At every step of the master's qualification work, starting with the planning of the research, the effectiveness of actions must be ensured. The basis for solving this problem can be the use of fairly simple, but very clear methods that are recognized as effective. For the processes of manufacturing products and their operation, the scheme of causation can be built according to the diagram of Ishikawa. According to the theme of the qualification work, the general type of diagram is transformed: some categories become implicit, i.e. become "invisible" in the figure, in other categories decomposition is performed - the branches are transformed into trees. With the technological orientation of research, the categories of "man", "management", "measurement" become implicit when it involves the involvement of staff with a sufficient level of skills and competencies, management and measurement are carried out in accordance with modern requirements with a sufficient level of scientific validity. According to the theme of the work, technological categories define graphic trees. As a result, a diagram of causal relationships is constructed, which allows to characterize in more detail the conditions of longitudinal stability of hot rolling of steel under the influence of production factors.