This assignment will focus on the causal argument – an explanation of how something came to pass, or cause and effect.  For this assignment, you will become experts on a particular event or phenomenon caused by information or communication technologies (ICT), or ICTs caused by certain events or phenomenon – perhaps even a discovery of new uses or ways to utilize ICTs.

 

Explaining why something happened is complex. Through your careful reading of primary and secondary sources, you will offer a thoughtful and logical explanation for the event, or ICT(s).

 

You will construct a 1200-1500 word paper in which you offer an explanation for a particular event or phenomenon caused or effected by the advancement of new information communication technologies.

 

• Focus on one event, phenomenon, or ICT.
• Become an expert on this event, sifting through various accounts of what happened and describing what (probably) happened.  This will require you to synthesize information.
• Find primary sources—sources who are actual witnesses or participants in the event– as well as secondary sources that describe, comment on, evaluate, and critique the event.
• Draw a conclusion that explains why the event happened, or what the effects were.  This conclusion will not be simple but will take into account all that leads up to the event in a reasoned fashion.
• Explain the significance of your conclusion by developing ideas about the larger questions that have been answered through your research. That is, what does this tell us about the human condition, our culture.

 

You cannot be simplistic in your assessment—convincing causal explanations are always complex and take into account a number of factors.

 

Selecting an event that fascinates you is crucial.  In addition, your event must be the following:

 

• large enough to have been written about by people with varying points of view,
• not so large that you cannot adequately cover the material in a 4-6 page paper, and
• one that you feel comfortable researching and writing about.

Below are some suggestions:

 

• Meme origins and/or controversies
• NSA and privacy
• Wikileaks
• Cyberbulling in Facebook and other social networking sites
• Racial and social class divides among social media networks
• Problems created by “faceless” communications
• South Korea’s gaming problems (or United States gaming problems)
• Military drones killing civilians
• Slavery in tungsten (used in microchips and LED screens) mines in the Congo
• Illegal recycling of computers, cell phones, etc. causing environmental damages in developing countries (the above two are great ways to incorporate work from corporation unit)
• US Postal services going broke because of e-mail, e-banking, etc.
• World news at your fingertips
• Staying in touch with people around the globe
• Healthy games—Wii Fit, etc
• LEAN—green management (OU Outreach has a LEAN Institute)
• Teaching tools—OU’s K20 Center has really cool learning games
• Social Networks and political protests (Arab Spring, OWS)
• Robots and the advancements in science and technology (Watson)
• Virtual reality and/or gaming (WOW) and impacts on businesses or cultural/social norms

 

Your paper will include a works cited page; at least 3 outside sources (An A paper will likely utilize 4 or more). You may also choose to interview people you know who either are experts on the topic or who have experiences with the topic which you find valuable.  If you are the kind of student who comes up with more interesting ideas when conversing with others than by simply researching through reading, I urge you to use this option.

 

A C paper, meeting the minimum requirements, may not contain a “counterargument,” but might examine only one aspect of an issue. An A paper will always take into account multiple views that are present, and will be compassionate in sharing different aspects and/or disagreements about the topic.

 

Secondary Option:

You may write a causal paper stemming from the topic from one of your other papers. Perhaps you want to explore more definitive causes or effects of the lack or “need” you uncovered in your first paper, or you’d like to explore cause-and-effect relationships within the company you have just researched.

 

 

 

 

Caveats (Things to Watch Out for):

 

Your topic selection is key to your success on this paper.  Topics that are problematic include the following:

• 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.