5.5: Causal Argument
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We see relationships of cause and effect every day. You push the snooze button one too many times, so you’re running late. Because you are late, you don’t eat breakfast, which causes your brain to be foggy. Because you are not thinking well, you do poorly on your math test. One action causes a state of being, which causes another action or state of being. And so it goes.
Students are often asked to write cause/effect papers because of the prevalence of cause/effect relationships. That is, you see it in history, science, social sciences- almost every discipline. When we write about cause/effect relationships, it helps us think critically about the things around us and the consequences of actions.
Causal Arguments
Causal Arguments make a claim about a cause/effect relationship. For example, a senator might argue for funding to provide free breakfast and lunch to school children. He claims it will result in healthier children, better test scores, and savings for parents. Others might argue that it is too big of a tax burden because too many social programs already exist.
The senator’s argument, for school meals, explores the effects of feeding children free breakfast and lunch. It might be shown like this:
The second cause/effect argument looks at a similar topic, but focuses on the causes of higher taxes. It can be graphed like this:
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Notice that these essays discuss either causes or effects. You will probably get an assignment to do this where you focus either on causes or effects. Not both. However, you can discuss the one you are not focusing on in your introduction. This would provide needed context for your thesis.
Most of the time you will be assigned essays that focus on either one or the other. However, some instructor may as you to write a causal chain. These arguments describe the causes of an event one by one until the end. An example causal chain is shown below.
A causal chain shows the links from one cause to an effect, which causes another effect and so on. The difficulty with this type of cause/effect argument is knowing when to begin or end. It seems you can always think of a preceding cause of succeeding effect.
You might need to consider the precipitating cause, which is the trigger that starts the entire chain. In our example above, the precipitating cause might be that you stayed up late, and that’s why you pushed the snooze button the next day. But why did you stay up late? And so on. The causal chain can go backward or forward indefinitely. This is what makes them difficult to write, and why they are not assigned often.
In any causal argument, the cause and effect must be directly related. Just because two things (variables) happen at the same time (correlation) doesn’t necessarily mean one caused the other. Sometimes it’s just a coincidence.
Suppose that in our example on free school meals, the children got healthier and did better in school. At the same time, teachers got an increase in salary.
Thinking that the students’ health caused the increased salary is called post hoc ergo propter hoc or the “correlation does not imply causation” fallacy. The rise in pay happened at the same time the kids were able to eat at school, but that is not what caused the higher salaries. One may have happened before the other, but that does not mean the first caused the second.
Deducing that teachers got higher pay because a senator wanted to give children free meals is called questionable cause (or false cause) fallacy. Between the senator and the salaries, there is a big gap that is not explained. It is not apparent if the one caused the other or not.
However, if teacher salaries were based on test scores, then you might have causality. That's if the students got higher test scores from having better nutrition, which is result of them eating at school. You would need to show causality by explaining the cause and effect processes that make it so.
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So, be careful to ensure that effects that you discuss have direct causes, and they are not just correlative.
Steps to write a cause/effect essay
1. Choose a topic. You need an event or situation where you can explain the reasons for or the consequences of the event/situation. Start with an event or situation and explore the causes of it. What led up to this situation? Or, go with an event or situation and explore the effects of it. What are the results of this situation? What are its implications if it continues?
2. Explore hypothetical causes or effects to make a predictive essay.
What could happen if this continues? What might have happened to get here?
Ask questions.
- What happened?
- Why did it happen
- What are the consequences?
- Did anything else happen?
- What were the conditions before the event?
3. Do some preliminary research to ascertain cause and effect relationships.
4. Generate some example of causes and effects.
Making a chart often helps to see the relationships better. You want to start with a cause and discuss the effects. Or you want to start with an effect and discuss the causes.
5. Do more research to support your ideas.
You might need to change them as you continue your research.
6. Make predictions about the causes or effects you have studied.
Think about possible outcomes if the situation or event continues.
7. Draw conclusions about the overall cause or effects.
What can you conclude about the overall cause or effect of the situation or event.
8. Write a thesis statement.
It should contain your topic and a claim about that topic, and its effects or causes. The claim could state the main cause or effect and then explore the other. Or, your claim can say something about the main cause or effect instead of simply what it is.
9. Organize your essay.
It might look similar to this:
Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Designed by LauraLee Miller with Canva.
I. Introduction: Talk about the precipitating cause if you’re discussing effects. Or, talk about the main effect and go to its causes.
II. Paragraph 1: Describe the current event or situation in more detail. What elements are important to know before exploring the causes or effects?
III. Next paragraphs: Each paragraph should explore a cause or effect. The order of paragraphs should be temporal to show the cause then effect progression. What happened first? After that? After that? Etc.
IV. Counter ideas: It is always good ethos to include counter or alternate ideas.
V. Conclusion:
End by refuting counter ideas or reviewing your claim.
Explain the overall implications of the causes or effects you have discussed.
Make a call to action or explain the importance of knowing these cause/effect relationships.
As you discuss your points, use transitions that show cause or effect relationships.
Transitions that show cause
- Led to
- Therefore
- Because
- As a result
- Due to
Transitions that show effect
- Consequently
- If /then
- Thus
- When
- Since/therefore
- So
9. Draft your essay.
As you develop your ideas, look for any logical fallacies in your cause/effect relationships.
10. Get some feedback.
11. Revise and edit.
Example paper with comments. Link here: Example Causal Argument
Being able to discern cause and effect relationships is a helpful method of critical thinking to practice. We live in a constant stream of causes and effects, and being able to understand them can help us make decisions or predict what comes next.
Media Attribution:
All Images: Miller, LauraLee. "Evaluation analysis chart." designed using Canva, Canva.com
Works Cited
Henkes, Theresa. "Crossing the Line: Remember September 11." Causal Arguments, Excelsior Online Writing Center, owl.excelsior.edu,
https://owl.excelsior.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CausalArgument.pdf