The Illusion of Learning from Observational Data: An Empirical Bayes Perspective
从观察性数据学习的幻觉:经验贝叶斯视角
Randomized experiments have long been the gold standard for scientists seeking to learn about cause and effect. When randomized experiments are infeasible, scientists often resort to observational studies, which are widely available and often large but rely on untestable assumptions that, when violated, may result in biased estimates. Uncertainty about bias leads to a phenomenon known as the illusion of learning from observational research (Gerber, Green and Kaplan, 2004a):…