GSE Events

IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Dylan Small

Add to Calendar Icon 2022-09-30 12:30 2022-09-30 13:30 15 Penn GSE Event: IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Dylan Small Dr. Dylan Small, Universal Furniture Professor of Statistics and Data Science, the Wharton School, presents Testing an Elaborate Theory of a Causal Hypothesis as part of the IES Predoctoral Program weekly seminar series.
Fox-Fels Hall, Spady Room (3814 Walnut St.) and on Zoom (email Melanie Bahti for Zoom details)
Melanie Bahti DD/MM/YYYY
Friday, September 30, 2022 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm
ET
Fox-Fels Hall, Spady Room (3814 Walnut St.) and on Zoom (email Melanie Bahti for Zoom details)

This event will be recorded.

Dr. Dylan Small

The University of Pennsylvania Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Research Methods for Field-based Research in Education, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), welcomes Dr. Dylan Small to our weekly seminar series.

Testing an Elaborate Theory of a Causal Hypothesis
Presented by Dr. Dylan Small, Universal Furniture Professor of Statistics and Data Science

When R.A. Fisher was asked what can be done in observational studies to clarify the step from association to causation, he replied, “Make your theories elaborate” -- when constructing a causal hypothesis, envisage as many different consequences of its truth as possible and plan observational studies to discover whether each of these consequences is found to hold.  William Cochran called “this multi-phasic attack…one of the most potent weapons in observational studies.”  Statistical tests for the various pieces of the elaborate theory help to clarify how much the causal hypothesis is corroborated. In practice, the degree of corroboration of the causal hypothesis has been assessed by a verbal description of which of the several tests provides evidence for which of the several predictions. This verbal approach can miss quantitative patterns.  We develop a quantitative approach to making statistical inference about the amount of the elaborate theory that is supported by evidence.  This is joint work with Bikram Karmakar. 

More information
The IES Predoctoral Program’s weekly seminar series connects program fellows and affiliates to scholars and practitioners who engage in educational research and the development of research methods.

Seminars are likely of greatest interest to doctoral students and faculty but are open to all members of the Penn community. If you are interested in attending virtually, please email Melanie Bahti for Zoom information.


Event Contact

Melanie Bahti
mbahti@upenn.edu