Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Causation and causal inference 

Causation and causal inference
Chapter:
Causation and causal inference
Author(s):

Katherine J. Hoggatt

and Sander Greenland

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199218707.003.0038
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 27 October 2021

This chapter offers an introduction to causal inference theory as relevant to public health research. Causal inference can be viewed as a prediction problem, addressing the question of what the likely outcome under one action vs. an alternative action is. Although asking these types of questions is very natural, answering them requires careful thought in both the statement of the causal hypothesis and the techniques used to attempt an answer. This chapter discusses these complexities, with further discussion in Chapter 6.12 (‘Validity and bias in epidemiological research’). More thorough coverage of these issues can be found in Chapters 2, 4, and 9 of Rothman et al. (2008).

The chapter reviews considerations that have been invoked in discussions of causality based on epidemiologic evidence. It then describes the potential-outcome (counterfactual) framework for cause and effect, showing how measures of effect and association are distinguished in that framework. The framework illustrates problems inherent in attempts to quantify the changes in health expected under different actions or interventions. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how research findings may be translated into policy.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.