POL222 Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning I  

Essay Assignment 2  

Negative List of Causal Theories  

As mentioned in the essay instructions, you should avoid using some popular ideas in  
political/social science research and the causal theories used in the assigned readings,  
lectures, and tutorial exercises.  

This document provides a list of these theories that should not be used in your essay  
assignment. You should not use the following combinations of the independent and  
dependent variables (and its reverse) in your essay assignment. It is the combination of  
these particular independent and dependent variables (and its reverse) that should not be  
used. You may still use the dependent variable listed here if you don’t use the  
independent variable paired with it as the cause in your theory, and vice versa.  

Independent Variable Dependent Variable  
Attendance in Preschool Academic Performance  
Type of School Attended  
(Public or Private) Academic Performance  
Gun Ownership Crime  
Labor Repression Economic Growth  
Economic Performance Election Outcome  
Level of Education Fertility  
Hospital Visit Health  
Medical Treatment/Drug Health  
Education Income/Wealth  
Political Regime (e.g., Democracy) Interstate War  
Ethnic Diversity Civil War  
Ethnic Diversity Number of Parties  
News Channel’s Reputation Perceived Bias of News  
Education Political Participation  
Income Political Participation  
Individual’s Race Political Participation  
Level of Economic Development Political Regime (e.g., Democracy)  
Political Regime (e.g., Democracy) Public Support for Military Action  
Recruitment Policy of Military Personnel Public Support for Military Action  
Life Satisfaction in the Mass Public Stability of Democracy  
Different Methods of Election Campaign Turnout  
Tone of Political Advertisement  
(Positive or Negative Advertisement) Turnout  
Different Type of Campaign Promise Vote Choice  
Ethnicity of Candidate Votes/Support for Party  
Income/Wealth Vote Choice  
Women’s Representation Women’s Status in Society