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Review
. 2016 Oct;26(10):674-680.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.08.016. Epub 2016 Aug 31.

Does water kill? A call for less casual causal inferences

Miguel A Hernán  1
Affiliations
Review

Does water kill? A call for less casual causal inferences

Miguel A Hernán. Ann Epidemiol. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

"Can this number be interpreted as a causal effect?" is a key question for scientists and decision makers. The potential outcomes approach, a quantitative counterfactual theory, describes conditions under which the question can be answered affirmatively. This article reviews one of those conditions, known as consistency, and its implications for real world decisions.

Keywords: Causal inference; Consistency; Counterfactuals; Potential outcomes; Well-defined interventions.

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