Guide to Causal Mapping
Overview
What is Causal Map?
Videos
Support chat
Quizzes
Mailing list
Selected projects to date
License
1: Getting Started
Level 1 overview
📚 What is a causal map?
📚 What is causal mapping?
Causation - no longer a taboo
CEDIL Video on Impact evaluation: causal maps, mechanisms and the elusive quest for useful middle range theory
📚 Are Causal Map and causal mapping for you?
Prerequisites for using the app
Signing up
Accounts
Getting help
Tooltips
Blue info buttons
Help button
Support chat
Has someone shared a file with you?
You want to code your own data?
Your first 5 minutes with Causal Map
Quick tour of the app
Coding a file
Multiple statement selector
Viewing and analysing a file
The Dashboard
The other tabs
Interactive View
Tracing paths
Print view
Copying your map as a vector image
Tables
Presets
Level 1 quiz
2: Basic Coding
Level 2 overview
Making your own copy of a file
Creating a new file
How to upload and update your data – Overview
Preparing to code
The info panel
The memos panel
The Coding Panel: creating factors and links
Creating links in the app
About the factor label dropdown menus
Editing factors and links (basic)
📚 Factor labels: introduction
📚 Factor labels: actual facts?
📚 Factor labels: actor-focused
📚 Factor labels: semi-quantitative
“Semi-quantitative’ labels
Examples of semi-quantitative factors
Non-quantitative factors
📚 Factor labels: using hashtags
Level 2 quiz
3: Basic analysis
Level 3 overview
Analysing a file
Background information about filters
The Dashboard
Tables
Features common to all the tables
Main controls
Search
Sorting
The Factors table
Factor memos
The Mentions Table
The Links Table
Fields
The Statements Table
Fields
The Sources Table
Fields
The Questions Table
The Closed Question Blocks Table
The Metrics Table
Summary
What the metrics mean
Level 3 quiz
📚4: Advanced coding
Level 4 overview
Managing your file: The top menu
Sharing files with the Current File Manager
Sharing and locking files
File memo
Making your own copy of a file
Saving a file as currently filtered
Restoring a previous version of your file
Uploading your data
Chat about this file
Data manager
Sources in statements table not in sources table:
Links which seem to have quotes which are not actually contained in the corresponding statements:
Missing sources in statements table:
Sources in sources table not in statements table:
Statements in links table not in statements table:
Memos in Causal Map
Collaborating at Causal Map
Overview
Details
Teams
Uploading your data
🧪Uploading text documents including Word and PDFs
Uploading a standard format Excel file
Formatting a Standard Format file
Pasting data from a Word document into Excel
Providing additional data like gender
Uploading a wide-format Excel file
Adding additional cases with wide-format files
Uploading a hybrid format Excel file
Uploading closed questions in hybrid format
Appending
hybrid data
QuIP recodes for closed questions - live link
🧪Uploading existing causal coding (“links only”)
Uploading additional data like age, gender
Uploading closed question blocks
Uploading your data: special cases
Uploading from other software
Exporting for upload into kumu.io
Exporting for upload into NodeXL
Appending and fixing data (“roundtripping”)
General principles
Downloading a file
Uses for roundtripping
What if you have merged cells in your Excel file?
Merging files
Alternative method
Editing factors and links (advanced)
📚 Factor labels: consolidating
Consolidating and editing factor labels
Merging multiple factors into one
QuIP specific: back-chaining
📚 Factor labels: desirable?!
📚 Factor labels: more about hashtags
Hashtags for bundling factors
Intervention hashtags
Outcome hashtags
Hanging hashtags
The Factor Editor
Summary
Editing factor labels in the Factor Editor
Merging your factors
Split-recoding existing factors: Use the
Split
checkbox.
Advanced editing tips
The factor editor sidebar
📚 Simplifying causal maps with hierarchical coding
Summary
Introduction
A factor can’t belong to two different hierarchies
Zooming out
Zooming out is like making deductions with the ; separator
Semi-quantitative formulations work best
Higher-level factors are
generalisations
Don’t mix desirability!
Using higher level factors for “Mixed bags”
Hierarchical coding as a way of coping with a large number of factors
Don’t use a hierarchy when a hashtag will do
Re-usable factor components as hashtags
Hierarchical factors in Causal Map
Creating labels
Organising your factors using the Factor Editor
Additional calculated fields
Additional functionality when creating and editing links
Quick tails: quickly adding new “daughters” of an existing “mother”
Additional functionality when searching for and filtering factors
How can I view just the factors where I have applied hierarchical coding?
📚 Coding opposites
Summary
Combining opposites
Two-tone links
Filtering
Opposites coding within a hierarchy
Opposites coding within components of a hierarchy
Unpacking opposites
🧪The border colours and how to override them
Importing a codebook of factors
Creating links (more tips)
How the factor dropdowns work
Creating more than one link at a time
Chaining Links
Link memos and hashtags
Using memos and hashtags
Memos
Link hashtags
Ellipses
Coding your statements in context: referring to evidence from elsewhere
Quickfields
Summary
Alternative formulations
Quickfields are also ordinary hashtags
Syntax
More than one quick field
Permanence
Position in hierarchy
Current limitation
Quickfields for links
Quickfields for factor labels versus ordinary hashtags for links
📚 Plain coding
Summary
What the app does
Future
Document coding score
Level 4 quiz
5: Advanced analysis
Level 5 overview
Dashboard (advanced)
Using and sharing a view
⭐ Recommended views versus 🤵custom views
Complete views versus “Add-ons”
To edit the content (filter, tab etc) of an existing view:
Applying a view
For admins
Filters – overview
Applying different filters
Find factors
Searching and filtering factors
Find statements, find links
Find links
Highlight only
Remove brackets
Excluding factors, links, statements, sources and questions with
notcontains
and
notequals
Trace paths
Bundle factors
Combine opposites
🧪 Mutate factors or links: calculate new factor or link fields
🧪 Pick factors or links
Filtering group by group
What is the logic behind the Causal Map filters?
Keeping it simple
The order of the filters with calculated fields
Autocorrect
Where do these islands come from in my map?
🧪When do factor metrics like frequencies get calculated?
Filters: tips
Restoring previous filter
📚 Analysis: comparing maps between particular groups
Filtering by respondent group
Showing
distinctive maps
for each group
Filtering statements and groups for comparisons in Causal Map
Percentages
Surprise
Quickfields: analysis
Summary
Uses
Quickfields are also ordinary hashtags
Hiding quickfields
Current limitation
🧪Quickfields for links
📚 Tracing paths
Summary
How to trace paths
Removing unwanted links
Tracing threads
Summary
Tracing threads
Continuity
Summary
Advanced diagnostic filter: Mark links for continuity (Print View only)
Advanced diagnostic filter: Show continuity
Summary
Showing continuity with arrowtypes
Showing continuity with colours
More about these metrics
Conditional formats
Conditional formatting for links
🧪Dashed links
Conditional formatting for factors
Colour text
Label factors
Bundle links
Colours
Fixed colours
Changing discrete palettes
Calculated fields
Links table
Factors table
When combining opposites
Simple formats
Fixed colours for all links, factors and factor borders
Setting specific colours for links, factors and factor borders
Wrap factor/link labels
Cluster factors
Set print format
Layout
Smart zooming
📚 Clustering sources
Filtered clusters
The clustering algorithm
Bundling links by cluster
Finding many solutions at once
📚 Interpreting your results
Tables - advanced
Creating your table
Print view
Formatting your table
Saving your table
Top tips on coding
Level 5 quiz
The rest of the app
The Updates tab
The File Manager
Managing your subscription
Auto-coding using AI
Languages
It isn’t cheap
The coding prompt
Identifying links
Choosing between single
links
(A>>B and B>>C) or
chains
(A>>B>>C):
Ensuring quotes are provided
Colon style
Slash style
Limitations
Consistency across factor labels
The prompt library
Auto coding: Clicking “Go”
Batches / all at once
Large batches or small batches?
Inspecting and improving coding
Tagging statements as examples
Clustering
Clustering 1) Providing clustering suggestions for the prompt
Clustering 2) Using the
Cluster factors
filter
Importing from StorySurvey
📚Spotlights
Spotlight
📚 Causal Mapping: Definitions
What is a causal map? What is causal mapping?
Summary
📚 Causal mapping for evaluators
Causal mapping for evaluators
Features which causal mapping approaches have in common
Causality
Modularity
Causal maps as a summary of qualitative data analysis of textual causal claims for each link
Causal mapping as a form of data collection
QuIP as a form of causal mapping
QuIP: explanations of changes do not themselves also have to be changes
Advantages of causal mapping
Induct
Discover
Distinguish
Present
Query
Quote
Reuse
When to use Causal Map
📚 Causal Mapping and Outcome Harvesting
📚 Context in causal mapping: how to code it
Using context in the Causal Map app
📚 Beware the transitivity trap
The transitivity trap
Not just a problem for causal mapping
Can we mitigate the trap with careful elicitation protocols?
Transitivity trap, or identity trap?
📚 Cases, variables and percentages in causal mapping?
📚 Different kinds of question chaining, with QuIP and ParEvo as illustrations
Four options with Fixed versus Variable question chaining
Single versus multiple
Future in past, past in future
Closed vs open questions
Going both ways: bi-directional chaining
Evaluation
📚 How to get to the shadow side: a problem with back-chaining
Concert example
Football example
One solution: pairs of initial questions
Solving the deeper problem
So what can we do?
Counterfactual worlds
Best solution?
Encoding the results
Conclusion
Finally …
📚 Strength: Adding additional information like strength of a link in a causal map
📚 The last minute principle
📚 Causal maps, systems maps, what’s the difference? Does it matter?
What is the difference between a causal map and a systems map?
Are systems maps about systems?
📚 Coding time in causal mapping
Temporal features which can emerge without explicit coding of time
Temporal information attached to additional data
Recording temporal information in causal links
Recording temporal information in factor labels
Use a hashtag
Use components in hierarchical coding
Use higher-level temporal components in hierarchical coding
But what if factor labels themselves express changes?
Lateness
Analysing and displaying the results of temporal coding
More about coding opposites
Reversible?
Combining opposites and strengths
Graded factors: differences of degree
Philosophical discursion: coding with propositions
Zero influences.
📚 Puzzles in causal mapping
Distinctive Groups
Quantity of Evidence
Joining rules
Does believing that X influences Y mean you have to believe that not-X causes not-Y? Causal mapping and counterfactuals.
Homogenity of paths
(non-) solution 1)
Solution 2)
Solution 3)
Solution 4)
Solution 5)
📚 Is one direction enough?
Technical reference
Technical reference
Conventions
Formatting in this guide…
Screenshotting your maps
FAQs
Logging in
Setting Up
Uploading and tweaking data
Coding
Known Bugs
QuIP questions
Downloads
What to do when you’ve finished coding.
📚 Glossary
Generic terminology for causal mapping
Filter reference
How Causal Map is hosted
Reports tab
Sample
Hierarchy
Opposites
Rankings
Differences - questions
Differences - sample
Differences - sample
Differences - question
Hashtags
Custom
Core tables in Causal Map
The main five tables and the most important fields / columns
Factors
Links
Statements
Sources
Questions
Special case: Closed question blocks
Medals
Using the Advanced Editor to create and edit filters
Keyboard shortcuts
General
Factor Editor and Advanced Editor
Line operations
Selection
Multicursor
Go to
Find/Replace
Folding
Other
Causal Map functions
Video list
Causal mapping with Excel
Using StorySurvey
Features of Causal Map
Main features of Causal Map
Additional new features in Causal Map 2
Recent changes
Version 0.85, 1/12/2022
Tables
Removing unwanted links
Quickfields for links
Version 0.81, 9/8/2022
Importing a simple, wide-format file
Bundling links
Improved percentage labels when calculating surprise
Version 0.80, 10/6/2022
Smart zoom
Collaboration
The Dashboard
Reports Tab
Document coding score!
Copying your map as a vector image
Clustering sources
Quickfields
Plain coding
New palettes for conditional formatting
Quick tails
Search for main drivers and/or outcomes
Filtering print view of tables
Version 0.78
The Gallery
Continuity
Quickfields
Other features
Version 0.75, 27/12/2021
Print view: exporting and zooming
Label links
Highlight factors without removing other factors
Printout (for example, printout of quotes) option in tables
Path tracing
Mark links for continuity (Print View only)
Show continuity
Roundtripping with the
statements
table
📚Final section
Acknowledgements
Appendix: Publications and links
Publications
Presentations
Longer blog posts
ResearchGate
Resources and apps
Bibliography of selected causal mapping approaches
References
Causal Map
Guide to Causal Map 2
Technical reference
This section contains technical reference for the Causal Map app.