You're reading from Causal Inference and Discovery in Python Unlock the secrets of modern causal machine learning with DoWhy, EconML, PyTorch and more

Product type Paperback

Published in May 2023

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781804612989

Length 456 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

Python

Tools

PyTorch

Concepts

Data Science

Author (1):

Aleksander Molak

View More author details

Table of Contents (21) Chapters

Preface

1. Part 1: Causality – an Introduction

2. Chapter 1: Causality – Hey, We Have Machine Learning, So Why Even Bother? FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 2: Judea Pearl and the Ladder of Causation

4. Chapter 3: Regression, Observations, and Interventions

5. Chapter 4: Graphical Models

6. Chapter 5: Forks, Chains, and Immoralities

7. Part 2: Causal Inference

8. Chapter 6: Nodes, Edges, and Statistical (In)dependence

9. Chapter 7: The Four-Step Process of Causal Inference

10. Chapter 8: Causal Models – Assumptions and Challenges

11. Chapter 9: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – from Matching to Meta-Learners

12. Chapter 10: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – Advanced Estimators, Experiments, Evaluations, and More

13. Chapter 11: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – Deep Learning, NLP, and Beyond

14. Part 3: Causal Discovery

15. Chapter 12: Can I Have a Causal Graph, Please?

16. Chapter 13: Causal Discovery and Machine Learning – from Assumptions to Applications

17. Chapter 14: Causal Discovery and Machine Learning – Advanced Deep Learning and Beyond

18. Chapter 15: Epilogue

19. Index

20. Other Books You May Enjoy

The front-door criterion

In this section, we’re going to discuss the front-door criterion – a device that allows us to obtain valid causal estimands in (some) cases where the back-door criterion fails.

Can GPS lead us astray?

In their 2020 study, Louisa Dahmani and Véronique Bohbot from McGill University showed that there’s a link between GPS usage and spatial memory decline (Dahmani and Bohbot, 2020). Moreover, the effect is dose-dependent, which means that the more you use GPS, the more spatial memory decline you experience.

The authors argue that their results suggest a causal link between GPS usage and spatial memory decline. We already know that something that looks connected does not necessarily have to be connected in reality.

The authors also know this, so they decided to add a longitudinal component to their design. This means that they observed people over a period of time, and they noticed that those participants who used more GPS had...