Cause-and-effect explanation in geography
Also called: What, where and why questions · Topic: Geography as a Discipline: Nature, Branches and Approaches · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Geography as a Discipline"
Meaning
Geography asks three questions. "What?" asks which natural and cultural features exist. "Where?" asks about their distribution and location (how they are spread out and where they sit). These two questions alone gave only "inventorised information", meaning lists of facts. This kind of geography was popular in the colonial period. Geography became scientific when it added "Why?", which explains the causes and processes behind the patterns. Knowing the causes also helps us predict future patterns.
Example
What and where: tea is grown on the hill slopes of Assam in north-east India. Why: the region has a warm, humid climate and heavy rainfall, and the slopes drain water well, so it does not collect around the roots. Answering "why" turns a fact into an explanation.
Don't confuse with
- Areal differentiation: areal differentiation is the overall view of what geography studies. The cause-and-effect idea is about how geography explains: by asking "why".