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

2. Five criteria for establishing a Causal Relationship
Empirical association
Temporal priority of the independent variable
Nonspuriousness
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
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 (i.e. is indirect). Example: Shoe size, Knowledge and Age 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.
Example: Advertising => Positive Emotion => Higher Sales
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 that lead to the effect.
Example: Higher salaries produce greater productivity in work environments with a great deal of creative flexibility, but have no effect in routine, unskilled work environments. So, work environment is the context.
Chambliss/Schutt, Making Sense of the Social World 4th edition
© 2012 SAGE Publications

8. True Experiments Have at Least Three Features
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