''Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference'' (2000; updated 2009) is a book by
Judea Pearl
Judea Pearl (; born September 4, 1936) is an Israeli-American computer scientist and philosopher, best known for championing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks (see the article on belie ...
. It is an exposition and analysis of
causality. It is considered to have been instrumental in laying the foundations of the modern debate on
causal inference
Causal inference is the process of determining the independent, actual effect of a particular phenomenon that is a component of a larger system. The main difference between causal inference and inference of association is that causal inference an ...
in several fields including
statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
and
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...
. In this book, Pearl espouses the Structural Causal Model (SCM) that uses
structural equation modeling
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a diverse set of methods used by scientists for both observational and experimental research. SEM is used mostly in the social and behavioral science fields, but it is also used in epidemiology, business, ...
. This model is a competing viewpoint to the
Rubin causal model
The Rubin causal model (RCM), also known as the Neyman–Rubin causal model, is an approach to the statistical analysis of cause and effect based on the framework of potential outcomes, named after Donald Rubin. The name "Rubin causal model" was ...
. Some of the material from the book was reintroduced in the more general-audience targeting
The Book of Why.
Reviews
The book earnt Pearl the 2001
Lakatos Award
The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previou ...
in Philosophy of Science.
See also
*
Causality
*
Causal inference
Causal inference is the process of determining the independent, actual effect of a particular phenomenon that is a component of a larger system. The main difference between causal inference and inference of association is that causal inference an ...
*
Structural equation modeling
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a diverse set of methods used by scientists for both observational and experimental research. SEM is used mostly in the social and behavioral science fields, but it is also used in epidemiology, business, ...
References
External links
Book Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Causality (book)
2009 non-fiction books
Statistics books
Structural equation models