Causal Inference: correlation is causation
This is the website of the STeW workshop Causal inference: correlation is causation.
| Level | 🟠 Intermediate |
| Description | In this workshop, you will learn the basics of causal inference and how regression models can help estimate causal effects. Causal inference is based on the theory of Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), which will be introduced with examples from linguistics. |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with regression models is necessary to understand the application of DAG theory to data analysis, but anyone with at least some prior statistical background is welcome to join. |
| Recording | Watch |
Further readings
McElreath (2020): Chapters 5-6.
- There are also video lectures, available here: https://github.com/rmcelreath/stat_rethinking_2026.
Pearl (2014) and Pearl’s The Book of Why. Judea Pearl is the founder of causal inference based on do-calculus, which is the one adopted in McElreath (2020) and in this workshop.
References
Greenland, Sander. 2011. The Logic and Philosophy of Causal Inference. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-51862-0.50026-5.
McElreath, Richard. 2020. Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course with Examples in r and Stan. Second edition. Chapman & Hall/CRC Texts in Statistical Science Series. CRC Press.
Pearce, Neil, and Debbie A Lawlor. 2016. “Causal Inferenceso Much More Than Statistics.” International Journal of Epidemiology 45 (6): 1895–903. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw328.
Pearl, Judea. 2014. “Interpretation and Identification of Causal Mediation.” Psychological Methods 19 (4): 459–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036434.
Rohrer, Julia M. 2018. “Thinking Clearly about Correlations and Causation: Graphical Causal Models for Observational Data.” Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 1 (1): 2742. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245917745629.
Rohrer, Julia M. 2024. “Causal Inference for Psychologists Who Think That Causal Inference Is Not for Them.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 18 (3): e12948. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12948.