![]() Causation is not something that is directly observable in the real world. However, although the idea of association or constant conjunction may be part of the definition of causality, it is not sufficient to distinguish a causal relationship. In practice, in social research, the idea of association is taken as a pragmatic indicator of causality. Indeed, constant conjuction was a term for perfect positive correlation used by eighteenth century philosophers who did not want to imply a causal mechanism. ![]() However, constant conjunction alone does not imply a causal mechanism. This is that whenever a cause of any given phenomenon occurs then its effect always follows. Įssential to most notions of causality is the idea of constant conjunction. However, it has at its centre the idea of 'producing', that is, if X is a cause of Y we mean that a change in X produces a change in Y and not merely that a change in X is followed by or associated with a change in Y.Ī cause (as a noun) is thus the event that precipitates a succeeding event (usually called the effect). ![]() The concept of causality has been the subject of much debate and disagreement. The problem with this causal chain is where does it start and end? Can the the problem in the Japanese economy be said to have been caused by a shift in the earth's crust? The problem of reductionism in causal relations is particularly acute in social research where so many varibales are likley to intervene in any given event. ![]() An example of a supposed causal relationship is that an earthquake off the coast of Japan caused a sunami that caused the deaths of very many people and the destruction of property which caused horrendous suffereing for the Japnaese people and caused a significant problem for the Japanese economy. ![]()
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