Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Choosing a topic for a cause and effect essay is not as easy as you might think. The biggest issue with topic selection is manageability, because choosing a topic that has too many causes or too many effects will create an organizational nightmare for you, not to mention a horrible mess as you attempt to write the essay. The best method to select a cause and effect essay topic is to choose a general topic area that interests you, and then to begin to ask yourself questions like, “What are three causes of (insert topic)” or what are three effects of (insert topic)? If you can get down to 3-4 causes or effects, you will have a refined topic that you can actually develop into a good essay. The following cause and effect essay topics list should help you in two ways – it will give you ideas for your own topic choice, and it will show how topics need to be refined so that they are manageable.

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Sociology and Psychology

• Causes of Divorce/Effects of Divorce on Children
• Causes of Teenage Rebellion
• Causes of Sibling rivalry
• Effects of Birth Order on Personality
• Causes/Effects of Helicoptering Parenting

Topics for Economics

• Causes/Effects of the 2008 Financial Meltdown
• Effects of Baby Boomers Reaching Retirement Age
• Economic Effects of Obesity in the U.S.
• Effects of Globalization on Ecommerce

Health Care Topics

• Effects of globalization on the Spread of Disease
• Effects of Stress on Physical Health
• Environmental Causes of Cancer
• Effects of Lack of Health Insurance on Public Health

Education

• Causes of Student Drop Out
• Effect of Standardized Testing on Classroom Instruction
• Causes of Teacher Burnout
• Effect of Newer Free Coursework Opportunities on Traditional College Educational Programs

History/Political Science

• Causes of the “Arab Spring”
• Effects of Illegal Immigration on Education and Social Welfare Costs
• Causes of Gridlock in the U.S. Congress/Effects of Gridlock on the U.S. Economy
• Effect of the Supreme Court Decision on LGBT rights on Private Businesses
• Causes of the “Occupy Wall Street’ Movement
• Effects of Social Media on Political Movements Around the World
• Effects of Huge Money Interests on Elections

Science Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• Effects of Climate Change on our Oceans
• Causes of Extreme Weather Patterns
• Effects of Microelectronics on Medical Treatments
• Effects of Fracking on our Geological Stability

Topic Selection Must Relate to the Breadth and Depth of the Essay or Paper Assignment

If your assignment is for a basic, rather short essay, you will need to refine your topic selection to very narrow parameters, and you will have to confine your piece to either just causes of just effects. There is simply not the space to do much more.

If, on the other hand, your assignment involves a major research paper, you can obviously pick a topic that involves multiple causes and effects, because they can be covered well in a longer piece.

As an example, consider the issue of causes and effects of the destruction of our oceanic ecosystems. A basic 5-6 paragraph essay will need to be confined to either causes or effects, and probably just to certain behaviors of man that are contributing to the destruction – garage, mining of coral reefs, etc. If on the other hand, a research work is to be produced, there will be plenty of space to address many causes – garbage, mining of coral reefs, ocean warming, rising sea levels, etc. as well as effects, such as the killing off of certain aquatic life forms that in turn are causes of the demise of other oceanic life forms.

If you continue to struggle with a topic selection or refinement, you may want to search for additional topic suggestions through online resources. Barring that, you can certainly seek help from a professional writing service that employs content-specific researchers and writers.