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arXiv 0811.1640stat.AP
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对于客观的因果推断,设计胜过分析

For objective causal inference, design trumps analysis

Donald B. Rubin

摘要:

为了获得客观的因果推断,从而有最好的机会揭示科学真理,精心设计和执行的随机实验通常被认为是金标准。相比之下,观察性研究通常充满了问题,这些问题会损害任何对所产生的因果推断的客观性的主张。这里的论点是,观察性研究必须仔细设计,以近似随机实验,特别是在不检查任何最终结果数据的情况下。由于缺乏关键协变量的数据,或由于治疗组和对照组之间的关键协变量分布缺乏重叠(通常通过仔细的倾向得分分析发现),候选数据集通常不得不因不充分而被拒绝。有时,近似随机化实验的模板必须改变,使用主分层可以帮助做到这一点。这些问题进行了讨论和说明使用的潜在结果的框架来定义因果关系的影响,这大大澄清了关键问题。

英文摘要:

For obtaining causal inferences that are objective, and therefore have the best chance of revealing scientific truths, carefully designed and executed randomized experiments are generally considered to be the gold standard. Observational studies, in contrast, are generally fraught with problems that compromise any claim for objectivity of the resulting causal inferences. The thesis here is that observational studies have to be carefully designed to approximate randomized experiments, in particular, without examining any final outcome data. Often a candidate data set will have to be rejected as inadequate because of lack of data on key covariates, or because of lack of overlap in the distributions of key covariates between treatment and control groups, often revealed by careful propensity score analyses. Sometimes the template for the approximating randomized experiment will have to be altered, and the use of principal stratification can be helpful in doing this. These issues are discussed and illustrated using the framework of potential outcomes to define causal effects, which greatly clarifies critical issues.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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