Transcript
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Multiple cause diagrams are used to explore events and states: why something has happened, or why a situation is as it is. Some examples are shown here.
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Multiple cause diagrams can help you to untangle the web of interconnected causes that combine to precipitate an event, or to perpetuate or exacerbate a situation.
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Often the aim is to identify possible points of intervention: to ensure that the event doesn't recur, or to change the situation.
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For example using this diagram, you might decide that reducing the number of lorries on the roads would be a good way to cut congestion, because the lorries contribute to congestion in two ways - both directly, and also because their wear on the roads makes repairs necessary.
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And having distinguished two independent causes of the number of lorries on the roads, you might decide that you are more likely to be able to effect the distances that goods travel than the volume of goods transported.
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Mapping the situation out in this way not only helps you to develop your understanding, but also to explain it to someone else. If their reasoning differs from yours, they can extend or amend the diagram to show you why.
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The points of intervention worth considering will depend on your involvement in the situation, as well as your reason for exploring it. For example, different government departments would be likely to focus on the issues of public transport, physical exercise, employment and road haulage. But a government that practiced 'joined up thinking' would also be likely to stand back and look at the big picture in this way, to ensure that changes to one aspect didn't have unintended consequences for some other aspect.