scholarly journals The role of causal criteria in causal inferences: Bradford Hill's "aspects of association"

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C Ward
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Causal Criteria

Causation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Robbennolt ◽  
Valerie P. Hans
Keyword(s):  
Causal Reasoning ◽  
Counterfactual Thinking ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Legal Advocacy ◽  
Causal Chains ◽  
Multiple Challenges

This chapter explores the psychology of causal reasoning and the implications of this psychology for tort law. The chapter surveys what is known about counterfactual thinking, a process that is at the heart of the but-for test of causation. In addition, the chapter explores the multiple challenges that decision makers face in making causal inferences in complex real-world settings. These include evaluating the contributions of multiple causal factors, evaluating causation in the context of a background risk of harm, identifying the particular source of a harm, and assessing causes that are part of broader causal chains. The chapter raises questions about the role of legal advocacy in defining competing causal accounts and the counterfactual potency of those accounts.

Mediation Analysis and Warranted Inferences in Media and Communication Research: Examining Research Design in Communication Journals From 1996 to 2017

2020 ◽  
pp. 107769902096151
Author(s):  
Michael Chan ◽  
Panfeng Hu ◽  
Macau K. F. Mak
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Communication Research ◽  
Media And Communication

The number of studies employing mediation analysis has increased exponentially in the past two decades. Focusing on research design, this study examines 387 articles in the Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Research, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Media Psychology between 1996 and 2017. Findings show that while most studies report statistically significant indirect effects, they are inadequate to make causal inferences. Authors also often infer that they uncovered the “true” mediator(s) while alternative models and mediators are rarely acknowledged. Future studies should pay more attention to the role of research design and its implications for making causal inferences.

Causal Inferences and the Positivity Bias in Children: The Role of the Covariation Principle

1998 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Schuster ◽  
Diane N. Ruble ◽  
Franz E. Weinert
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Positivity Bias

Studying Mechanisms To Strengthen Causal Inferences In Quantitative Research

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hedström
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Statistical Inference ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
The Social

This article emphasizes various ways by which the study of mechanisms can make quantitative research more useful for causal inference. It concentrates on three aspects of the role of mechanisms in causal and statistical inference: how an understanding of the mechanisms at work can improve statistical inference by guiding the specification of the statistical models to be estimated; how mechanisms can strengthen causal inferences by improving our understanding of why individuals do what they do; and how mechanism-based models can strengthen causal inferences by showing why, acting as they do, individuals bring about the social outcomes they do. There has been a surge of interest in mechanism-based explanations, in political science as well as in sociology. Most of this work has been vital and valuable in that it has sought to clarify the distinctiveness of the approach and to apply it empirically.

Working Memory Capacity and Individual Differences in the Making of Reinstatement and Elaborative Inferences

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Barreyro ◽  
Jazmín Cevasco ◽  
Débora Burín ◽  
Carlos Molinari Marotto
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Decision Times ◽  
Target Words

This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.

scholarly journals Networked Justice: Judges, the Diffusion of Ideas, and Legal Reform Movements in Mexico

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW C. INGRAM
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Mixed Methods Design ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
The Social

AbstractExisting research shows that the ideas of judges shape their behaviour. A natural next question to ask is, where do these ideas come from? Yet, there is little empirical evidence regarding the content and distribution of these ideas and even less evidence regarding the sources of these ideas, especially how ideas transfer or diffuse among judges. In this article, a survey of judges in the Mexican state of Michoacán generates original data on the attitudes and professional ties among these legal elites, and a mixed-methods design examines the diffusion of these attitudes along these ties, sequencing quantitative network analyses and interviews with judges to strengthen causal inferences. The core finding that the social structure of judges influences the attitudes judges hold contributes a valuable analytic complement to scholarship on comparative judicial behaviour, and clarifies our understanding of the role of judicial networks in strengthening democracy and the rule of law.

The Role of Civic and Political Participation in Successful Early Adulthood

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hart ◽  
Anne van Goethem
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
National Service ◽  
Civic Development ◽  
Family Transitions ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Developmental Factors

Phenotypic positive youth civic development varies dramatically according to the political context in which it occurs. In democratic societies, successful individual development is reflected in commitment to and participation in existing civic structures. In contexts of oppression, however, positive youth civic development can include resistance and opposition. Research featuring designs that allow causal inferences is reviewed to identify developmental factors leading to positive youth civic development and political engagement. The impacts of family transitions, education, work, and community/national service on civic development are considered. We conclude with a plea for both the incorporation of meaning into accounts of positive youth development and more research allowing for causal inference concerning civic development.

Validating Vignette Designs with Real-world Data: A Study of Legal Mobilization in Response to Land Grievances in Rural China

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Susan H. Whiting ◽  
Xiao Ma
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Legal Mobilization ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Real World Data ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
The Government ◽  
Original Survey

Abstract How well do vignette designs capture actual behaviour in the real world? This study employs original survey data featuring both hypothetical vignettes and behavioural questions in order to assess the external validity of descriptive and causal inferences in survey experiments. The survey was conducted in a three-province, probability-proportional-to-size sample of 1,897 rural residents in China and focuses on the legal mobilization of citizens in response to grievances involving land rights. In terms of descriptive inference, we find that relative to the behavioural benchmark, hypothetical vignettes significantly over-estimate legal mobilization in response to a grievance, particularly for higher-cost actions like petitioning the government and litigating in court. We find that data from hypothetical vignettes affect causal inference as well, producing significantly different results regarding the effect of political connections and legal knowledge on legal mobilization. The study makes a contribution by identifying conditions under which hypothetical vignettes are less likely to produce valid inference. It engages a rich literature on disputing and legal mobilization in the field of Chinese politics and helps to resolve debates over the role of political connections and legal knowledge.

Direct Democracy and Party Membership: Testing the Role of Political Efficacy

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992110342
Author(s):  
Wen-Chun Chang
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Civic Skills ◽  
Government Responsiveness ◽  
The Relationship

The declines in political party memberships along with an increase in direct democracy have drawn numerous scholarly discussions. Previous literature has explored the relationship between direct democracy and party membership, but the role of political efficacy in shaping this relationship has not been systematically examined. In particular, direct democracy can increase political efficacy by enhancing citizens’ civic skills and perceptions about government responsiveness and indirectly raise citizens’ interests in joining political parties. Using the structural equation model, this study shows that political efficacy strongly correlates with direct democracy and plays a significant role in influencing the effect of direct democracy on party membership. Moreover, results from the bootstrap mediation test of examining potential causal inferences suggest that there are distinct differences in the indirect effects of direct democracy mediated by internal efficacy and external efficacy on party membership.

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