Causal Analysis:
Causal Chain
While causes and effects can sometimes be represented as a web, for the purposes of analysis, they are often represented in a chain.
In a causal chain, you have an effect that is caused by an initial event. This effect then becomes the cause for a second effect. Then, this second effect becomes the cause for a third effect. To the right, you will see a graphic illustration of this concept.
Precedence Does Not Imply Causation
Just become something happens before an event takes place, it does not mean that it caused the event to happen. For example, it does not make sense to argue that "Because President Reagan was elected before the War in Iraq began, he caused it to happen." However, if you can set up a logical causal chain, you might be able to argue that "President Regan's foreign policies inevitably led to the current war in Iraq."
Narration vs. Causation
In a narrative essay, you might state events in the order they happened. You could do the same thing in a causation paper. One difference between these two types of papers is that in a causation paper, our focus is on "Why?" and "How?" Other purposes frequently dominate the standard narrative paper.
Example of Causal Chain
A specific example of a causal chain is available on line.
