Confounder selection via iterative graph expansion
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1866912976720625664 |
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| author | Guo, F. Richard Zhao, Qingyuan |
| author_facet | Guo, F. Richard Zhao, Qingyuan |
| contents | Confounder selection, namely choosing a set of covariates to control for confounding between a treatment and an outcome, is arguably the most important step in the design of an observational study. Previous methods, such as Pearl's back-door criterion, typically require pre-specifying a causal graph, which can often be difficult in practice. We propose an interactive procedure for confounder selection that does not require pre-specifying the graph or the set of observed variables. This procedure iteratively expands the causal graph by finding what we call "primary adjustment sets" for a pair of possibly confounded variables. This can be viewed as inverting a sequence of marginalizations of the underlying causal graph. Structural information in the form of primary adjustment sets is elicited from the user, bit by bit, until either a set of covariates is found to control for confounding or it can be determined that no such set exists. Other information, such as the causal relations between confounders, is not required by the procedure. We show that if the user correctly specifies the primary adjustment sets in every step, our procedure is both sound and complete. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_06053 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Confounder selection via iterative graph expansion Guo, F. Richard Zhao, Qingyuan Methodology Statistics Theory 62A09 (Primary), 62D20 (Secondary) Confounder selection, namely choosing a set of covariates to control for confounding between a treatment and an outcome, is arguably the most important step in the design of an observational study. Previous methods, such as Pearl's back-door criterion, typically require pre-specifying a causal graph, which can often be difficult in practice. We propose an interactive procedure for confounder selection that does not require pre-specifying the graph or the set of observed variables. This procedure iteratively expands the causal graph by finding what we call "primary adjustment sets" for a pair of possibly confounded variables. This can be viewed as inverting a sequence of marginalizations of the underlying causal graph. Structural information in the form of primary adjustment sets is elicited from the user, bit by bit, until either a set of covariates is found to control for confounding or it can be determined that no such set exists. Other information, such as the causal relations between confounders, is not required by the procedure. We show that if the user correctly specifies the primary adjustment sets in every step, our procedure is both sound and complete. |
| title | Confounder selection via iterative graph expansion |
| topic | Methodology Statistics Theory 62A09 (Primary), 62D20 (Secondary) |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.06053 |