Book contents
- Causal Processes and Their Warrant
- Causal Processes and Their Warrant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Panels
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1A Theory of Singular Causation
- Chapter 1.0Towards a Thick Theory of Singular Causal Processes
- Chapter 1.1Formal Relations
- Chapter 1.2Processes and Mediators
- Chapter 1.3INUS Conditions
- Chapter 1.4Activities
- Chapter 1.5Tendency Principles
- Chapter 1.6Situation-Specific Causal Equation Models (SCEMs)
- Chapter 1.7Underlying Systems
- Chapter 1.8What We Have Done in Part 1
- Part 2What’s Warrant for Singular Causal Processes and Why
- Part 3Case Study of the Implementation of Signs of Safety in M, a UK Agency Providing a Child Protection Service
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 1.3 - INUS Conditions
from Part 1 - A Theory of Singular Causation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 April 2026
Book contents
- Causal Processes and Their Warrant
- Causal Processes and Their Warrant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Panels
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1A Theory of Singular Causation
- Chapter 1.0Towards a Thick Theory of Singular Causal Processes
- Chapter 1.1Formal Relations
- Chapter 1.2Processes and Mediators
- Chapter 1.3INUS Conditions
- Chapter 1.4Activities
- Chapter 1.5Tendency Principles
- Chapter 1.6Situation-Specific Causal Equation Models (SCEMs)
- Chapter 1.7Underlying Systems
- Chapter 1.8What We Have Done in Part 1
- Part 2What’s Warrant for Singular Causal Processes and Why
- Part 3Case Study of the Implementation of Signs of Safety in M, a UK Agency Providing a Child Protection Service
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Causes are INUS conditions: Insufficient but Necessary parts of Unnecessary but Sufficient conditions for a contribution to the effect. (This does not imply that INUS conditions are causes: the correlation may be spurious.) ‘Contribution to’ because the effect may have a different overall magnitude because other sets of factors contribute as well. INUS conditions are graphed in epidemiology as sets of ’causal pie’. The other members of such a set are labelled ‘support factors’ (or ‘moderators’) for the cause of focus and include the absence of features that can derail the process. Sometimes, particularly in qualitative comparative analysis, factors are represented as yes–no variables. Other studies allow features to vary in magnitude. A support factor of a given magnitude is represented as part of a set contributing a given magnitude to the effect. For a causal process to occur, a full causal pie must exist at each step.
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- Causal Processes and their Warrant , pp. 56 - 63Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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