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学习反事实推断：估计多种不平衡处理效应的元学习方法AI 解读

We regularly consider answering counterfactual questions in practice, such as "Would people with diabetes take a turn for the better had they choose another medication?". Observational studies are growing in significance in answering such questions due to their widespread accumulation and comparatively easier acquisition than Randomized Control Trials (RCTs). Recently, some works have introduced representation learning and domain adaptation into counterfactual inference.…

将目标估计量与目标试验框架用于观察数据外部对照：实体瘤案例AI 解读

In causal inference, the correct formulation of the scientific question of interest is a crucial step. Here we apply the estimand framework to a comparison of the outcomes of patient-level clinical trials and observational data to help structure the clinical question. In addition, we complement the estimand framework with the target trial framework to address specific issues in defining the estimand attributes using observational data and discuss synergies and differences of…

潜变量模型可识别性的半路径准则AI 解读

We consider linear structural equation models with latent variables and develop a criterion to certify whether the direct causal effects between the observable variables are identifiable based on the observed covariance matrix. Linear structural equation models assume that both observed and latent variables solve a linear equation system featuring stochastic noise terms. Each model corresponds to a directed graph whose edges represent the direct effects that appear as…

贝叶斯孟德尔随机化的区间因果零假设检验：三元决策与损失函数校准AI 解读

Our approach to Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis is designed to increase reproducibility of causal effect "discoveries" by: (i) using a Bayesian approach to inference; (ii) replacing the point null hypothesis with a region of practical equivalence consisting of values of negligible magnitude for the effect of interest, while exploiting the ability of Bayesian analysis to quantify the evidence of the effect falling inside/outside the region; (iii) rejecting the usual…

多暴露线性模型中的有效工具变量选择：自适应 Lasso 与中位数的中位数估计量AI 解读

In a linear instrumental variables (IV) setting for estimating the causal effects of multiple confounded exposure/treatment variables on an outcome, we investigate the adaptive Lasso method for selecting valid instrumental variables from a set of available instruments that may contain invalid ones. An instrument is invalid if it fails the exclusion conditions and enters the model as an explanatory variable. We extend the results as developed in Windmeijer et al. (2019) for…

D-BIAS：基于因果模型的人机协同算法偏差治理系统AI 解读

With the rise of AI, algorithms have become better at learning underlying patterns from the training data including ingrained social biases based on gender, race, etc. Deployment of such algorithms to domains such as hiring, healthcare, law enforcement, etc. has raised serious concerns about fairness, accountability, trust and interpretability in machine learning algorithms. To alleviate this problem, we propose D-BIAS, a visual interactive tool that embodies…

删失事件时间数据中的反事实表型识别AI 解读

Estimation of treatment efficacy of real-world clinical interventions involves working with continuous outcomes such as time-to-death, re-hospitalization, or a composite event that may be subject to censoring. Counterfactual reasoning in such scenarios requires decoupling the effects of confounding physiological characteristics that affect baseline survival rates from the effects of the interventions being assessed. In this paper, we present a latent variable approach to…

无需单调性的弱可分模型内生性处理AI 解读

We identify and estimate treatment effects when potential outcomes are weakly separable with a binary endogenous treatment. Vytlacil and Yildiz (2007) proposed an identification strategy that exploits the mean of observed outcomes, but their approach requires a monotonicity condition. In comparison, we exploit full information in the entire outcome distribution, instead of just its mean. As a result, our method does not require monotonicity and is also applicable to general…

近端识别假设违反时的偏差公式AI 解读

Causal inference from observational data often rests on the unverifiable assumption of no unmeasured confounding. Recently, Tchetgen Tchetgen and colleagues have introduced proximal inference to leverage negative control outcomes and exposures as proxies to adjust for bias from unmeasured confounding. However, some of the key assumptions that proximal inference relies on are themselves empirically untestable. Additionally, the impact of violations of proximal inference…

结构工程中的因果性、因果发现与因果推断AI 解读

Much of our experiments are designed to uncover the cause(s) and effect(s) behind a data generating mechanism (i.e., phenomenon) we happen to be interested in. Uncovering such relationships allows us to identify the true working of a phenomenon and, most importantly, articulate a model that may enable us to further explore the phenomenon on hand and/or allow us to predict it accurately. Fundamentally, such models are likely to be derived via a causal approach (as opposed to…

先验强化信息准则AI 解读

The widely applicable information criterion (WAIC) has been used as a model selection criterion for Bayesian statistics in recent years. It is an asymptotically unbiased estimator of the Kullback-Leibler divergence between a Bayesian predictive distribution and the true distribution. Not only is the WAIC theoretically more sound than other information criteria, its usefulness in practice has also been reported. On the other hand, the WAIC is intended for settings in which…

基于 Wasserstein 距离的分布稳健政策学习AI 解读

The effects of treatments are often heterogeneous, depending on the observable characteristics, and it is necessary to exploit such heterogeneity to devise individualized treatment rules (ITRs). Existing estimation methods of such ITRs assume that the available experimental or observational data are derived from the target population in which the estimated policy is implemented. However, this assumption often fails in practice because of limited useful data. In this case,…

处理状态误分类下的双重差分AI 解读

This paper studies identification and estimation of the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) in difference-in-difference (DID) designs when the variable that classifies individuals into treatment and control groups (treatment status, D) is endogenously misclassified. We show that misclassification in D hampers consistent estimation of ATT because 1) it restricts us from identifying the truly treated from those misclassified as being treated and 2) differential…

复杂纵向研究中的近端因果推断AI 解读

A standard assumption for causal inference about the joint effects of time-varying treatment is that one has measured sufficient covariates to ensure that within covariate strata, subjects are exchangeable across observed treatment values, also known as "sequential randomization assumption (SRA)". SRA is often criticized as it requires one to accurately measure all confounders. Realistically, measured covariates can rarely capture all confounders with certainty. Often…

混杂性结局依赖抽样下的双重稳健近端因果推断AI 解读

Unmeasured confounding and selection bias are often of concern in observational studies and may invalidate a causal analysis if not appropriately accounted for. Under outcome-dependent sampling, a latent factor that has causal effects on the treatment, outcome, and sample selection process may cause both unmeasured confounding and selection bias, rendering standard causal parameters unidentifiable without additional assumptions. Under an odds ratio model for the treatment…

处理删失与高维变量的结局自适应倾向得分方法AI 解读

Propensity scores are commonly used to reduce the confounding bias in non-randomized observational studies for estimating the average treatment effect. An important assumption underlying this approach is that all confounders that are associated with both the treatment and the outcome of interest are measured and included in the propensity score model. In the absence of strong prior knowledge about potential confounders, researchers may agnostically want to adjust for a…

因果推断方法的验证：Credence 生成式框架AI 解读

The fundamental challenge of drawing causal inference is that counterfactual outcomes are not fully observed for any unit. Furthermore, in observational studies, treatment assignment is likely to be confounded. Many statistical methods have emerged for causal inference under unconfoundedness conditions given pre-treatment covariates, including propensity score-based methods, prognostic score-based methods, and doubly robust methods. Unfortunately for applied researchers,…

存在未观测异质混杂变量时的处理效应估计AI 解读

The estimation of the treatment effect is often biased in the presence of unobserved confounding variables which are commonly referred to as hidden variables. Although a few methods have been recently proposed to handle the effect of hidden variables, these methods often overlook the possibility of any interaction between the observed treatment variable and the unobserved covariates. In this work, we address this shortcoming by studying a multivariate response regression…

观察性比较效果研究中的工具变量、混杂调整与双重差分三角验证AI 解读

Observational studies can play a useful role in assessing the comparative effectiveness of competing treatments. In a clinical trial the randomization of participants to treatment and control groups generally results in well-balanced groups with respect to possible confounders, which makes the analysis straightforward. However, when analysing observational data, the potential for unmeasured confounding makes comparing treatment effects much more challenging. Causal inference…

通过重复测量加权聚合提高检验功效AI 解读

We present an aggregation scheme that increases power in randomized controlled trials and quasi-experiments when the intervention possesses a robust and well-articulated theory of change. Longitudinal data analyzing interventions often include multiple observations on individuals, some of which may be more likely to manifest a treatment effect than others. An intervention's theory of change provides guidance as to which of those observations are best situated to exhibit that…

选择偏差下反事实量的界限计算AI 解读

Causal analysis may be affected by selection bias, which is defined as the systematic exclusion of data from a certain subpopulation. Previous work in this area focused on the derivation of identifiability conditions. We propose instead a first algorithm to address both identifiable and unidentifiable queries. We prove that, in spite of the missingness induced by the selection bias, the likelihood of the available data is unimodal. This enables us to use the causal…

存在不依从的序贯随机实验中的贝叶斯因果推断AI 解读

Scientific researchers utilize randomized experiments to draw casual statements. Most early studies as well as current work on experiments with sequential intervention decisions has been focusing on estimating the causal effects among sequential treatments, ignoring the non-compliance issues that experimental units might not be compliant with the treatment assignments that they were originally allocated. A series of methodologies have been developed to address the…

因果预测推断与目标试验模拟AI 解读

Causal inference from observational data can be viewed as a missing data problem arising from a hypothetical population-scale randomized trial matched to the observational study. This links a target trial protocol with a corresponding generative predictive model for inference, providing a complete framework for transparent communication of causal assumptions and statistical uncertainty on treatment effects, without the need for counterfactuals. The intuitive foundation for…

通过交叉拟合进行多处理因果效应的半参数估计AI 解读

Causal inference is a critical research area with multi-disciplinary origins and applications, ranging from statistics, computer science, economics, psychology to public health. In many scientific research, randomized experiments provide a golden standard for estimation of causal effects for decades. However, in many situations, randomized experiments are not feasible in practice so that practitioners need to rely on empirical investigation for causal reasoning. Causal…