Herbert I. Weisberg

Correlation Research, Inc.

Winner of a 2010 Prose award for   Bias and Causation: Models and Judgment for Valid Comparisons, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The concept of confounding has always been, well, … confounding to statisticians, epidemiologists and social scientists. Everyone seems to have a general intuition about what confounding is and how it can distort a causal effect. However, defining confounding rigorously has been problematic. Confusion about “philosophical” issues often translates into fuzzy thinking in practical applications. My new book introduces a new causal framework for thinking about bias that helps to clarify the meaning and implications of confounding. An important insight derived from this approach is that confounding and effect modification are not really separate and distinct phenomena. In particular, there is a sense in which confounding always implies effect modification. The reason why will be explained through simple numerical examples, and practical implications will be discussed.

Sponsored by the Boston Chapters of the American Statistical Association and we thank Simmons College for hosting.

Location:               Special Functions Room

Simmons College
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA

The parking garage is immediately below this building. Enter the parking garage from Avenue Louis Pasteur. Be sure to retain the white ticket that they take on entry; You will get an additional blue ticket at the event. You will need both tickets to exit the campus.The meeting will be in the Special Functions Room which is on the first floor of the Main College Building (on the Fenway). I will put up signs.

Directions:            http://www.simmons.edu/overview/directions/

Date:                      Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Time:                     6:15 – 7:00 PM: Light dinner

7:00 – 8:00 PM: Lecture

To register by check, include the check made payable to BCASA, your name, affiliation, and mail by May 9th to:

Huichao Chen, PhD 

Department of Biostatistics/CBAR 

Harvard University 

651 Huntington Ave, FXB502 

Boston, MA 02115