Word Finder - generalizations

definition

The formulation of general concepts from specific instances by abstracting common properties.

synonyms

• universalization

definition

Inductive reasoning from detailed facts to general principles.

definition

An oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of the members of a group.

definition

A proof, axiom, problem, or definition which includes another's cases, and also some additional cases.

example

A hypersphere is a generalization of a sphere across more than three dimensions.

His generalizations are vivid and enlightening.

But every genuine attempt to overcome its difficulties brings us into closer touch with the period we are examining; and though we may not be able to throw our conclusions into the form of large generalizations, we shall get to know something of the operation of the forces which determined the economic future of England; understand more clearly than our forefathers did, for we have more information than they could command, and a fuller appreciation of the issues, the broad features of English development, and be in a position to judge fairly well of the measures they adopted in their time.

The fact that Adam Smith, with the meagre materials of the 18th century at his disposal, saw his way to important generalizations which later research has established on a firm basis, may enhance greatly the reputation of Adam Smith, but does not strengthen the generalizations.

The value of Dalton's generalizations can hardly be overestimated, notwithstanding the fact that in several cases they needed correction.

In such a consideration we have to make use not only of the fact just mentioned, but of three important generalizations which serve as it were as implements for the proper estimation of the relationships of any series of organic forms. First of all there is the generalization that the relationships of the various forms of animals (or of plants) to one another is that of the ultimate twigs of a much-branching genealogical tree.

On the other hand, if laws of social phenomena, empirically generalized from history, can, when once suggested, be affiliated to the known laws of human nature; if the direction actually taken by the developments and changes of human society, can be seen to be such as the properties of man and of his dwelling-place made antecedently probable, the empirical generalizations are raised into positive laws, and sociology becomes a science."

John Fiske, The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America (2 vols., Boston, 1900) is admirable in its generalizations but unreliable in its details.

Not only so, but in his review of Cousin (" Philosophy of the Unconditioned," in Discussions, pp. 12-15), he made conception the test of knowledge, argued that " the mind can conceive, and consequently can know, only the limited, and the conditionally limited," that " to think is to condition," that all we know either of mind or matter is " the phenomenal," that " we can never in our highest generalizations rise above the finite," and concluded that we cannot conceive or know the unconditioned, yet must believe in its existence.

Their course, owing to the complex orography of the state, is necessarily extremely irregular, and few climatic generalizations can be made.

He was the first to apply the telegraph to meteorological research, to have the atmospheric conditions daily indicated on a large map, to utilize the generalizations made in weather forecasts, and to embrace a continent under a single system - British America and Mexico being included in the field of observation.

Turning to the study of history, he carried with him the tendency to construct his syntheses upon the scanty basis of 18th-century generalizations; yet in spite of the growing scientific school he became and remained for a quarter of a century the most popular German historian.

Such statements, however, arc capableof logical proof, and are generalizations of results obtained empirically at an elementary stage; they therefore belong more properly to the laws of arithmetic (§ 58).

At the opening of the era of modern scientific discovery, with all its fruitful new generalizations, the still more highly generalized laws of epistemology and of the spiritual constitutionof man might well baffle the physicist and lead his intellect to "flounder."

To these generalizations there are few exceptions, though Icelandic literature includes a group of poems which possess qualities of high imagination, deep pathos, fresh love of nature, passionate dramatic power, and noble simplicity of language which Icelandic poetry lacks.

As it was, the importance of Kepler's generalizations was not fully appreciated until Sir Isaac Newton made them the corner-stone of his new cosmic edifice.

It is deficient in generalizations; thus, for example, it has words for the idea of carrying in the hand, carrying on the head, carrying on the shoulder, and so on, but has no word for carrying simply.

Just like any large group of people, it can be difficult to make generalizations about this segment of the population.

While some are proud to be associated with the moniker "Baby Boomer," others are determined to carve out a separate identity, free from the generalizations of pop culture and marketing expectations.

This description of an Aries features many broad generalizations.

The medicine of the i 8th century is notable, like that of the latter part of the 17th, for the striving after complete theoretical systems. The influence of the iatro-physical school was by no means exhausted; and in England, especially through the indirect influence of Sir Isaac Newton's (1642-1727) great astronomical generalizations, it took on a mathematical aspect, and is sometimes known as iatro-mathematical.

The view of mankind on which such generalizations are usually based, taking little account of individual character, was highly distasteful to him.

In spite of the increase of deep-sea soundings in the last few decades, they are still very irregularly distributed in the open ocean, and the attempt to draw isobaths (lines of equal depth) on a chart of the world is burdened with many difficulties which can only be evaded by the widest generalizations.

The Stahlian theory, originally a theory of combustion, came to be a general theory of chemical reactions, since it provided simple explanations of the ordinary chemical processes(when regarded qualitatively) and permitted generalizations which largely stimulated its acceptance.

A small nucleus of the proverbs may be Solomon's; but the great majority represent no doubt the generalizations of a long succession of " wise men."

Invulnerable in exact anatomical description and comparison, he failed in all his philosophical generalizations, even in those strictly within the domain of anatomy.

His famous " law of correlation," which by its apparent brilliancy added enormously to his prestige, is not supported by modern philosophical anatomy, and his services to stratigraphy were diminished by his generalizations as to a succession of sudden extinctions and renovations of life.

Following Cuvier's Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles, the rich succession of Tertiary mammalian life was gradually revealed to France through the explorations and descriptions of such authors as Croizet, Jobert, de Christol, Eymar, Pomel and Lartet, during a period of rather dry, systematic work, which included, however, the broader generalizations of Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1778-1850), and culminated in the comprehensive treatises on Tertiary palaeontology of Paul Gervais (1816-1879).

As among the vertebrates, materials were accumulating rapidly for the great generalizations which were to follow in the third period.

The more complete the picture, however, which may here be obtained of Manichaeisrn, the more cautious must we be in making generalizations from it, for it is beyond doubt that Western Manichaeism adopted Christian elements which are wanting in the original and in the Oriental Manichaeism.

Certain generalizations respecting the South and the North, the East and the.

When we remember that many parts of the world are practically unexplored as regards fungi, and that new species are constantly being discovered in the United States, Australia and northern Europe - the best explored of all - it is clear that no very accurate census of fungi can as yet be made, and no generalizations of value as to their geographical distribution are possible.

Mendeleeff and other workers into the Periodic Law, has taken its place as one of the most important generalizations in modern chemical theory.

Though each great state has adopted its own methods, influenced by historical circumstances and by ideas of policy, there are general resemblances that furnish material for scientific treatment and allow of important generalizations being made.

Thus, whereas the popular writer abounds in wide generalizations on the subject of primitive humanity, the expert has hitherto for the most part deliberately restricted himself to departmental investigations.

Since the supply of free oxygen is dependent on the activity of green plants the process is indirectly dependent on energy derived from the sun, but it is none the less an astounding one and outside the limits of our previous generalizations.

Founded on faulty experiments and reasoning, the views he expressed were either ignored or ridiculed; and it was long before he bitterly regretted the temerity with which he had published his hasty generalizations.

But any such generalizations are dangerous and have frequently led to disappointment and sometimes to needless expenditure.

And as they are not supposed to be mere generalizations from experience, no amount of individual instances of the application of any one of them by us would give it a true universality.

A brief notice with regard to the distribution of the Primates must suffice, as their past history is too imperfectly known to admit of generalizations being drawn.

But these generalizations are not ultimate truths, when we have to consider the nature of experience itself.

Thus, while far-reaching but hasty generalizations have had their day and been forgotten, his work has proved permanent, because he made sure of its foundations.

This method rivals in elegance all other methods; problems are investigated by purely algebraic means, and generalizations discovered which elevate the method to a position of paramount importance.

In conclusion, intercultural training does not stereotype people but provides generalizations.

This shows that negative inmate behavior is a rare occurrence even in simulations using generalizations from organizational research.

Furthermore, the theory of homology decompositions was developed in a much more general context which will allow further generalizations.

The laws of nature are thus not ' laws ' in the rigid, prescriptive sense, but inductive generalizations.

In other words, developing empirical generalizations informed by abstract theory.

Objectives One of our most common objectives in history teaching is to move students beyond broad generalizations.

To insurance generalizations he'd receive benefits you're expecting all.

This leaves the easily impressionable firmly on Moore's side, hungry for more crude generalizations.