Which describes deductive reasoning?

• A. Using facts or premises to come to specific conclusions
• B. Using data to draw general conclusions
• C. Starting with general principles to forecast specifics
• D. Relying on opinion rather than evidence

Answer: (A)

Deductive reasoning means taking facts or premises and using them to reach a specific conclusion that must be true if the premises are true. It moves from general statements or known facts to a particular outcome. For example, if all mammals have lungs and a dog is a mammal, then a dog has lungs. The conclusion follows directly from the premises.

This contrasts with inductive reasoning, which builds a general rule from many observations (like seeing several white swans and concluding all swans are white). It also isn’t about relying on opinion without evidence. So describing deductive reasoning as using facts or premises to arrive at a specific conclusion best captures the idea.