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This chapter sets out key considerations in working with causation in educational research. These include: causes and conditions; causal inference and probabilistic causation; explanation, prediction and correlation; over-determination; timing and scope of factors in understanding cause and effect; causal direction; counterfactuals and establishing causation; problems of causal evidence; researching the effects of causes and the causes of effects; causal modelling; linear and non-linear causation; causal nets and chains; and challenges in working with causation. In doing so the chapter draws attention to key seminal texts and ideas in causation, for example, the work of Hume, Mill, Mackie, Reichenbach and Goldthorpe. It shows how educational research can work with these concerns, and it provides many worked examples to illustrate the points being made. The chapter indicates different approaches to working with causation in educational research, for example, experiments; ex post facto research; action research; observational approaches; surveys. |
