Cause and effect is a rhetorical style that focuses on the connection between causes and effects. This kind of essay is commonly encountered in both writing classes and other disciplines. For example, you may be asked to write about the causes for the decline of a particular company in your business class, or you may be asked to write about the causes of the rise in obesity rates in the United States for your nursing class. A cause and effect essay should clearly identify why something happens or what happens as a result or something.
Research the events thoroughly. It is easy to find one obvious cause or effect, and careful research will help you discover any others that are worth communicating.
Explain the causes and effects in order. List the causes in chronological order. Organizing by time makes it easy for the reader to understand.
Explain how certain you are. If you find evidence showing that one connection is very strong, write that. If there’s a slight or possible connection, write that. If you're predicting a future effect where an effect is likely but not certain, write that. In any case, use evidence or logical reasoning to support your claims.
Avoid post hoc reasoning. Post hoc reasoning is when one action happens before another, and you conclude that the first action caused the second action. A good example of this is superstitions. For example, if you wear a new sweater the day you ace an exam, you might believe that it’s your lucky sweater.
Use paragraphs to make things clear. There are no strict rules about the number of paragraphs. Often, a writer will describe one cause or one effect in a single paragraph. However, if the paragraph gets long and unwieldy, it can be split into two or three paragraphs. Your essay may focus mainly on the causes, mainly on the effects, or both equally.
There are several common structures. One common structure is the block structure. When using the block structure, there could be one cause with several effects, or there could be several causes with one effect. Another common structure is the chain structure, where one cause leads to an effect, that effect leads to another effect, and a chain reaction occurs. Regardless of the structure, be specific about what the causes and effects are.
Here are some useful expressions for signaling cause and effect.
owing to
a key factor
because
since
due to
one reason
since this occurred
the first cause
as a result
resulting in
consequently
as a consequence
therefore
so
thus
the first effect
Correlation is not causation. Another way of putting this is, maybe you can find a pattern, but that doesn't mean one thing causes another. This is easiest to see through examples.
Ice cream sales and deaths by drowning are both low in winter and high in summer. Does buying ice cream cause drowning?
Ex-smokers are more likely to die of lung cancer than current smokers. Does stopping smoking cause lung cancer?
Children that watch a lot of TV are the most violent. Does watching TV make you violent?
The more firemen are sent to a fire, the more damage is done. Are firemen dangerous?
Children with tutors get worse grades than children without tutors. Are tutors harmful?
One unlikely setup
Another unlikely setup
The most likely setup, with a confounding variable
We can often use common sense to determine whether one thing causes another, but some situations are complex and it can be difficult to prove. Some university-level courses delve deeply into the subject. For the sake of this essay, be clear about what you think causes what, and why. If something is a partial cause, a possible cause, or one of several causes, write that.
Confounding happens when a third variable is a cause of both variables we are considering. This is also called a causal fork. In the ice-cream-and-drowning-deaths example depicted above, hot weather is a third variable, likely to cause an increase in both ice cream sales and number of deaths by drowning.
Selection bias is another reason that we sometimes find patterns in data that look like causation but aren't. For example, a newspaper might conduct a survey to find out what newspapers are popular. If the survey is conducted by telephone using home phones (landlines), it is likely to under-count younger adults who only own cellphones. Similarly, if the survey is conducted during the day, people who work 9-5 jobs won't be included, and if it's conducted in the evening, people who work night jobs won't be included.
Selection bias often occurs in public surveys
could / could have may / may have
might / might have some impact
perhaps possible
potential slight impact
Why Our Forests Are Burning
James Sexton & Derek Soles
Composition and Literature
August 28, 2019
Forestry ranks among British Columbia’s most lucrative industries, generating billions of dollars in export revenue and providing jobs for over 200,000 workers. However, forest fires pose a big threat to the viability of the business; in the past two years, fire has destroyed some 24,000 square kilometres of British Columbia forests. The resulting costs to the province in loss of revenue, purchase and use of expensive equipment, and overtime wages have reached nearly half a billion dollars (Lindsay, 2018). Though lightning strikes and human carelessness continue to be the leading causes of forest fires, global warming has intensified the danger in recent years.
In order to spread, fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat. Biomass production and vegetative growth provide fuel for forest fires and the photosynthesis of living green organisms creates oxygen (Nix, 2018). When these natural combustibles reach 572ºF, gas in the steam given off reacts with oxygen to reach its flash point with a burst of flame, creating an uncontrolled forest fire.
There are three primary classes of forest fires, depending on the types of fuels involved and their moisture content. Surface fires typically burn readily but at a low intensity; crown fires generally result from intense rising ground fire heat and occur in the higher sections of draping trees; ground fires are the most infrequent type of fire but make for very intense blazes that can potentially destroy all vegetation and organic manner, leaving only bare earth. These largest fires actually create their own winds and weather, increasing the flow of oxygen and “feeding” the fire (Nix, 2018).
Naturally caused forest fires are usually started by dry lightning, where drought accompanies a stormy weather disturbance. Lightning randomly strikes the earth an average of 100 times each second and has caused some of the most notable woodland fire disasters in North America. Because they often occur in isolated locations with limited access, lightning fires burn more acres than human-caused starts (Nix, 2018).
In 2018, between April 1 and August 27, humans were responsible for starting more than 420 of about 1,950 wildfires in British Columbia. Campfires, cigarettes, flares, and car accidents are some of the most common human causes (Smart, 2018). During periods of heightened fire activity, these wildfires divert critical resources away from the naturally caused wildfires that can’t be prevented. The Wildfire Service lumps human activities that spark fires into broad categories, including smoking, electrical, and structure or vehicle fires that spread. About 23 percent of fires started by humans fall under the broad umbrella of “incendiary devices,” which include matches, lighters, flare guns, and others. About 22 per cent spread from campfires. And about the same number begin with open fires, which are larger fires that include burn barrels, pile burning, and large-scale industrial burning (Smart, 2018).
Today, climate change is increasing both the frequency and intensity of wildfires; severe droughts, declining snowpack, more frequent thunderstorms and extreme heat due to rapid warming in the Arctic are all contributing factors. Early in 2018, the World Meteorological Organization noted that the years 2015, 2016, and 2017 were clearly warmer than any year prior to 2015 and, in BC, numerous heat records were broken across the province in July 2018 (Riley, 2018).
Prolonged periods of drought cause forest floors to become lined with dry, dead wood. This combustible material becomes fuel for wildfires and, in hot, dry conditions, a strike of lightning or a carelessly discarded cigarette can be incendiary. Ensuing fires can rip through forests, quickly becoming a dangerous crown fire that burns from treetop to treetop. We can attribute some of these hot, dry conditions to the weakening of the jet stream, the air current that drives weather conditions in the northern hemisphere. The jet stream gets its energy from the temperature difference between Arctic areas and equatorial regions. That temperature difference is getting smaller, so that means our jet stream is getting stagnant and it stalls. A weaker jet stream means hot and dry areas stay that way. The result has obvious implications for wildfires (Riley, 2018).
Adaptation to a new climate-fuelled fire season will prove difficult. Most fire ecologists advocate for prescribed burns, whereby intentionally lit fires burn off the excess fuel in the forest. Letting fires burn may diminish the possibility of catastrophic fires in the future by reducing the amount of fuel built up in the forest. But past forestry-management practices favoured extinguishing wildfires as soon as they started, which has also contributed to increasingly devastating mega-fires. Climate change on top of fire suppression has made the situation much worse. Even if we stopped producing greenhouse gases today, we would continue to warm for the next 50 to 100 years because of the lag in our climate system (Riley, 2018). We are going to continue to warm, so the time to act is now.
Word count: 819
References
Lindsay, B. (2018, August 28). The Future Looks Grim After 2 Years of Devastating B.C. Wildfires. CBC News.
Nix, S. (2018, July 19). The Origin of Wildfires and How They Are Caused. Thoughtco.
Riley, S. J. (2018, August 13). How Climate Change Is Making B.C.’s Wildfire Season Hotter, Longer, Drier. The Narwhal.
Smart, A. (2018, August 27). Humans Responsible for More Than 400 B.C. Wildfires So Far This Season. The Globe and Mail.
Dressing for Success: The Controversy and Benefits of School Uniforms
Emily Estrella
High School Writing
May 15th, 2022
Across history, uniforms have been seen as a form of conformity and control in religion and the army. Now, uniforms are a versatile solution to a myriad of problems occurring at schools. While this is a controversial topic, many schools claim that uniforms improve students’ performance in school, particularly their attendance, disciplinary problems, and graduation rates.
Whether it was a badge in the medieval era used to indicate certain clans or pleated skirts worn to express school pride, uniforms are currently associated with privilege and elitism. In reality, uniforms were created to equal the playing field. The first school uniform known to mankind was made in the U.K. for British schools. Its purpose was to ensure that all students, regardless of their family's financial status, have equal clothing options (Scott, 2014). This idea has now faded, with some arguing that uniforms limit students’ self-expression and creativity and can be a financial burden for families. Nevertheless, uniforms have been on the rise in the U.S., with “more than 40 percent of public schools and preschools in U.S. cities” (Bhattarai, 2019) now requiring uniforms.
Moreover, school uniforms have been found to increase attendance rates. One of the prevalent issues schools face is the decrease in students’ attendance in high school. A recent University of Houston study suggests that school uniforms can positively affect school attendance rates, particularly for females. In a study conducted in “160 public schools in a large urban school district” in the U.S. from 1993 to 2006, researchers found that “once uniforms were mandated, the school district was more likely to retain its female students at all grade levels” (Emery, 2010). According to Emery (2010), the implementation of school uniforms resulted in a decrease of one day in annual school absences among middle and high school girls. Researchers suggest that increasing attendance rates among students is very difficult, making this difference significant.
Additionally, school uniforms have been associated with a decrease in disciplinary issues. According to a study conducted at Youngstown State University, wearing school uniforms can be beneficial in managing discipline and attendance issues (Draa, 2006). Furthermore, after examining “test scores and attendance, graduation, and suspension rates from 1994 to 2002 at 64 high schools in Ohio’s eight largest public school districts” (Draa, 2006), they also found that the “mean expulsion rates dipped by 0.6 expulsion per 100 students in the years during which uniforms were required” (Draa, 2006). These results indicate that wearing uniforms in school creates a more organized learning environment with fewer behavior problems.
Furthermore, it has been shown that the requirement for school uniforms is linked to a substantial increase in graduation rates. According to research on public schools, “the mean graduation rates rose nearly 11 percent at schools that require uniforms, compared to pre-uniform years” (Draa, 2006). Similarly, research shows that uniforms increase discipline, which is a central part of academic excellence. In research published in the International Journal of Educational Management, researchers emphasized the significant role school uniforms play in maintaining school discipline and enhancing academic performance (Baumann, 2022). The findings suggest that while uniforms may not be the sole contributor to academic success, they are a contributing element that can lead to improved graduation rates.
School uniforms were initially created for equality, but now they have become a controversial topic. Despite the debate, more schools have been requiring school uniforms in recent years for improved attendance, discipline, and graduation rates. Some argue that uniforms increase academic performance and create a better learning environment, and others claim that school uniforms are restrictive and expensive. While each student has their own specific needs and that uniforms may not be most suitable for everyone, their potential to enhance students’ academic experience is evident, highlighting their overall beneficial impact.
Word count: 642
References
Baumann, C. (2022, January 8). School discipline, school uniforms and academic performance. Emerald Insight. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
Bhattarai, A. (2019, August 22). School uniforms are on the rise — even for toddlers — and it's changing back-to-school shopping. The Washington Post.
Draa, V. (2006, January 12). Study says school uniforms might help attendance, graduation rates. Cleveland 19 News.
Emery, M. (2010, April 5). UH Study Suggests School Uniforms Reduce Student Absences, Disciplinary Problems. University of Houston. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
Scott, J. (2014, September 5). School uniforms: A history of 'rebellion and conformity'. BBC.
Children’s Greatest Threat: Reading Digitally
Fannie Farmer
High School Writing
May 14th, 2024
In the past few decades, the popularity of digital media has risen, especially so because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from shopping to communicating has become digital, and along with the popularity of such digital media, even education has become more digital-based. According to a study, 98% of households with children aged 8 and under have mobile devices (López-Escribano, Carmen et al., 2021). Children have more exposure to digital content and spend more time digitally reading. Despite being common, however, reading digitally negatively affects children’s comprehension skills.
One aspect of reading digitally is digital text, which lacks the physical properties of paper. This makes it difficult to annotate the text, thus decreasing the engagement children have with the text (Dixon, 2023). Without annotation, such as highlighting and underlining keywords as you read, active reading is nearly impossible. The lack of physical properties also makes linking your memory to how far you’ve read the page or book difficult, while this type of information retention is possible with print reading (Pomeroy, 2024). Skimming through pages and setting the words as information becomes harder and requires cognitive effort with digital text because once the text is off the screen, “it’s gone, out of sight and out of mind” (Dixon, 2023). Digital text leads to less interaction compared to print, an alternative to reading digitally.
The language choice of digital text further influences children unfavorably. Digital media, such as blogs and social media, typically have a lower linguistic quality of text compared to print reading. For example, there is a “prevalence of contractions, abbreviations, and colloquial expressions” (Han, 2024), which leads to informal and shorter content. The simple language of digital text signifies less comprehension and focus needed for children to understand the text, despite the fact that children have not fully mastered the basics of vocabulary and grammar (Pomeroy, 2024).
In addition, digital reading is usually done through the small screens of smartphones and tablets. The screen time may lead to issues with children’s eyes, especially because they are still developing. One example is eye fatigue, which happens when people squint to see their screens and strain their muscles. This causes difficulty concentrating and headaches. Another example is dry eye syndrome. When children look at their screens, they tend to forget to blink. This leads to dry eyes, which feel uncomfortable and may make reading agonizing. When the screen time extends, it can also lead to blurred vision, which occurs when the eyes stay focused on the screen for long periods of time (AuYeung, 2022). When children have optical issues that lead to concentration difficulties, comprehension becomes more difficult.
Reading digitally also harms children because of cognitive load. As Dixton (2023) explains, it “is the amount of mental energy you are using to perform a task.” The more you try to multitask, the higher cognitive load is. Reading digitally is typically done on devices that have access to the internet. Those devices are “a source of extraneous cognitive load” (Dixon, 2023), and they have a lot of information that is irrelevant to what students are reading. That information places demands on people’s working memory, and it can cause overstimulation, which will lead to children learning how to be distracted rather than gaining comprehension skills (Heubeck et al., 2024). Even when children are opening a browser with only the text they want to read, they are only a click away from entertainment like social media and games. Some studies show that people tend to check their social media while reading, and since younger people have less impulse control, they may tend to check even more so (Pomeroy, 2024). Even without notifications, a psychological pull remains (Dickinson, 2022). Reducing the extraneous load, or in other words, replacing digital reading, will help children comprehend text better.
Children reading digitally results in reading without physical properties of paper, consuming text of low linguistic quality, putting a burden on their eyes, and overloading their mental capacity. All of these result in some way or another with negative impact on children’s comprehension skills, especially because children’s brains are still developing. While reducing the time children spend consuming digital texts for educational purposes will be difficult, children should be provided with printed material to not further deteriorate their comprehension skills.
Word count: 724
References
AuYeung, C. (2022, August 5). How Can Prolonged Screen Time Affect Your Child's Vision? Eyes On Norbeck. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
Dickinson, K. (2022, August 3). Master your digital distractions (without a digital detox). Big Think. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
Dixon, T. (2023, January 30). Digital vs. Print Reading: Which one's better? | IB Psychology. Themantic Education. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
Han, Yuxuan. (2024). The Impact of Digital Media on Language Styles and Communication Methods Based on Text, Image, and Video Forms. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media. 40. 210-218.
Heubeck, E., Baker, L., & Schwartz, S. (2024, January 15). Is Too Much Screen Time, Too Early, Hindering Reading Comprehension? Education Week. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
López-Escribano, C., Valverde-Montesino, S., & García-Ortega, V. (2021). The Impact of E-Book Reading on Young Children's Emergent Literacy Skills: An Analytical Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(12), 6510.
Pomeroy, R. (2024, January 10). The loss of deep reading: How digital texts impact kids' comprehension skills. Big Think. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
Do Social Media Platforms Affect Teenagers’ Communication Skills?
Georgia Green
High School Writing
April 26, 2024
Social media is often perceived as a growing concern for parents regarding its negative effects on the younger generation. Social media have emerged and spread at a high speed, especially among teenagers, who now spend one-third of their day using devices. Researchers have found out that “22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day” (Pediatrics, 2011). When teenagers are constantly exposed to social media, it is not hard to imagine that it dramatically affects their communication skills. Three noticeable effects of social media are losing confidence in communicating face-to-face, inducing cyberbullying, and taking away focus from tasks and conversations.
The first effect is that teenagers are losing interest in face-to-face interaction with others. By learning to communicate online, teenagers are starting to lose confidence in direct communications, according to the Child Mind Institute (Ehmke, n.d.). The Social Media Victims Law Center states, “If a teen’s social media engagement outweighs their in-person interactions, they may struggle to identify critical social cues such as body language, facial expressions, vocal tones, and personal space” (Bergman, n.d.). Losing valuable skills that are critical for interacting with others could result in misunderstanding others and lowering the motivation to communicate with others effectively. As a consequence, teenagers could lose confidence in communicating with others.
Secondly, long-term exposure to social media increases the probability for teenagers to get targeted for cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is “bullying that takes place over digital devices, which includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else” (What Is Cyberbullying, 2021). According to research by the Pew Research Center, out of all teenagers in America, about half of them have experienced at least one form of cyberbullying (Jiang, 2018). Studies have found that when teenagers experience cyberbullying, it leads to lowered self esteem (Cénat, 2014). Moreover, cyberbullying can induce various mental illnesses such as depression, social anxiety, and mental instability. For that reason, teenagers become fearful when interacting with others. In addition, cyberbullying often contains extreme and aggressive words which could impact teenagers’ ability to develop empathy and understanding. These problems all pose an effect towards teenagers’ development of effective communication skills.
Lastly, social media draws away teenagers’ focus from assignments and conversations. Social media constantly distracts teenagers’ attention through notifications, and teenagers cannot focus on the work they are required to do at the moment. “31% of teens said they lost focus in class because they were checking their cell phones, and 49% said using technology for reasons unrelated to class, or “off-task” use, was distracting to them” (Jiang, 2018). For example, some teenagers might be unable to pay attention to class because they do not want to miss out on the “BeReal” alert, which requires one to take a photo in less than two minutes when a notification is sent out once every day. Furthermore, teenagers could neglect face-to-face communication because they are too focused on notifications from social media. “Phubbing”, the act of ignoring the person one is with and giving attention to one’s mobile phone instead (PHUBBING | English Meaning - Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.), has increased significantly in recent years, and research by Thrive Global has found out that 44% of people have engaged in “phubbing” more than twice a day (Hsu, 2023). Constant distraction from social media leads to a reduced attention span, which ultimately results in decreasing the ability to follow the conversation while talking with others.
The rapid growth of social media among teenagers has a tremendous effect on their communication skills. Social media causes teenagers to lose interest in face-to-face interaction, exposing them to cyberbullying and distracting their focus. This all results in students not being able to fully develop their communication skills, which are fundamental in their years to come. Social media induces various threats to teenagers’ growth, and to combat this problem, urgent action is needed.
Word count: 662
References
Bergman, M. P. (n.d.). How does social media affect teens’ social skills? Social Media Victims Law Center. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
Cénat, J. M. (2014, July 18). Cyberbullying, psychological distress and self-esteem among youth in Quebec Schools. NCBI. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
Ehmke, R. (n.d.). Social Media Effects on Teens | Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem. Child Mind Institute. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
Hsu, S. (2023, May 2). Attention spans dwindle due to social media use. The Standard. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
Jiang, J. (2018, August 22). How Teens and Parents Navigate Screen Time and Device Distractions. Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
O'Keeffe, G. S., Clarke-Pearson, K., & Council on Communications and Media. (2011, April). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800–804.
PHUBBING | English meaning. (n.d.). Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
What Is Cyberbullying. (2021, November 5). StopBullying.gov. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
The Drastic Change in Education and Rehabilitation
Helen Hargreaves
High School Writing
May 14th, 2024
If ten randomly selected people were asked whether they had played games before, everyone would answer the same: yes. Yet, if the same people were to be asked whether they had played video games before, the answers may vary. Some, such as children and teenagers, may have been banned from playing it due to their parents’ beliefs that video games are harmful to their health and education. Although both are types of games, the latter has a tendency to be biased and harmful simply because it has long been believed to be so. However, recent studies have shown positive effects of video games on both the learning process in the classroom and during rehabilitation in therapy.
Video games require a number of skills, such as navigation, memory, timing, patience, communication, and a variety of others essential to excelling in them. For instance, Super Mario 64 requires the use of the hippocampus, a part of the brain used for navigation, spatial processing, and memory. Repeated usage of the hippocampus leads to an increase in gray matter, the tissues in the brain that process information (Teh, 2021). The increase in gray matter also allows gamers to better control their motor movements and increase their cognitive processing, which includes memory, decision-making, language, and attention (Wisner, 2021). Using these advantageous aspects, teachers are incorporating video games as a tool for education. For instance, the rate of students dropping out of science, technology, engineering, and math programs, also known as STEM, has been increasing. Therefore, it led to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recognizing the need “to create the STEM workforce of the future” (Thomas, 2021). Research has shown that one of the reasons students drop out of STEM programs is due to the difficulty of calculus (Thomas, 2021). Consequently, the University of Oklahoma developed a calculus game to help guide students through the learning process. According to a study conducted by Texas A&M, a similar calculus game called “Variant:Limits” significantly boosted students’ scores in introductory calculus, with the score corresponding with the amount of time spent playing it (Watts, 2019). Although video games are often seen as a hindrance and a distraction to education, they are becoming increasingly popular as a means to enhance the educational experience in the classroom.
Not only are video games effective in the education process, but they also enhance the patients’ engagement rate in therapy. A common issue during therapy is the demand for patients to devote time to lengthy sessions with therapists. In other words, it requires patience and endurance of repetition from patients. However, the reality of the patient's adherence to long-term rehabilitation programs has been reported to be as low as 23% (Jahed, 2015). As a means to resolve this issue, therapists have been looking to video games for a solution by incorporating “console-based therapy,” a rehabilitation process where patients engage in virtual games such as golf to improve their balance using consoles. Research has shown console-based therapy contributes to the overall improvement in patient engagement, finding an increase in compliance, playfulness, and endurance. As a result, researchers found that it allows patients to better cope with the repetitive nature of rehabilitation they often struggle with (Deutsch JE, 2008). No longer is rehabilitation frustrating and dull; rather, the use of consoles and virtual video games makes the process challenging and engaging. Console-based therapy is not a means to replace therapists but more of a tool with the “potential to improve compliance rates and thereby improve the functional outcome” of patients (Jahed, 2015).
To conclude, video games are becoming an essential tool during both learning in the classroom and rehabilitation throughout therapy. It highlights the importance of being open-minded and flexible to be able to accept innovative ideas. Perhaps one day, video games may help assist in the process and become one of the mainstream tools used during education and therapy.
Word count: 663
References
Jahed, S. (2015, 5 20). Gaming Technology in Neurological Rehabilitation. Physiopedia. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
Teh, C. (2021, August 15). Neuroplasticity and Video Games. The Scientific Teen. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
Thomas, A. (2021, September 6). 5 Reasons Video Games Should Be More Widely Used In School. Texas A&M Today. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
Watts, E. (2019, February 13). University Students Who Play Calculus Video Game Score Higher On Exams. Texas A&M Today. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
Wisner, W. (2024, January 8). What Does Grey Matter in the Brain Do? Verywell Mind. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
Cause & Effect Essay. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.
Frost, Jim. (2024). Selection Bias: Definition & Examples. Retrieved 2024.
Isager, P. M. (2023). Why does correlation not equal causation? CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.
Meyers, A. (2013). Longman Academic Writing: Essays to Research Papers. Pearson.
Sexton J. and Soles D. (2019). Composition and Literature. B.C. Open Textbook Collection.
Smith, S. (2022). Cause & effect essays. EAP Foundation. Retrieved 2024.