Multiple Causation A How have you become as successful a student as you are? Is it because you are just naturally smart? Are you good at taking notes? Did your parents pay for tutors when you were younger (or currently)? Whatever reasons you have identified, what you may have discovered is that this is no simple question. Any given effect or outcome (in this case, successful student) may be, and usually is the result of several causes operating together. Within multiple causations, there are two ways that causes can exert their influence. Linear Combination In linear combination, the effect or outcome can theoretically be explained by just one of the causes, in other words, only one cause is sufficient to achieve the outcome or effect. Non-linear Combination In this case, the outcome cannot be adequately explained by just one of the causes; at least two causes must be considered in explaining the effect.

Multiple causation refers to phenomenon where various factors operate simultaneously and yield particular outcome. In the above stated scenario, Mother’s outrage is an outcome or influence of multiple causation. Several factors like rough 12-hour shift at work, rude and violent behavior of patients, failure to draw her lab work, temporarily allocation of night duty by supervisor, unfortunate flat tire incident on interstate and delayed roadside assistance, incomplete chores and mess at home are all responsible for mother’s outburst of anger as an outcome. This is not a linear combination of factors because solely one event does not lead to the other event. The outrage at home could not be explained solely by occurrence of single factor because the event at workplace were necessary and significant factors for mother’s aggression but the unfortunate flat tire events and delayed roadside assistance that followed on the way to home and mess at home were strong enough for making her anger to persist a little longer or even intensify in nature. Non-linear combinations of such factors frustrated her to the point that she ended up venting all her withheld aggression on her daughter by ultimately grounding her for a month. Although all these factors contributed to the persistence and outburst of mother’s anger but all these differ significantly in degree of causation. Rude and violent behaviour of patient at workplace, allocation of night shift because of lack of seniority and flat tire on the way to home after 12-hour rough shift and delayed road assistance were factors that were highly intense in degree in comparison to the incomplete chores at home. These factors acted as absolute causality for persistence and outburst of mother’s frustration and anger as these were necessary and sufficient condition to evoke such response whereas incomplete chores at home acted as conditional causality for outburst of anger as it was necessary but not sufficient cause to result in such intense outrage that compelled mother to ground her daughter for a month.

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Multiple Causation A How have you become as successful a student as you are? Is it because you are just naturally smart? Are you good at taking notes? Did your parents pay for tutors when you were younger (or currently)? Whatever reasons you have identified, what you may have discovered is that this is no simple questi