Easy Methods to Solve Cause and Effect Questions

Cause and effect questions are always asked to find the link connecting two things or statements. Cause and effect statements are used to check if any two statements are causally related to each other. Solving cause and effect questions is more logically demanding, however. It involves the use of one’s logical reasoning to be able to decide the relationship between two statements. To be able to know which is the cause and which is the effect in any given statement, a good knowledge of the tricks in solving cause and effect questions is required. This article exposes the different tricks and methods that would help you in solving any cause and effect question.

How to Solve a Cause and Effect Question with Simple Methods

Sometimes, both the cause and effect of an event can be found in the same statement. At other times, they may not be seen together in the same statement.

Two effects also can have a cause that is independent of them, i.e., there could be an independent cause of two events in the statements, which means that the cause has no relationship with the effects.

• The cause always occurs before the effect. For an effect to take place, there must have been a cause leading to it. So, if two statements are given, look deeply to know which would have to occur first and lead to the other’s occurrence. The event which will happen first is the cause, while the other is the effect.

• Read the question very well to be able to detect the relationship between the two statements. Sometimes, the cause might come before the effect, while it might not at other times. Carefully reading the question will show you which one is the cause and which one is the effect.

• In some cause and effect questions, one of the two statements might be the cause. However, sometimes, there might not be a cause among the two statements. In this case, the effects have an independent cause, i.e., the cause has no relationship with the effects.

• Try to understand the premise under discussion. This is another vital tip for effectively solving cause and effect questions.

• There could be times when the premise under discussion might not be visible in the statement. At this time, you will have to ultimately engage your logical reasoning to be able to detect the possible effects of a particular cause.

• You should know that although the two situations in the statements could both be related to a single subject, they might still not have a cause and effect relationship.

• When the two events are effects of a common cause or effects of an independent cause, do not try to force them into a cause and effect relationship. Instead, you should logically decode their common cause or their independent cause.

Some Solved Examples of Cause and Effect Questions

Here are a few solved examples of cause and effect questions.

Instructions:

In each of the questions below, two statements, I and II, are given. These statements may be either independent causes, effects of independent causes, or a common cause. One of these statements may be the effect of the other statements. Read the two statements carefully and choose from the options given below.

Statement I: The students played football.

Statement II: It was the school’s inter-house sports day yesterday.

Options:

(A) Statement I is the cause, and statement II is its effect.

(B) Statement II is the cause, and statement I is its effect.

(C) Both statements I and II are independent causes.

(D) Both statements I and II are effects of independent causes.

(E) Both statements I and II are effects of some common cause.

Ans. B.

Statement I: Frank did not study hard.

Statement II: Frank failed his entrance examination

Options:

(A) Statement I is the cause, and statement II is its effect.

(B) Statement II is the cause, and statement I is its effect.

(C) Both statements I and II are independent causes.

(D) Both statements I and II are effects of independent causes.

(E) Both statements I and II are effects of some common cause.

Ans. A.

Conclusion

Generally, solving cause and effect questions revolves around knowing some simple methods and tips. These kinds of questions are important when it comes to competitive exams, and by learning the tricks to solve such questions, one can easily ace the test. This article clearly demonstrated all you need to effectively solve cause and effect questions.