ERIC Number: EJ1192342
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1364-5579
EISSN: N/A
Control Variables and Causal Inference: A Question of Balance
York, Richard
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, v21 n6 p675-684 2018
A common motivation for adding control variables to statistical models is to reduce the potential for spurious findings when analyzing non-experimental data and to thereby allow for more reliable causal inferences. However, as I show here, unless "all" potential confounding factors are included in an analysis (which is unlikely to be achievable with most real-world data-sets), adding control variables to a model in many circumstances can make estimated effects of the variable(s) of interest to the researcher on the dependent variable less accurate. Due to this fact, in some circumstances omitting control variables, even those that affect the dependent variable and are correlated with the variable(s) of interest, may allow for more accurate estimates of the effect(s) of the variable(s) of interest.
Descriptors: Inferences, Control Groups, Correlation, Experimental Groups, Regression (Statistics), Figurative Language, Data Analysis, Causal Models
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A