1. Making Sense of the Social World 4th Edition
Chapter 6, Causation and Experimental Design

2. Empirical association Temporal priority of the independent variable
Five criteria should be considered when trying to establish a causal relationship.
Empirical association
Temporal priority of the independent variable
Nonspuriousness
Identifying a causal mechanism
Specifying the context in which the effect occurs
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

3. Empirical Association
The independent variable and the dependent variable must vary together.
A change in X is associated with a change in Y. ΔX ΔY
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

4. Temporal Priority of the Independent Variable
The change in X must occur before the change in Y. ΔX ΔY
t t2
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

5. Nonspuriousness
We say that a relationship between two variables is spurious when it is due to variation in a third variable; so what appears to be a direct connection is in fact not. X ΔX ΔY ΔZ
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

6. A Causal Mechanism
A causal mechanism is the process that creates the connection between variation in an independent variable and the variation in the dependent variable it is hypothesized to cause.
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

7. The Context in Which the Effect Occurs
No cause has its effect apart from some larger context involving other variables. When, for whom, and in what conditions does this effect occur? A cause is really one among a set of interrelated factors required for the effect.
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

8. True Experiments Have at Least Three Features That Help Us Meet These Criteria
Two comparison groups (in the simplest case, an experimental group and a control group), to establish association.
Variation in the independent variable before assessment of change in the dependent variable, to establish time order.
Random assignment to the two (or more) comparison groups, to establish nonspuriousness.
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

9. But being able to claim causality makes all that hard work worth it!
Research designs that allow us to establish these criteria require very careful planning, implementation, and analysis.
But being able to claim causality makes all that hard work worth it!
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications