Recover Experimental Data with Selection Bias using Counterfactual Logic

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Autori principali: He, Jingyang, Wang, Shuai, Li, Ang
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author He, Jingyang
Wang, Shuai
Li, Ang
author_facet He, Jingyang
Wang, Shuai
Li, Ang
contents Selection bias, arising from the systematic inclusion or exclusion of certain samples, poses a significant challenge to the validity of causal inference. While Bareinboim et al. introduced methods for recovering unbiased observational and interventional distributions from biased data using partial external information, the complexity of the backdoor adjustment and the method's strong reliance on observational data limit its applicability in many practical settings. In this paper, we formally discover the recoverability of $P(Y^*_{x^*})$ under selection bias with experimental data. By explicitly constructing counterfactual worlds via Structural Causal Models (SCMs), we analyze how selection mechanisms in the observational world propagate to the counterfactual domain. We derive a complete set of graphical and theoretical criteria to determine that the experimental distribution remain unaffected by selection bias. Furthermore, we propose principled methods for leveraging partially unbiased observational data to recover $P(Y^*_{x^*})$ from biased experimental datasets. Simulation studies replicating realistic research scenarios demonstrate the practical utility of our approach, offering concrete guidance for mitigating selection bias in applied causal inference.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_00335
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Recover Experimental Data with Selection Bias using Counterfactual Logic
He, Jingyang
Wang, Shuai
Li, Ang
Methodology
Artificial Intelligence
Selection bias, arising from the systematic inclusion or exclusion of certain samples, poses a significant challenge to the validity of causal inference. While Bareinboim et al. introduced methods for recovering unbiased observational and interventional distributions from biased data using partial external information, the complexity of the backdoor adjustment and the method's strong reliance on observational data limit its applicability in many practical settings. In this paper, we formally discover the recoverability of $P(Y^*_{x^*})$ under selection bias with experimental data. By explicitly constructing counterfactual worlds via Structural Causal Models (SCMs), we analyze how selection mechanisms in the observational world propagate to the counterfactual domain. We derive a complete set of graphical and theoretical criteria to determine that the experimental distribution remain unaffected by selection bias. Furthermore, we propose principled methods for leveraging partially unbiased observational data to recover $P(Y^*_{x^*})$ from biased experimental datasets. Simulation studies replicating realistic research scenarios demonstrate the practical utility of our approach, offering concrete guidance for mitigating selection bias in applied causal inference.
title Recover Experimental Data with Selection Bias using Counterfactual Logic
topic Methodology
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00335