Causal Inference: Reading Guides
Short interactive summaries of chapters from The Effect by Nick Huntington-Klein, written for ECON 4309 (Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences). Read each guide before the class where we cover the topic, then go to the full chapter.
Causal Diagrams
How to draw a causal diagram, trace the paths between treatment and outcome, and close back doors.
Matching
Comparing treated and untreated observations that look alike on the variables that close back doors.
Difference-in-Differences
Using the change over time in an untreated group as the counterfactual for a treated group.
Instrumental Variables
Isolating the part of treatment that is driven by something unrelated to the outcome’s other causes.
Regression Discontinuity
Comparing units just above and just below a cutoff that determines treatment.