Cause-Effect Patterns
This pattern is used to show the different causes and effects of various conditions. This pattern is particularly effective when writing a persuasive document in which the writer advocates some action to solve a problem, because it demonstrates important relationships between variables. There are two major variations to this pattern; (a) dividing the outline into two major sections comprised of causes and effects; or (b) dividing the outline according to the different causes, with the effects of each cause contained within the larger "causes" section. See the examples below.
Suppose a writer's stated purpose is to explain the causes of conflict escalation and their effects. He/she could organize the information in one of the following two ways. Again, notice that either method could work equally well.