1) Cause and Effect

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION

II. DESCRIPTIONA. ONE OF THE STATEMENTS IS THE CAUSE AND THE OTHER IS THE EFFECT

B. BOTH STATEMENTS ARE INDEPENDENT CAUSES

C. BOTH STATEMENTS ARE EFFECTS OF A COMMON CAUSE

D. TWO STATEMENTS ARE EFFECTS OF INDEPENDENT CAUSES

III. MINI EXERCISE

IV. GENERAL QUESTION PATTERN

V. SOLVED EXAMPLES

VI. SUMMARY

Cause and Effect

I. INTRODUCTION

The student’s analytical reasoning ability is tested by questions on the

subject of “Cause and Effect.” If an action or situation (A) has occurred

because of some other action or situation (B), then (B) is the cause of (A).

Alternatively, (A) is said to be the effect of (B).

II. DESCRIPTION

These questions require that the given statements be classified either as

“Cause” or “Effect”. In order to do this correctly, the nature of the

relationship that exists between the statements needs to be properly

understood and identified.

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As there are many different types of relations which can exist between

the pairs of statements given, the following simple example is used to

illustrate the point and help give a better understanding of the concept.

Example 1:

In the given situation, identify which statement is the Cause and

which is the Effect.

(a) Ustad Zakir Hussain is a genius who has composed amazing

musical pieces through years of determination and hard work.

(b) Ustad Zakir Hussain was awarded the National award for

outstanding achievement in music.

Explanation:

In this case statement (b) has occurred because of (a). Without (a),

(b) would not have happened. This shows that (a) is the “Cause” of

(b), or you can say that (b) is the “Effect” of (a).

DEFINITION OF THE CAUSEEFFECT RELATIONSHIP

If an action, event, situation, thought or occurrence labelled (X) is

responsible for or brings into existence another action, event, situation,

thought or occurrence labelled (Y) and you can say (Y) happened because

of (X), then there exists a cause and effect relationship between (X) and

(Y). In this case, (X) is said to be the cause and (Y) is the effect.

THE DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH A RELATIONSHIP OF THIS TYPE

CAN BE IDENTIFIED ARE GIVEN BELOW.

A. ONE OF THE STATEMENTS IS THE CAUSE AND THE OTHER IS THE

EFFECT

Example 2:




Identify the relation between the two statements.

A The railway signalling system is not functioning properly.

B There have been many rail accidents lately.

Explanation:

In this case the malfunctioning of the signalling system is the reason

for the rail accidents.

Hence, (A) is the Cause and (B) is the Effect.

B. BOTH STATEMENTS ARE INDEPENDENT CAUSES

Example 3:


A The railway signalling system is not functioning properly.

B There have been no population control measures implemented.

Explanation:

In this case, there is no relation between the two statements. It

appears that there may be some outcome of the two given

statements. For example, statement (A) may be the cause of

accidents happening. Statement (B) may be the cause of very high

population growth.

Hence, both the statements are independent causes.

C. BOTH STATEMENTS ARE EFFECTS OF A COMMON CAUSE




Example 4:


A Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

B Mother Teresa is loved and respected all over the world.

Explanation:

In this case, both the statements are effects of the exemplary work

of Mother Teresa. Even though there is no direct connection

between the two statements, a link to the two statements is clearly

indicative of a common cause.

Hence, (A) and (B) are both effects of a common cause.

D. TWO STATEMENTS ARE EFFECTS OF INDEPENDENT CAUSES

Example 5:


A It is not possible to travel by local train during rush hour.

B There have been many rail accidents lately.

Explanation:

In this case, Statement (A) is probably the effect of overcrowding in

trains and statement (B) is probably the effect of faulty equipment

or human error.

Hence, (A) and (B) are effects of independent causes.

III. MINI EXERCISE




1. 1 – d

2. 2 – c

3. 3 – a

4. 4 – b

Questions 14: Match the Causes in Column 1 with the suitable Effects

in Column 2.

Explanation:

Shahrukh Khan’s performance is the cause of him getting an award.

Hence, the 1d link is obvious. The Indian audiences’ dislike of sad

endings is the reason for commercial filmmakers not making films

with sad endings. Hence, 2c. Since Sanjay D has been convicted and

will not be able to act, his films had to be shelved. Hence, 3a. Since

thousands of people come to Mumbai to act in Bollywood films the

competition for roles has intensified. Hence, 4b.

Solution:




1. 1 – d

2. 2 – None

3. 3 – None

4. 4 – b and c

� Usually this pattern comprises a set of questions having the instruction at the start along with the directions.

Questions 58: Match the Causes in Column 1 with the suitable Effects

in Column 2

Explanation:

Private transport being extremely expensive in Europe is the likely

cause of most Europeans preferring to travel by public transport. So

the 1d link is clear. The reduction in cost of raw materials is likely to

make cars cheaper. It can also have the effect of increasing the profits

of car manufacturers. Hence (b) and (c) are both effects of a common

cause (4). Statement (a) is not the effect of any of the statements in

the first column. It is an independent effect. Similarly statements (2)

and (3) do not have any effects in the second column. Hence, they are

independent causes.

Solution:

IV. GENERAL QUESTION PATTERN




� Each question comprises two statements.

� Generally an array of five options which classify the relationship between the two statements is offered.

� The option in which the statements are correctly classified is to be selected.

Sample (CET 2006):

Each question has two statements. Identify the nature of the

relationship between them.

Options:

(1) if statement A is the cause and statement B is the effect.

(2) if statement B is the cause and statement A is the effect.

(3) if statements A and B are independent causes.

(4) if statements A and B are effects of independent causes.

(5) if statements A and B are effects of a common cause.

A. There is an ever increasing demand for gold ornaments in

India due to the wedding season.

B. The price of gold has gone up all over the country.

Explanation:

It is obvious from the two statements that the price of gold has

gone up because of the increasing demand for gold during the

wedding season.

Hence, statement (A) is the cause and (B) is the effect.

Hence, the correct answer is option 1.




V. SOLVED EXAMPLES

Each question has two statements. Identify the nature of the

relationship between them.

(1), if statement A is the cause and statement B is the effect.

(2), if statement B is the cause and statement A is the effect.

(3), if statements A and B are independent causes.

(4), if statements A and B are effects of independent causes.

(5), if statements A and B are effects of a common cause.

Example 6:

A: The tyre of the left rear wheel of Ram’s car got punctured on the

way while he drove to the interview.

B: Ram did not get the job because he arrived late for the interview.

Solution:

The objective in this question is to identify the relation between the

two statements i.e. between Ram’s car getting a tyre puncture and

his not getting the job as a result of reaching late.

The first statement says that Ram was travelling by car to the

interview. The tyre puncture probably delayed Ram. The second

statement says that Ram reached late and did not get the job. So we

can say that statement (A) is the cause of Statement (B).


Example 7:

A : Harbhajan was fined 10% of his match fee by the umpire.




B : Harbhajan broke the code of conduct by using abusive language

while playing the match.

Solution:


two statements i.e. between Harbhajan being fined and his using

abusive language during the match.

The second statement says that Harbhajan broke the rules by using

abusive language during the match. The breaking of rules probably

caused the umpire to punish him. The first statement says that he

was fined. So, statement (B) is the cause of Statement (A).


Example 8:

A: There were a lot of poor people in Mother Teresa’s city, Kolkata.

B: Dr. Singh liberalized the Indian economy in 1991.

Solution:


two statements i.e. between Mother Teresa’s work and Dr. Singh’s

liberalization policy.

It is obvious that there is no relation between the two statements. It

appears that statement (A) is the cause of Mother Teresa taking up

social work. Statement (B) can probably be the cause of the current

growth of the Indian economy. Hence, statements (A) and (B) are

independent causes.





1. India was finally able to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Example 9:

A: Sachin won the man of the match award in the final cricket

match.

B: The sports minister praised Sachin for his fantastic performance

in the final.

Solution:


two statements

i.e. between Sachin winning the man of the match award and the

praise of the sports minister.

There is some relation between the two statements since they are

both about Sachin and refer to his performance in the final.

However, we cannot say that any one statement is the cause of the

other. Therefore it appears that both statements probably have a

common cause. The common cause could be that Sachin had played

the final match exceptionally well. Hence, statements (A) and (B)

are effects of a common cause.


REMEMBER:

Please note the difference between options (3) and (4). In both cases

you have two statements that are unrelated. You may feel that they

can be classified as causes as well as effects. In order to decide

between options (3) and (4) you must consider the tone and the

apparent context of the statements.

For Example:




2. Ramesh was rewarded with a scholarship by the school authorities.

1. Indian athletes practised extremely hard to qualify for the Olympic Games.

2. Ramesh studied day and night for his SSC examination.

The above statements are unrelated. However, both of them seem to be the

result or the end product of some activity. India was finally able to qualify

probably because of effort put in by the sports authorities or because other

nations withdrew or some other reason. Similarly, Ramesh was probably

rewarded with a scholarship because of some reason like his hard work or

excellent performance. Thus, the statements seem to describe effects of

some actions or occurrences rather than causes. Hence, these are

independent effects.

Now consider the following two statements:

The above statements are unrelated. However, they are statements which

are likely to result in some achievement. The India athletes practising hard

may be the reason why they qualified for the Olympics. Also Ramesh

studying day and night may be the reason for him performing excellently at

the SSC examination. Therefore, these are independent causes.

VI. SUMMARY

A. Do not judge whether individual statements are correct or wrong

from your personal viewpoint.

B. Pay attention to the different options in the questions.

1. If statement A is the cause and statement B is the effect.

2. If statement B is the cause and statement A is the effect.

3. If statements A and B are independent causes.

4. If statements A and B are effects of independent causes.

5. If statements A and B are effects of a common cause.

* pay special attention to option (5) as most students overlook




********************************* End of Lesson *********************************

this option when they see that there are two related statements

and choose from the first two options.

C. The options will help you solve the question even if one of the

statement is ambiguous.

D. If there is no relation between the two statements you can eliminate

options 1, 2 and 5 because in these options you are bound to see

some connection between the two statements. In this case you only have to see whether the statements appear to be causes or effects

and decide between options 3 and 4.

E. To identify statements that seem to be related, try to imagine which

statement will chronologically follow the other. This will help you

distinguish between the cause and the effect.




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1) Cause and Effect