Assumption

Research

A premise accepted for the sake of argument rather than independently demonstrated; assumptions can be empirical, normative, or conceptual, and making them explicit is what separates a sound warrant (Toulmin) from a hidden one.

Sources

1. Merriam-Webster — assumption merriam-webster.com accessed 23 September 2026

The relevant sense in Merriam-Webster is “an assuming that something is true”, and “a fact or statement… taken for granted”, including propositions and postulates. From Latin assumere, through Late Latin assumptio; first recorded in the thirteenth century in a quite different religious sense. Taken for granted is the operative phrase — an assumption is not a flaw in a study, but an unexamined one usually is.

Merriam-Webster is cited as the dictionary of record: where an entry defines a word rather than a position, a dictionary is the primary source for it. The research usage above is this lexicon’s own.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

Rewritten from a truncated AJG archive entry, August 2026.