New methods prioritize acquiring confounding features for efficient treatment effect estimation.
problem Efficient treatment effect estimation from observational data with missing confounding information.
method Proposes two acquisition strategies: covariate balancing and reducing factual outcome error.
result Our proposed methods, especially reducing factual outcome error, improve sample efficiency for treatment effect estimation.
Confounding biases recommender systems, even when data seems fully observed.
problem Unmeasured features influencing both treatment and outcome in recommender systems.
method Illustrations and simulation studies showing how common practices introduce confounding.
result Standard recommender system practices can introduce confounding, reducing performance.
This paper tackles confounding biases in data augmentation.
problem Mitigating spurious correlations and confounding variables in training data.
method Formal analysis and counterfactual data augmentation.
result Removing confounding biases leads to invariant features and better generalization.
Deep CITs test conditional independence in images, improving brain MRI scan analysis.
problem Testing conditional independence in complex, high-dimensional variables like images.
method Combines embedding maps and nonparametric CITs for feature representations.
result Valid DNCITs for brain MRI scans and behavioral traits, confirming null results.
Despite impressive performance on many text classification tasks, deep neural networks tend to learn frequent superficial patterns that are specific to the training data and do not always generalize well. In this work, we observe this limitation with respect to the task of native language identification. We find that s…
The study uses pre-trained neural networks to adjust for confounding in non-tabular data.
problem Neglecting non-tabular data sources can lead to biased ATE estimates.
method Leverages latent features from pre-trained neural networks to adjust for confounding.
result Neural networks can achieve fast convergence rates for ATE estimation with latent features.
With recent advances in deep learning, neuroimaging studies increasingly rely on convolutional networks (ConvNets) to predict diagnosis based on MR images. To gain a better understanding of how a disease impacts the brain, the studies visualize the salience maps of the ConvNet highlighting voxels within the brain major…
DFPV improves PCL for confounded bandit policy evaluation.
problem Estimating causal effects in confounded settings with high-dimensional data.
method Deep feature proxy variable method (DFPV) for high-dimensional, nonlinear relationships.
result DFPV outperforms state-of-the-art methods on synthetic benchmarks and confounded bandit problems.
Extracts invariant features to predict Y without confounding by Z, using conditional independence and optimal transport.
problem Extracting invariant features to predict Y without confounding by Z, a response variable influenced by unknown confounders Z.
method Develops a methodology penalizing statistical dependence between feature and confounders conditioned on Y, using the Optimal Transport Barycenter Problem.
result The method extracts invariant features in the Gaussian case, equivalent to penalizing dependence between feature and conditional random variable Z_Y.
New method estimates policy performance under unobserved confounding.
problem Estimating policy performance when decisions depend on unobserved variables.
method Developed worst-case bounds for robust OPE under unobserved confounding.
result Efficient procedure for computing worst-case bounds, proving statistical consistency.
New method deconfounds deep learning feature representations using counterfactual approach.
problem Improving model stability in deep learning models under dataset shifts.
method Adopting last layer features of DNNs trained with softmax activation for logistic regression, and applying counterfactual deconfounding.
result Counterfactual deconfounding can be applied to DNN feature representations, improving model stability.
Method identifies causal drivers from background features.
problem Distinguishing causal influence from hidden confounding.
method Stability of regression coefficients measured by statistic V.
result V converges to zero if and only if no causal drivers exist.
CATR rationalizes text data to stabilize causal effect estimation.
problem Observational positivity violation in high-dimensional text data.
method Confounding-Aware Token Rationalization (CATR) selects necessary subset of tokens.
result CATR yields more accurate and stable causal effect estimates.
Debias concept-based explanations by removing confounding information.
problem Correlation between concepts and confounding features.
method Causal prior graph and two-stage regression technique.
result Success in removing biases and improving concept ranking.
Proposes a method to explain black-box models using causal learning.
problem Existing explainability methods focus on micro-level inputs, not interpretable features.
method Learns causal graphical representations to differentiate between causal and confounding influences.
result Graphs can differentiate between interpretable and confounding features.
Recently, due to the booming influence of online social networks, detecting fake news is drawing significant attention from both academic communities and general public. In this paper, we consider the existence of confounding variables in the features of fake news and use Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to select gener…
Satellite imagery helps adjust for unobserved confounders in observational studies.
problem Adjusting for confounding factors in observational studies with non-tabular data like satellite imagery.
method Formalizing conditions for causal effect identification, estimation, and sensitivity analysis.
result Demonstrated the use of satellite imagery as a proxy for unobserved confounders in anti-poverty aid programs.
A new method learns outcome-aware spectral features for causal effect estimation.
problem Estimation of causal effects in the presence of hidden confounders.
method Augmented Spectral Feature Learning framework that minimizes a contrastive loss derived from an augmented operator incorporating outcome information.
result Our method remains effective even under spectral misalignment.
In the integrative analyses of omics data, it is often of interest to extract data representation from one data type that best reflect its relations with another data type. This task is traditionally fulfilled by linear methods such as canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and partial least squares (PLS). However, infor…
With the maturation of metabolomics science and proliferation of biobanks, clinical metabolic profiling is an increasingly opportunistic frontier for advancing translational clinical research. Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) approaches provide exciting opportunity to guide feature selection in agnostic metabolic pr…
CausalEGM estimates causal effects by encoding confounders, improving performance in high-dimensional settings.
problem Challenges in estimating causal effects with high-dimensional confounders.
method CausalEGM framework using generative modeling to decouple confounders and estimate causal effects.
result CausalEGM outperforms existing methods in binary and continuous treatment settings, especially with large sample sizes and high-dimensional confounders.
DWTS uses observational data to improve clinical trial efficiency.
problem Lack of definitive conclusions from randomized clinical trials due to insufficient patient cohorts and confounding biases.
method DWTS combines observational data with randomized clinical trials using Doubly Debiased LASSO (DDL) to identify reliable covariates.
result DWTS reduces cumulative regret in clinical trials compared to standard methods.
Paper tackles treatment leakage in text-based causal inference, proposing methods to mitigate bias.
problem Treatment leakage in text-as-confounder applications introduces bias in causal estimates.
method Formal definitions, four text distillation methods (passage removal, classification, salient feature removal, nullspace projection).
result Moderate distillation optimally balances bias reduction against confounder retention.
Develops a method for causal inference with noisy confounders.
problem Noisy measurements of confounders in treatment effects models.
method Local principal subspace approximation combining K-nearest neighbors matching and PCA.
result Estimators of treatment effects and counterfactual distributions are constructed.
Bayesian Topic Regression models causal inference with text and numerical data.
problem Causal inference using observational text data with both text and numerical confounders.
method Combines supervised Bayesian topic model with Bayesian regression framework, respecting the Frisch-Waugh-Lovell theorem.
result Joint approach recovers ground truth with lower bias than benchmarks, superior prediction results compared to separate approaches.
Deep learning models can learn confounding factors instead of device fingerprints in wireless signals.
problem Learning device fingerprints from complex-valued deep neural networks in the presence of confounding factors.
method Investigating complex-valued deep neural networks (DNNs) to distinguish between wireless transmitters, focusing on clock drift and channel variations.
result DNNs learn confounding features rather than device-specific characteristics, requiring strategies to promote generalization.
Paper introduces a new measure of conditional dependence avoiding matrix inversions.
problem Measuring conditional dependence between two phenomena influenced by a confounder.
method Uses U-statistics pruning to avoid matrix inversions and re-interpret independence.
result Proposes a novel measure of conditional dependence that avoids matrix inversions.
Counterfactual evaluation of novel treatment assignment functions (e.g., advertising algorithms and recommender systems) is one of the most crucial causal inference problems for practitioners. Traditionally, randomized controlled trials (A/B tests) are performed to evaluate treatment assignment functions. However, such…
FoundCause: Causal Discovery with Latent Confounders from Observational Data
problem Causal discovery from observational data
method FoundCause, an amortized causal discovery model trained on synthetic data
result FoundCause outperforms classical and amortized methods on real-world datasets
ZNet learns instrumental representations from covariates for causal inference.
problem Lack of valid instruments in observational studies.
method Representation learning approach that constructs instrumental representations from observed covariates.
result ZNet enables IV-based estimation without explicit instruments.
Framework uses human annotations to make models robust to spurious correlations.
problem Machine learning models fail when unmeasured variables change test distributions.
method Human annotations to augment training examples, UV-DRO objective for robustness.
result Improvements of 5-10% on digit recognition task and 1.5-5% on NYPD Police Stops analysis.
The paper proposes a method to precisely decompose confounders and estimate treatment effects.
problem Estimating treatment effects from observational data with confounder identification and balancing.
method Learning decomposed representations to identify and balance confounders and non-confounders.
result The method achieves more precise treatment effect estimation than existing methods.
Linear Mixed Models (LMMs) are important tools in statistical genetics. When used for feature selection, they allow to find a sparse set of genetic traits that best predict a continuous phenotype of interest, while simultaneously correcting for various confounding factors such as age, ethnicity and population structure…
Spectral feature learning improves IV regression for causal effect estimation.
problem Estimating causal effects in the presence of hidden confounders.
method Two-stage least squares estimator based on spectral features.
result Performance of the method depends on strong spectral alignment and slow eigenvalue decay.
SPOT improves differentiable causal discovery by estimating skeleton posterior for latent confounders.
problem Scalable and accurate estimation of causal skeletons in the presence of latent confounders.
method SPOT (Skeleton Posterior-guided OpTimization) framework that estimates skeleton posterior and integrates it with differentiable causal discovery.
result SPOT enhances differentiable causal discovery by reducing the search space and improving accuracy.
We address the problem of causal discovery from data, making use of the recently proposed causal modeling framework of modular structural causal models (mSCM) to handle cycles, latent confounders and non-linearities. We introduce σ-connection graphs (σ-CG), a new class of mixed graphs (containing undirected, bidirected…
Research shows continual learning challenges in confounded datasets.
problem Challenges in mitigating confounders in continual learning settings.
method Formal description of continual confounders, construction of ConCon dataset.
result Standard continual learning methods fail to ignore confounders.
Deep Bayesian models estimate causal effects for dynamic treatment regimes over long follow-up times.
problem Challenges in causal effect estimation for dynamic treatment regimes with long follow-up times.
method Combining outcome regression models with deep Bayesian models for high-dimensional features.
result Stable and accurate dynamic causal effect estimation from observational data, especially with long-term follow-up.
Stable health predictions need deconfounding test set features.
problem Stability of predictions in health machine learning is compromised by selection biases.
method Deconfounding the test set features improves prediction stability across different environments.
result Improved stability achieved by deconfounding test set features.
Deconfounding scores improve causal effect estimation with weak overlap.
problem Poor overlap in treatment and control groups makes causal effect estimators brittle.
method Introduces feature representations that improve overlap without introducing bias.
result Deconfounding scores satisfy a zero-covariance condition that is identifiable in observed data.
Statistical learning on biological data can be challenging due to confounding variables in sample collection and processing. Confounders can cause models to generalize poorly and result in inaccurate prediction performance metrics if models are not validated thoroughly. In this paper, we propose methods to control for …
Causal inference from observational data requires assumptions. These assumptions range from measuring confounders to identifying instruments. Traditionally, causal inference assumptions have focused on estimation of effects for a single treatment. In this work, we construct techniques for estimation with multiple treat…
Detect hidden confounding in observational data using multiple environments.
problem Detect hidden confounding in observational data.
method Theoretical framework and simulation studies to test for hidden confounding.
result The proposed procedure correctly predicts hidden confounding, especially when bias is large.
Machine learning confound removal biases results, leading to misleading predictions.
problem Common confound removal methods in machine learning lead to misleading predictions.
method Featurewise removal of confound variance by linear regression before applying ML.
result This common deconfounding approach can leak information, amplifying null or moderate effects.
KRCD detects unobserved confounders in nonlinear observational data.
problem Detecting unobserved confounders in nonlinear observational studies.
method Kernel Regression Confounder Detection (KRCD) using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces.
result KRCD outperforms existing methods and achieves superior computational efficiency.
Study identifies conditions for proxy adjustment in confounded binary treatment outcomes.
problem Average causal effect estimation with a non-differentially mismeasured binary confounder.
method Identifies conditions for proxy adjustment in the presence of a non-differentially mismeasured binary confounder.
result Adjusting for a non-differentially mismeasured binary proxy can improve estimation of the average causal effect.
Consistent estimator derived for confounding strength in observational data.
problem Estimating confounding strength in observational data is challenging due to unobserved confounders.
method Derived and adapted a consistent estimator using tools from random matrix theory.
result The original estimator is not consistent, but an adapted one is.
A new method uses randomized trials to estimate the strength of unobserved confounding.
problem Unobserved confounding compromises causal conclusions from non-randomized studies.
method Designs a statistical test to detect unobserved confounding strength and estimates a lower bound.
result Estimates an asymptotically valid lower bound on unobserved confounding strength.