Causal Inference in Observational Settings

Catalog description

This course will equip students to conduct causal research, with an emphasis on observational settings. The course focuses on defining a causal question, defending causal assumptions, and estimating the target quantity. These steps will be discussed in the potential outcomes framework and the structural causal modeling framework. A theme of the course is that one should design an observational study to mimic a hypothetical randomized experiment. Students will leave the course prepared to evaluate the credibility of causal claims, answer causal questions in their own research, and engage with new methods for causal inference.