Author: Herbert I. Weisberg
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118058208
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
A one-of-a-kind resource on identifying and dealing with bias in statistical research on causal effects Do cell phones cause cancer? Can a new curriculum increase student achievement? Determining what the real causes of such problems are, and how powerful their effects may be, are central issues in research across various fields of study. Some researchers are highly skeptical of drawing causal conclusions except in tightly controlled randomized experiments, while others discount the threats posed by different sources of bias, even in less rigorous observational studies. Bias and Causation presents a complete treatment of the subject, organizing and clarifying the diverse types of biases into a conceptual framework. The book treats various sources of bias in comparative studies—both randomized and observational—and offers guidance on how they should be addressed by researchers. Utilizing a relatively simple mathematical approach, the author develops a theory of bias that outlines the essential nature of the problem and identifies the various sources of bias that are encountered in modern research. The book begins with an introduction to the study of causal inference and the related concepts and terminology. Next, an overview is provided of the methodological issues at the core of the difficulties posed by bias. Subsequent chapters explain the concepts of selection bias, confounding, intermediate causal factors, and information bias along with the distortion of a causal effect that can result when the exposure and/or the outcome is measured with error. The book concludes with a new classification of twenty general sources of bias and practical advice on how mathematical modeling and expert judgment can be combined to achieve the most credible causal conclusions. Throughout the book, examples from the fields of medicine, public policy, and education are incorporated into the presentation of various topics. In addition, six detailed case studies illustrate concrete examples of the significance of biases in everyday research. Requiring only a basic understanding of statistics and probability theory, Bias and Causation is an excellent supplement for courses on research methods and applied statistics at the upper-undergraduate and graduate level. It is also a valuable reference for practicing researchers and methodologists in various fields of study who work with statistical data. This book was selected as the 2011 Ziegel Prize Winner in Technometrics for the best book reviewed by the journal. It is also the winner of the 2010 PROSE Award for Mathematics from The American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence
Author: Jayati Das-Munshi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191054461
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 508
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Book Description
Epidemiology has been defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of health states or events in defined populations and its application to the control of health problems. Psychiatric epidemiology has continued to develop and apply these core principles in relation to mental health and mental disorders. This long-awaited second edition of Practical Psychiatric Epidemiology covers all of the considerable new developments in psychiatric epidemiology that have occurred since the first edition was published. It includes new content on key topics such as life course epidemiology, gene/environment interactions, bioethics, patient and public involvement in research, mixed methods research, new statistical methods, case registers, policy, and implementation. Looking to the future of this rapidly evolving scientific discipline and how it will to respond to the emerging opportunities and challenges posed by 'big data', new technologies, open science and globalisation, this new edition will continue to serve as an invaluable reference for clinicians in practice and in training. It will also be of interest to researchers in mental health and people studying or teaching psychiatric epidemiology at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
Author: Raj S. Bhopal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198739680
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
First edition published in 2002. Second edition published in 2008.
Author: Timothy L. Lash
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387879595
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 200
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Book Description
Bias analysis quantifies the influence of systematic error on an epidemiology study’s estimate of association. The fundamental methods of bias analysis in epi- miology have been well described for decades, yet are seldom applied in published presentations of epidemiologic research. More recent advances in bias analysis, such as probabilistic bias analysis, appear even more rarely. We suspect that there are both supply-side and demand-side explanations for the scarcity of bias analysis. On the demand side, journal reviewers and editors seldom request that authors address systematic error aside from listing them as limitations of their particular study. This listing is often accompanied by explanations for why the limitations should not pose much concern. On the supply side, methods for bias analysis receive little attention in most epidemiology curriculums, are often scattered throughout textbooks or absent from them altogether, and cannot be implemented easily using standard statistical computing software. Our objective in this text is to reduce these supply-side barriers, with the hope that demand for quantitative bias analysis will follow.
Author: Tyler Vigen
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316339458
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 303
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Book Description
"Spurious Correlations ... is the most fun you'll ever have with graphs." -- Bustle Military intelligence analyst and Harvard Law student Tyler Vigen illustrates the golden rule that "correlation does not equal causation" through hilarious graphs inspired by his viral website. Is there a correlation between Nic Cage films and swimming pool accidents? What about beef consumption and people getting struck by lightning? Absolutely not. But that hasn't stopped millions of people from going to tylervigen.com and asking, "Wait, what?" Vigen has designed software that scours enormous data sets to find unlikely statistical correlations. He began pulling the funniest ones for his website and has since gained millions of views, hundreds of thousands of likes, and tons of media coverage. Subversive and clever, Spurious Correlations is geek humor at its finest, nailing our obsession with data and conspiracy theory.
Author: M.Elizabeth Halloran
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461212847
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 287
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Book Description
This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications STATISTICAL MODELS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY, THE ENVIRONMENT,AND CLINICAL TRIALS is a combined proceedings on "Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials" and "Statistics and Epidemiology: Environment and Health. " This volume is the third series based on the proceedings of a very successful 1997 IMA Summer Program on "Statistics in the Health Sciences. " I would like to thank the organizers: M. Elizabeth Halloran of Emory University (Biostatistics) and Donald A. Berry of Duke University (Insti tute of Statistics and Decision Sciences and Cancer Center Biostatistics) for their excellent work as organizers of the meeting and for editing the proceedings. I am grateful to Seymour Geisser of University of Minnesota (Statistics), Patricia Grambsch, University of Minnesota (Biostatistics); Joel Greenhouse, Carnegie Mellon University (Statistics); Nicholas Lange, Harvard Medical School (Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital); Barry Margolin, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Biostatistics); Sandy Weisberg, University of Minnesota (Statistics); Scott Zeger, Johns Hop kins University (Biostatistics); and Marvin Zelen, Harvard School of Public Health (Biostatistics) for organizing the six weeks summer program. I also take this opportunity to thank the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Army Research Office (ARO), whose financial support made the workshop possible. Willard Miller, Jr.
Author: Paul Rosenbaum
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067497557X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 395
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Book Description
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
Author: Judea Pearl
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465097618
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 465
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Book Description
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.
Author: Miquel A. Hernan
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9781420076165
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
The application of causal inference methods is growing exponentially in fields that deal with observational data. Written by pioneers in the field, this practical book presents an authoritative yet accessible overview of the methods and applications of causal inference. With a wide range of detailed, worked examples using real epidemiologic data as well as software for replicating the analyses, the text provides a thorough introduction to the basics of the theory for non-time-varying treatments and the generalization to complex longitudinal data.
Author: Judea Pearl
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119186862
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
CAUSAL INFERENCE IN STATISTICS A Primer Causality is central to the understanding and use of data. Without an understanding of cause–effect relationships, we cannot use data to answer questions as basic as "Does this treatment harm or help patients?" But though hundreds of introductory texts are available on statistical methods of data analysis, until now, no beginner-level book has been written about the exploding arsenal of methods that can tease causal information from data. Causal Inference in Statistics fills that gap. Using simple examples and plain language, the book lays out how to define causal parameters; the assumptions necessary to estimate causal parameters in a variety of situations; how to express those assumptions mathematically; whether those assumptions have testable implications; how to predict the effects of interventions; and how to reason counterfactually. These are the foundational tools that any student of statistics needs to acquire in order to use statistical methods to answer causal questions of interest. This book is accessible to anyone with an interest in interpreting data, from undergraduates, professors, researchers, or to the interested layperson. Examples are drawn from a wide variety of fields, including medicine, public policy, and law; a brief introduction to probability and statistics is provided for the uninitiated; and each chapter comes with study questions to reinforce the readers understanding.
