What is a “Cause and Effect Diagram”?

A cause-effect diagram is a visual tool used to

logically organize possible causes for a specific problem
or effect by graphically displaying them in increasing
detail, suggesting causal relationships among theories.
A popular type is also referred to as a fishbone or
Ishikawa diagram. Cause-Effect can also be
diagrammed using a tree diagram.
When diagnosing the cause of a problem, a cause-
effect diagram helps to organize various theories about
root causes and presents them graphically.
 Cause and Effect Diagram Examples
The phenomenon to be explained is “Lost control of car.”
Some of the possible major factors contributing to that lost
control are a flat tire, a slippery road, mechanical failures, and
driver error. Each of these major categories of causes may, in
turn, have multiple causes. A flat tire may come from a nail, a
rock, glass, or a blow-out from material failure. The causal
relationship can be traced back still more steps in the causal
chain if necessary or appropriate. Lost control may arise from a
mechanical failure; that failure may be a brake failure, which,
in turn, may come either from fluid loss or from worn pads.
You can probably think of other factors to add to this diagram.
Cause and Effect Diagram Example: Lost
Control of Car
Cause and Effect Diagram Key Concepts
1. A cause-effect diagram cannot identify a root cause; it presents
graphically the many causes that might contribute to the
observed effect.
2. It is a visual representation of the factors that might contribute
to an observed effect that is being examined.
3. The interrelationships among the possible causal factors are
clearly shown. One causal factor may appear in several places in
the diagram.
4. The interrelationships are generally qualitative and hypothetical.
5. It focuses the attention of all team members on the specific
problem at hand in a structured, systematic way.
 CHECK SHEET
 Also called: defect concentration diagram
• A check sheet is a structured, prepared form for collecting and
analyzing data. This is a generic data collection and analysis
tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes and is
considered one of the seven basic quality tools.
WHEN TO USE A CHECK SHEET
When data can be observed and collected repeatedly by the same
person or at the same location
When collecting data on the frequency or patterns of events,
problems, defects, defect location, defect causes, or similar issues
When collecting data from a production process
 CHECK SHEET PROCEDURE
1. Decide what event or problem will be observed. Develop
operational definitions.
2. Decide when data will be collected and for how long.
3. Design the form. Set it up so that data can be recorded
simply by making check marks or X's or similar symbols and
so that data do not have to be recopied for analysis.
4. Label all spaces on the form.
5. Test the check sheet for a short trial period to be sure it
collects the appropriate data and is easy to use.
6. Each time the targeted event or problem occurs, record data
on the check sheet.
 CHECK SHEET EXAMPLE
• The figure below shows a check sheet used to
collect data on telephone interruptions. The
tick marks were added as data was collected
over several weeks.
 WHAT IS A PARETO CHART?
 Also called: Pareto diagram, Pareto analysis
 Variations: weighted Pareto chart, comparative
Pareto charts
 A Pareto chart is a bar graph. The lengths of the
bars represent frequency or cost (time or
money), and are arranged with longest bars on
the left and the shortest to the right. In this way
the chart visually depicts which situations are
more significant. 
 WHEN TO USE A PARETO CHART?
• When analyzing data about the frequency of
problems or causes in a process
• When there are many problems or causes and
you want to focus on the most significant
• When analyzing broad causes by looking at
their specific components
• When communicating with others about your
data
 PARETO CHART PROCEDURE
1. Decide what categories you will use to group items.
2. Decide what measurement is appropriate. Common measurements are frequency,
quantity, cost and time.
3. Decide what period of time the Pareto chart will cover: One work cycle? One full
day? A week?
4. Collect the data, recording the category each time, or assemble data that already
exist.
5. Subtotal the measurements for each category.
6. Determine the appropriate scale for the measurements you have collected. The
maximum value will be the largest subtotal from step 5. (If you will do optional steps
8 and 9 below, the maximum value will be the sum of all subtotals from step 5.)
Mark the scale on the left side of the chart.
7. Construct and label bars for each category. Place the tallest at the far left, then the
next tallest to its right, and so on. If there are many categories with small
measurements, they can be grouped as “other.”
Note: Steps 8 and 9 are optional but are useful for
analysis and communication.
8. Calculate the percentage for each category: the subtotal for that
category divided by the total for all categories. Draw a right
vertical axis and label it with percentages. Be sure the two scales
match. For example, the left measurement that corresponds to
one-half should be exactly opposite 50% on the right scale.
9. Calculate and draw cumulative sums: add the subtotals for the
first and second categories, and place a dot above the second bar
indicating that sum. To that sum add the subtotal for the third
category, and place a dot above the third bar for that new sum.
Continue the process for all the bars. Connect the dots, starting at
the top of the first bar. The last dot should reach 100% on the right
scale.
 PARETO CHART EXAMPLES
• Figure 1 shows how many customer complaints were received in each of five
categories.
• Figure 2 takes the largest category, "documents," from Figure 1, breaks it down
into six categories of document-related complaints, and shows cumulative values.
 Histogram
A histogram is a display of statistical
information that uses rectangles to show the
frequency of data items in successive numerical
intervals of equal size. In the most common
form of histogram, the independent variable is
plotted along the horizontal axis and the 
dependent variable is plotted along the vertical
axis. The data appears as colored or shaded
rectangles of variable area.
 Histogram Example
The illustration, is a histogram showing the results of a final
exam given to a hypothetical class of students. Each score range is
denoted by a bar of a certain color. If this histogram were
compared with those of classes from other years that received the
same test from the same professor, conclusions might be drawn
about intelligence changes among students over the years.
Conclusions might also be drawn concerning the improvement or
decline of the professor's teaching ability with the passage of time.
If this histogram were compared with those of other classes in the
same semester who had received the same final exam but who
had taken the course from different professors, one might draw
conclusions about the relative competence of the professors.
 What is a control chart?
A control chart—sometimes called a Shewhart
chart, a statistical process control chart, or an
SPC chart—is one of several graphical tools
typically used in quality control analysis to
understand how a process changes over time.
The main elements of a control chart include:

 A visual time series graph that illustrates data points

collected at specific time intervals.
 A horizontal control line to more easily visualize
variations and trends.
 Horizontal lines, representing upper and lower
control limits, placed at equal distances above and
below the control line. These upper and lower limits
are calculated from the data that is recorded on the
time series graph over a specified period of time.
Control Chart
 What is a flowchart?
A flowchart is a diagram that depicts a process,
system or computer algorithm. They are widely used
in multiple fields to document, study, plan, improve
and communicate often complex processes in clear,
easy-to-understand diagrams. Flowcharts,
sometimes spelled as flow charts, use rectangles,
ovals, diamonds and potentially numerous other
shapes to define the type of step, along with
connecting arrows to define flow and sequence. 
 Specialized Names of Flow Chart
Flowcharts are sometimes called by more
specialized names such as Process Flowchart,
Process Map, Functional Flowchart, Business
Process Mapping, Business Process Modeling
and Notation (BPMN),  or Process Flow Diagram
(PFD). They are related to other popular
diagrams, such as Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
and Unified Modeling Language (UML) Activity
Diagrams.
Flowchart symbols
 Flowchart Example – Medical Service

This is a hospital flowchart example that

shows how clinical cases shall be processed. This
flowchart uses decision shapes intensively in
representing alternative flows.
 Scatter Diagram
A scatter diagram is a two-dimensional graphical
representation of a set of data. The scatter diagram
graphs pairs numerical data with one variable on
each axis to look for a relationship between them.
If the variables are correlated, the points will fall
along the line or curve. The better the correlation,
the tighter the points will hug the line. The scatter
diagram is one of the seven basic quality tools used
in root cause analysis. 
 Scatter Diagram
Scatter diagrams are used and applied in
several ways, where the most important benefit
is showing the correlation between two
variables.
The scatter diagram will visualize in an easy to
observe way if the data points are positively
correlated, negatively correlated, or there is no
correlation between the two variables.
There are two common challenges that come with the
use of scatter diagrams 

The most important thing to remember when we

talk about correlation, is that it doesn’t mean
that the changes observed in one variable are
responsible for the changes observed in another
variable.
Overplotting exists when too many data points
have been plotted. This results in the different
data points overlapping, making it challenging to
identify the relationship between variables.
 What Are the Types of Scatter Plots?

You can classify a scatter plot in many ways;

the most popular one is based on correlation
and is extensively used in project management.
According to the correlation, scatter plots are
divided into the following three categories.
 Positive Correlation
 Negative Correlation
 No Correlation
 1. Positive Correlation
The scatter plot with positive correlation is
also known as a “Scatter Diagram with Positive
Slant.” In this case, as the value of X increases,
the value of Y will increase too, which means
that the correlation between the two variables is
positive. If you draw a straight line along the
data points, the slope of the line will go up. For
example, if the weather gets colder, hot drink
sales will go up.
 2. Negative Correlation
The scatter plot with negative correlation is
also known as a “Scatter Diagram with a
Negative Slant.” In this case, as the value of X
increases, the value of Y will decrease. If you
draw a straight line along the data points, the
slope of the line will go down. For example, if
the cycle time of a workflow goes up, the
number of tasks completed will go down.
 3. No Correlation
The scatter plot with no correlation is also known
as “Scatter Diagram with Zero Degree of Correlation.”
In this case, the data point spreads so randomly that
you can’t draw a line through the data points. You can
conclude that these two variables have no correlation
or zero degrees of correlation. For example, if the
weather gets hotter, we can’t conclude that the sales
of wooden chairs will go up or down because there is
no correlation between the two variables.
Example of Scatter Diagram