Explanation in Causal Inference

Explanation in Causal Inference

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  • Author: Tyler J. VanderWeele
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
  • ISBN: 0199325871
  • Category : Mathematics
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 729

A comprehensive examination of methods for mediation and interaction, VanderWeele's book is the first to approach this topic from the perspective of causal inference. Numerous software tools are provided, and the text is both accessible and easy to read, with examples drawn from diverse fields. The result is an essential reference for anyone conducting empirical research in the biomedical or social sciences.


Causal Inference

Causal Inference

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  • Author: Scott Cunningham
  • Publisher: Yale University Press
  • ISBN: 0300255888
  • Category : Business & Economics
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 585

An accessible, contemporary introduction to the methods for determining cause and effect in the Social Sciences “Causation versus correlation has been the basis of arguments—economic and otherwise—since the beginning of time. Causal Inference: The Mixtape uses legit real-world examples that I found genuinely thought-provoking. It’s rare that a book prompts readers to expand their outlook; this one did for me.”—Marvin Young (Young MC) Causal inference encompasses the tools that allow social scientists to determine what causes what. In a messy world, causal inference is what helps establish the causes and effects of the actions being studied—for example, the impact (or lack thereof) of increases in the minimum wage on employment, the effects of early childhood education on incarceration later in life, or the influence on economic growth of introducing malaria nets in developing regions. Scott Cunningham introduces students and practitioners to the methods necessary to arrive at meaningful answers to the questions of causation, using a range of modeling techniques and coding instructions for both the R and the Stata programming languages.


Handbook of Causal Analysis for Social Research

Handbook of Causal Analysis for Social Research

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  • Author: Stephen L. Morgan
  • Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
  • ISBN: 9400760949
  • Category : Social Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 423

What constitutes a causal explanation, and must an explanation be causal? What warrants a causal inference, as opposed to a descriptive regularity? What techniques are available to detect when causal effects are present, and when can these techniques be used to identify the relative importance of these effects? What complications do the interactions of individuals create for these techniques? When can mixed methods of analysis be used to deepen causal accounts? Must causal claims include generative mechanisms, and how effective are empirical methods designed to discover them? The Handbook of Causal Analysis for Social Research tackles these questions with nineteen chapters from leading scholars in sociology, statistics, public health, computer science, and human development.


An Introduction to Causal Inference

An Introduction to Causal Inference

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  • Author: Judea Pearl
  • Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • ISBN: 9781507894293
  • Category : Causation
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 0

This paper summarizes recent advances in causal inference and underscores the paradigmatic shifts that must be undertaken in moving from traditional statistical analysis to causal analysis of multivariate data. Special emphasis is placed on the assumptions that underly all causal inferences, the languages used in formulating those assumptions, the conditional nature of all causal and counterfactual claims, and the methods that have been developed for the assessment of such claims. These advances are illustrated using a general theory of causation based on the Structural Causal Model (SCM) described in Pearl (2000a), which subsumes and unifies other approaches to causation, and provides a coherent mathematical foundation for the analysis of causes and counterfactuals. In particular, the paper surveys the development of mathematical tools for inferring (from a combination of data and assumptions) answers to three types of causal queries: (1) queries about the effects of potential interventions, (also called "causal effects" or "policy evaluation") (2) queries about probabilities of counterfactuals, (including assessment of "regret," "attribution" or "causes of effects") and (3) queries about direct and indirect effects (also known as "mediation"). Finally, the paper defines the formal and conceptual relationships between the structural and potential-outcome frameworks and presents tools for a symbiotic analysis that uses the strong features of both. The tools are demonstrated in the analyses of mediation, causes of effects, and probabilities of causation. -- p. 1.


Making Things Happen

Making Things Happen

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  • Author: James Woodward
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • ISBN: 0198035330
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 419

In Making Things Happen, James Woodward develops a new and ambitious comprehensive theory of causation and explanation that draws on literature from a variety of disciplines and which applies to a wide variety of claims in science and everyday life. His theory is a manipulationist account, proposing that causal and explanatory relationships are relationships that are potentially exploitable for purposes of manipulation and control. This account has its roots in the commonsense idea that causes are means for bringing about effects; but it also draws on a long tradition of work in experimental design, econometrics, and statistics. Woodward shows how these ideas may be generalized to other areas of science from the social scientific and biomedical contexts for which they were originally designed. He also provides philosophical foundations for the manipulationist approach, drawing out its implications, comparing it with alternative approaches, and defending it from common criticisms. In doing so, he shows how the manipulationist account both illuminates important features of successful causal explanation in the natural and social sciences, and avoids the counterexamples and difficulties that infect alternative approaches, from the deductive-nomological model onwards. Making Things Happen will interest philosophers working in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of social science, and metaphysics, and as well as anyone interested in causation, explanation, and scientific methodology.


The Book of Why

The Book of Why

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  • Author: Judea Pearl
  • Publisher: Basic Books
  • ISBN: 0465097618
  • Category : Computers
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 465

A Turing Award-winning computer scientist and statistician shows how understanding causality has revolutionized science and will revolutionize artificial intelligence "Correlation is not causation." This mantra, chanted by scientists for more than a century, has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and established causality -- the study of cause and effect -- on a firm scientific basis. His work explains how we can know easy things, like whether it was rain or a sprinkler that made a sidewalk wet; and how to answer hard questions, like whether a drug cured an illness. Pearl's work enables us to know not just whether one thing causes another: it lets us explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It shows us the essence of human thought and key to artificial intelligence. Anyone who wants to understand either needs The Book of Why.


Observation and Experiment

Observation and Experiment

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  • Author: Paul Rosenbaum
  • Publisher: Harvard University Press
  • ISBN: 067497557X
  • Category : Mathematics
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 395

A daily glass of wine prolongs life—yet alcohol can cause life-threatening cancer. Some say raising the minimum wage will decrease inequality while others say it increases unemployment. Scientists once confidently claimed that hormone replacement therapy reduced the risk of heart disease but now they equally confidently claim it raises that risk. What should we make of this endless barrage of conflicting claims? Observation and Experiment is an introduction to causal inference by one of the field’s leading scholars. An award-winning professor at Wharton, Paul Rosenbaum explains key concepts and methods through lively examples that make abstract principles accessible. He draws his examples from clinical medicine, economics, public health, epidemiology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry to explain how randomized control trials are conceived and designed, how they differ from observational studies, and what techniques are available to mitigate their bias. “Carefully and precisely written...reflecting superb statistical understanding, all communicated with the skill of a master teacher.” —Stephen M. Stigler, author of The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom “An excellent introduction...Well-written and thoughtful...from one of causal inference’s noted experts.” —Journal of the American Statistical Association “Rosenbaum is a gifted expositor...an outstanding introduction to the topic for anyone who is interested in understanding the basic ideas and approaches to causal inference.” —Psychometrika “A very valuable contribution...Highly recommended.” —International Statistical Review


The SAGE Handbook of Regression Analysis and Causal Inference

The SAGE Handbook of Regression Analysis and Causal Inference

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  • Author: Henning Best
  • Publisher: SAGE
  • ISBN: 1473908353
  • Category : Social Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 425

′The editors of the new SAGE Handbook of Regression Analysis and Causal Inference have assembled a wide-ranging, high-quality, and timely collection of articles on topics of central importance to quantitative social research, many written by leaders in the field. Everyone engaged in statistical analysis of social-science data will find something of interest in this book.′ - John Fox, Professor, Department of Sociology, McMaster University ′The authors do a great job in explaining the various statistical methods in a clear and simple way - focussing on fundamental understanding, interpretation of results, and practical application - yet being precise in their exposition.′ - Ben Jann, Executive Director, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern ′Best and Wolf have put together a powerful collection, especially valuable in its separate discussions of uses for both cross-sectional and panel data analysis.′ -Tom Smith, Senior Fellow, NORC, University of Chicago Edited and written by a team of leading international social scientists, this Handbook provides a comprehensive introduction to multivariate methods. The Handbook focuses on regression analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal data with an emphasis on causal analysis, thereby covering a large number of different techniques including selection models, complex samples, and regression discontinuities. Each Part starts with a non-mathematical introduction to the method covered in that section, giving readers a basic knowledge of the method’s logic, scope and unique features. Next, the mathematical and statistical basis of each method is presented along with advanced aspects. Using real-world data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), the book provides a comprehensive discussion of each method’s application, making this an ideal text for PhD students and researchers embarking on their own data analysis.


Epidemiology

Epidemiology

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  • Author: Leon Gordis
  • Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
  • ISBN: 1437700519
  • Category : Medical
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 392

This popular book is written by the award-winning teacher, Dr. Leon Gordis of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He introduces the basic principles and concepts of epidemiology in clear, concise writing and his inimitable style. This book provides an understanding of the key concepts in the following 3 fully updated sections: Section I: The Epidemiologic Approach to Disease and Intervention; Section II: Using Epidemiology to Identify the Causes of Disease; Section III: Applying Epidemiology to Evaluation and Policy. Clear, practical graphs and charts, cartoons, and review questions with answers reinforce the text and aid in comprehension. Utilizes new full-color format to enhance readability and clarity. Provides new and updated figures, references and concept examples to keep you absolutely current - new information has been added on Registration of Clinical Trials, Case-Cohort Design, Case-Crossover Design, and Sources and Impact of Uncertainty (disease topics include: Obesity, Asthma, Thyroid Cancer, Helicobacter Pylori and gastric/duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, Mammography for women in their forties) - expanded topics include Person-time. Please note: electronic rights were not granted for several images in this product. Introduces both the underlying concepts as well as the practical uses of epidemiology in public health and in clinical practice. Systemizes learning and review with study questions in each section and an answer key and index. Illustrates textual information with clear and informative full-color illustrations, many created by the author and tested in the classroom.


Causality

Causality

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  • Author: Judea Pearl
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • ISBN: 052189560X
  • Category : Computers
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 487

Causality offers the first comprehensive coverage of causal analysis in many sciences, including recent advances using graphical methods. Pearl presents a unified account of the probabilistic, manipulative, counterfactual and structural approaches to causation, and devises simple mathematical tools for analyzing the relationships between causal connections, statistical associations, actions and observations. The book will open the way for including causal analysis in the standard curriculum of statistics, artificial intelligence ...