Ishikawa Cause and Effect Diagrams Using Capture Recapture Techniques

When a problem occurs in a system, its causes should be identified for the problem to be fixed. Ishikawa Cause and Effect (CE) diagrams are popular tools to investigate and identify numerous different causes of a problem. A CE diagram can be used as a guideline to allocate resources and make necessary investments to fix the problem. Although important decisions are based on CE diagrams, there is a scarcity of analytical methodology that supports the construction of these diagrams. We propose a methodology based on capture-recapture analysis to analytically estimate the causes of a problem and build CE diagrams. An estimate of the number of causes can be used to determine whether the CE study should be terminated or additional iterations are required. It is shown that integration of Capture-Recapture analysis concepts into CE diagrams enables the users to evaluate the progress of CE sessions.