Spot the difference: Causal contrasts in scientific diagrams

Area of Science:

• Scientific visualization
• Epistemology
• Information design

Background:

• Scientific diagrams are crucial for identifying causal relationships.
• Causal contrast diagrams highlight the effects of specific difference-makers.
• These diagrams appear in diverse formats, making them difficult to categorize.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the varied appearances of causal contrast diagrams across scientific reports.
• To identify the conceptual unity underlying diverse diagram formats.
• To understand the role of these diagrams in inferring, communicating, and providing evidence for causal claims.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of four case studies from experimental, observational, and theoretical scientific reports.
• Examination of diverse visual formats including photographs, line graphs, bar graphs, and state space plots.
• Investigation of how diagrams present causal contrasts to demonstrate effect existence and specificity.

Main Results:

• Causal contrast diagrams manifest in numerous formats, from complex molecular visualizations to simple graphs.
• Despite visual diversity, a conceptual unity exists among these diagrams.
• Diagrams serve as primary evidence for causal claims in some studies and often display multiple contrasts for specificity.

Conclusions:

• Causal contrast diagrams are a fundamental, albeit varied, tool in scientific reporting.
• They are essential for inferring, communicating, and substantiating causal relationships.
• These diagrams encapsulate core epistemic claims within scientific research.