Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Casuality aka causation &
association
- Non-casual associations
- 1. Chance associations that can occur at random
- 2. Artifactual associations that occur through some
error or defect in the design or execution of a study.
- 3. Indirect associations in which an exposure is associated with an
outcome but through a confounding variable.
- have ruled out the likelihood of any of
these non-causal explanations for an
apparent association
- one is left with one additional possibility: The association is causal.
- can finally accept the evidence from a research
article you need to check if the researchers have
discussed their significant results in terms of
causality.
- presence of an association between A and B does not tell
you anything at all about:
- a) The presence of the causality
- b) The direction of causality.
- “To show that A has caused B (rather than B causing A, or A and
B both being caused by C [a confounder]), you need more than a
correlation coefficient” (….or a RR)6. Bradford Hill “tests for
causation” are outlined in the box below (