, they are generalizing that Target, as a policy, gives refunds without asking questions.

In summary:
1. Inductive generalization: The speaker observes one instance and generalizes it to all camphor trees based on that observation.
2. Statistical syllogism: The speaker compares the quality of Blu-ray disks and regular DVDs based on statistical or general information.
3. Inductive generalization: The speaker concludes that Target gives refunds without asking questions based on their personal experience with returning a shirt without a receipt.