Too big—invention of cell phones (focus on one aspect, driving and texting)

• Too little—not enough has been written on the event
• Too obvious—everyone would agree
• Too boring—picking something that doesn’t really interest you will make your life miserable and your paper even worse.

 

What you will need to do:

• Use direct causal links (A causes B; B causes C; C causes D) to establish a chain.
• Identify the three inductive methods—informal inductions, scientific experimentation, and correlation—to establish the high probability of causal links.
• Use analogy or precedent to establish a causal link.
• Avoid the causal fallacies of false analogy, oversimplified cause, hasty generalization, and post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”).
• Make existential rather than universal claims about causality.
• Distinguish between immediate and remote causes and between precipitating and contributing causes.
• Understand how “constraints” and “necessary” and “sufficient” causes operate.
• Generate causal claims by considering puzzling events or trends or recent proposed actions.
• Organize a causal argument to create the strongest casual links for your audience.
• Revise your causal argument by taking a skeptic’s position and questioning the validity and interpretation of any experimental data and the persuasiveness of correlation links.
• Revise your causal argument by thinking of exceptions, alternate hypotheses about causality, false analogies, and other possible priorities of causes.