The DOI matches its Crossref record; 120 of the 120 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 7 of the 75 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable
Open accessAbstract
Endogenous selection bias is a central problem for causal inference. Recognizing the problem, however, can be difficult in practice. This article introduces a purely graphical way of characterizing endogenous selection bias and of understanding its consequences (Hernán et al. 2004). We use causal graphs (direct acyclic graphs, or DAGs) to highlight that endogenous selection bias stems from conditioning (e.g., controlling, stratifying, or selecting) on a so-called collider variable, i.e., a variable that is itself caused by two other variables, one that is (or is associated with) the treatment and another that is (or is associated with) the outcome. Endogenous selection bias can result from direct conditioning on the outcome variable, a post-outcome variable, a post-treatment variable, and even a pre-treatment variable. We highlight the difference between endogenous selection bias, common-cause confounding, and overcontrol bias and discuss numerous examples from social stratification, cultural sociology, social network analysis, political sociology, social demography, and the sociology of education.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
60 Own interpretation · 27 No full text of the sources · 18 No basis given · 9 Sources not found · 7 Not checked yet · 4 Supported · 2 Partly supported · 1 Supported so far · accuracy not yet measured
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“This is exactly what Gangl & Ziefle’s (2009) selectivity-corrected analysis of the motherhood wage penalty finds.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Gangl & Ziefle 2009 source
The paper states that previous research tended to underestimate the motherhood wage penalty because it did not systematically account for dynamic selection into employment. Its Summary and Conclusions passage also reports that its selectivity-corrected estimates often exceed earlier estimates. (LLM, conf=0.94)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
The sources with a verdict support this claim; the rest weren’t checked yet, have no full text we could read, or their verdicts aren’t rated yet.
In the paper
“Over time, the number of cases available for analysis decreases, sometimes drastically so (e.g., Behr et al. 2005, Alderman et al. 2001).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Behr et al. 2005 source
- Supportedcites Alderman et al. 2001 source
The Introduction reports that longitudinal datasets lose cases between survey rounds, with attrition ranging from 6% to 50%; it says there is often considerable attrition. This supports the claim that the number of cases available for analysis can decrease drastically over time. (LLM, conf=0.93)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Rests on an assumption: Most prospective longitudinal studies experience attrition over time.
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“Shalizi & Thomas (2011) recently showed that latent homophily bias constitutes a previously unrecognized example of endogenous selection bias, where the social tie itself plays the role of the pre-treatment collider.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Shalizi & Thomas 2011 source
In “Identifying Contagion From Non-Neighbors” (page unavailable), the paper explicitly says that selecting or conditioning on the social tie Aij activates a collider. Its account of network formation before observable outcomes also supports describing the tie as pre-treatment. “Endogenous selection bias” is a paraphrase of this mechanism, not the paper’s terminology. (LLM, conf=0.91)
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“If the analyst is willing to assume that controlling for some combination of observed pre-treatment variables is sufficient to identify the total causal effect of treatment, then it is sufficient to control for all variables that (directly or indirectly) cause treatment or outcome or both (VanderWeele & Shpitser 2011).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Supportedcites VanderWeele & Shpitser 2011 source
Theorem 1 (Section 3) states that if any subset of measured pretreatment covariates blocks all backdoor paths from treatment to outcome, the subset comprising all observed causes of treatment or outcome does too. The Introduction states the same conditional result for confounding control. (LLM, conf=0.95)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- The authors state this as an assumption: The analyst assumes that controlling for some combination of observed pre-treatment variables is sufficient to identify the total causal effect of treatment.
- Supported
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“Surveys of sample selection bias in sociology tend to emphasize examples where selection is affected by the treatment or the outcome, i.e., where sample selection occurs after treatment”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“all nonparametric identification problems can be classified as one of three underlying problems: overcontrol bias, confounding bias, and endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Identification analysis requires a theory (i.e., a model or assumptions) of how the data were generated.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 2. IDENTIFICATION VERSUS ESTIMATION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Identification (assuming ideal data) is a necessary precondition for unbiased estimation (with real data).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 2. IDENTIFICATION VERSUS ESTIMATION
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
In the paper
“there is, at present, no universal solution to estimating causal effects in the presence of endogenous selection”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 2. IDENTIFICATION VERSUS ESTIMATION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Stolzenberg & Relles 1997 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“the analyst’s theory of data generation can never be fully tested empirically”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 2. IDENTIFICATION VERSUS ESTIMATION
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Robins & Wasserman 1999
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
- Probably not a substantial claim. 27
- It may state two separate claims as one. 34
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“One solution to this problem is to model tie formation (and dissolution) explicitly (Shalizi & Thomas 2011). In the model of Figure 12, this can be accomplished by measuring and conditioning on the tie-forming characteristics of individual i, Ui, or individual j, Uj, or both.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Shalizi & Thomas 2011 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
In “Contagion Effects Are Nonparametrically Unidentifiable” (page unavailable), the paper says that making the traits influencing tie formation observable can remove the confounding path, supporting the proposed conditioning on tie-forming characteristics. But it does not present explicitly modeling tie formation and dissolution alone as a solution: it says allowing ties to vary over time does not help, and describes successful explicit models as also requiring strong assumptions and adequate observed covariates. (LLM, conf=0.84)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Greenland (2003), in particular, has derived useful analytic results and approximations for the relative size of endogenous selection bias and confounding bias in DAGs with binary variables (see also Kaufman et al. 2009).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Greenland 2003 source
- Partly supportedcites Kaufman et al. 2009 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
Section 2.2 describes analytic bounds for causal risk differences in DAGs with binary variables, supporting the general connection made by “see also Kaufman et al. 2009” (page unavailable). The paper does not report approximations comparing the relative size of endogenous selection bias and confounding bias; the searched passages address causal-effect bounds instead. (LLM, conf=0.84)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“In short, there exists no set of pre-treatment controls that is sufficient for identifying the causal effect of T on Y, and hence the VanderWeele & Shpitser (2011) rule does not apply.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Supportedcites VanderWeele & Shpitser 2011 source
Theorem 1 (Section 3) guarantees that the selected controls suffice only if some subset of measured pretreatment covariates blocks all backdoor paths. Section 4 explicitly says that when no subset suffices, the controls selected by the criterion will not suffice either. Thus the rule's identification guarantee does not apply to the situation described; the source does not itself assess Figure 13c. (LLM, conf=0.92)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Supported
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“First, bias can also arise if sample selection occurs prior to treatment.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The quote only partly states this claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Missing arrows are essential for inferring causal information from data.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 3. DAGs IN BRIEF3
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Confounding originates from common causes, whereas endogenous selection originates from common outcomes.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Pearl 1995 source
- Not matchedcites Greenland et al. 1999a
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Hernán et al. 2002, 2004
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Collider variables may occur before or after the treatment and before or after the outcome.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We highlight the difference between endogenous selection bias, common-cause confounding, and overcontrol bias”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Endogenous selection can result from conditioning on an outcome, but it can also result from conditioning on variables that have been affected by the outcome, variables that temporally precede the outcome, and even variables that temporally precede the treatment (Greenland 2003).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Greenland 2003 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“a generalization of conventional linear path diagrams (Wright 1934, Blalock 1964, Duncan 1966, Bollen 1989) that is entirely nonparametric”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Pearl 1995, 2009
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Elwert 2013 source
- Not matchedcites Wright 1934, Blalock 1964, Duncan 1966, Bollen 1989
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Recognizing the problem, however, can be difficult in practice.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Endogenous selection bias results from conditioning on an endogenous variable that is caused by two other variables, one that is (or is associated with) the treatment and one that is (or is associated with) the outcome”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Hernán et al. 2002, 2004
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“missing arrows represent the sharp assumption of no causal effect between variables.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 3. DAGs IN BRIEF3
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“DAGs encode the analyst’s qualitative causal assumptions about the data-generating process in the population”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 3. DAGs IN BRIEF3
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Pearl 2009 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
In the paper
“Sample selection bias occurs when the selection of observations into a sample is not independent of the outcome”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Winship & Mare 1992 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Confounding bias results from failing to control for a common cause variable that one should have controlled for, whereas endogenous selection bias results from controlling for a common outcome variable that one should not have controlled for.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Pearl 1995 source
- Not matchedcites Greenland et al. 1999a
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Hernán et al. 2002, 2004
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Recognizing endogenous selection bias can be difficult, especially when sample selection occurs prior to treatment or when no selection (in the sense of discarding observations) takes place.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 1. INTRODUCTION
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because class size is randomized, T and Y share no common cause, and the total effect of treatment, T, on the outcome, Y, is identified by their marginal association.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If this assumption is correct, then analyzing complete cases only, i.e., conditioning on not having attrited, is entirely unproblematic; the causal effect P→D is identified without any adjustments for attrition.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- The authors state this as an assumption: In Figure 9a, attrition is completely random with respect to both treatment and outcome.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“overcontrol bias, confounding bias, and endogenous selection bias are distinct phenomena: They arise from different causal structures, and they call for different remedies.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 4. SOURCES OF ASSOCIATION: CAUSATION, CONFOUNDING, AND ENDOGENOUS SELECTION > The Building Blocks: Causation, Confounding, and Endogenous Selection
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“these three configurations correspond exactly to the sources of causation, confounding bias, and endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 4. SOURCES OF ASSOCIATION: CAUSATION, CONFOUNDING, AND ENDOGENOUS SELECTION > The Building Blocks: Causation, Confounding, and Endogenous Selection
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Pearl 1988, 2009
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Verma & Pearl 1988
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“conditioning on a noncollider blocks the flow of association along a path, whereas conditioning on a collider opens the flow of association.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 4. SOURCES OF ASSOCIATION: CAUSATION, CONFOUNDING, AND ENDOGENOUS SELECTION > Identification in General DAGs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Nevertheless, under the assumptions of Figure 10b, controlling for Q will remove at least some of the confounding bias exerted by U and not introduce any new biases.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“outright selection on an outcome, or selection on a variable affected by the outcome, is always potentially problematic.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If, however, there are unmeasured factors, such as marital distress, U, that jointly affect attrition and divorce, as in Figure 9c, then C becomes a collider along the noncausal path between poverty and divorce, P→C←U→D, and conditioning on C will unblock this path and distort the association between poverty and divorce.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Furthermore, they found that although controlling for additional pre-treatment variables generally reduced bias, sometimes including additional controls increased bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Steiner et al. 2010 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Figure 10a starts by positing the usual assumption that innate ability, U, confounds the effect of schooling on wages via the unblocked noncausal path S←U→W. Because true innate ability is unobserved, the path cannot be blocked, and the effect S→Y is not identified.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- The authors state this as an assumption: Innate ability confounds the effect of schooling on wages.
- Rests on an assumption: True innate ability is unobserved.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We hypothesize that the finding is due to endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
hedgeddirect- Asserted: fails — The authors may not put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true.
- The authors state this as an assumption: In the music study example, additional explanatory variables are not considered.
- Rests on an assumption: In the music example, topping the Billboard charts has a positive effect on inclusion in the Rolling Stone 500 in the population of all albums.
- The authors state this as an assumption: In the music example, there is no common-cause confounding.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In Figure 9b, poverty is assumed to affect the risk of dropping out, P→C. Nevertheless, the causal effect of P→D remains identified. As in Figure 9a, conditioning on C in Figure 9b does not lead to bias because conditioning on C does not open any noncausal paths between P and D.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- The authors state this as an assumption: In Figure 9b, poverty affects the risk of dropping out.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If the analyst restricts the analysis to employed women, he will thus condition on the collider E, unblock the non-causal path from motherhood to offer wages, M→WR→E←WO, and induce endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Many social science data sets include information on motherhood but not on women's reservation wage.
- Rests on an assumption: Data typically include information on offer wages only for women who are employed.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“does not transmit association and is said to be blocked, closed, or d-separated if the path contains a noncollider, C, that has been conditioned on”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 4. SOURCES OF ASSOCIATION: CAUSATION, CONFOUNDING, AND ENDOGENOUS SELECTION > Identification in General DAGs
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Pearl 1988, 1995
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Verma & Pearl 1988
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It is the source of informative censoring and attrition bias in longitudinal studies, and it is a central problem of mediation analysis in the search for social mechanisms and the estimation of direct and indirect effects.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Note that this second—but not the first—endogenous selection problem persists even if the noncollider WR is measured and controlled.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Either practice can lead to endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To the extent that U strongly affects Q, Q is a valid proxy for U. But to the extent that Q does not perfectly measure U, the effect of S on W remains partially confounded.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The odds ratio from the logistic regression of R on B in this selected sample would then be downward biased compared with the true population odds ratio and possibly flip directions, ORS = aSd/bc < ad/bc = ORP.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- The authors state this as an assumption: In the music example, there is no common-cause confounding.
- Rests on an assumption: Most albums ever released neither topped the charts nor won inclusion in the Rolling Stone 500.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“One class of pre-treatment variables that analysts should approach with caution is pretreatment colliders (Pearl 1995, Greenland et al. 1999b, Hernán et al. 2002, Greenland 2003, Hernán et al. 2004, Elwert 2013).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Pearl 1995 source
- Not matchedcites Greenland et al. 1999b
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Hernán et al. 2002
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“It is well known that outright selection on the outcome, as well as conditioning on a variable affected by the outcome, can lead to bias”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a (Post-) Outcome Collider
What the sources say
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Using DAGs, sociologists can formally analyze the consequences of their theoretical assumptions and determine whether causal inference is possible.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Here, X is both a confounder (on the noncausal paths T←X←U1→Y and T←X←U2→Y) and a collider (on the noncausal path T←U2→X←U1→Y). Controlling for X would remove confounding but induce endogenous selection, and not controlling for X would do the opposite.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“By contrast, in Figure 13b, X is a collider that blocks the noncausal path between treatment and outcome, T←U2→X←U1→Y. Conditioning on X would open this noncausal path and induce endogenous selection bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The most general advice to be derived from the first two groups—post-outcome and intermediate collider examples—is straightforward: When estimating total causal effects, avoid conditioning on post-treatment variables (Rosenbaum 1984).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Rosenbaum 1984 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In Figure 13a, X is indeed a common-cause confounder as it sits on an open noncausal path between treatment and outcome, T←X→Y. Conditioning on X will block this noncausal path and identify the causal effect of T on Y.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Hudson et al. (2008) apply these results productively in a study of familial coaggregation of diseases.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hudson et al. 2008 source
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of course, this advice can be hard to follow in practice when conditioning is implicit in the data-collection scheme or the result of selective nonresponse and attrition.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We caution, however, that these rules of thumb for binary-variable DAGs do not necessarily generalize to DAGs with differently distributed variables.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Given that assumption-free causal inference is impossible, sociologists must rely on theory, prudent substantive judgment, and well-founded prior knowledge to assess the threat of bias.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Rests on an assumption: Assumption-free causal inference is impossible.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In this review, we have argued that understanding endogenous selection bias is central for understanding the identification of causal effects in sociology.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The virtue of this advice is that it prevents the analyst from conditioning on a pretreatment collider.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Such analyses will strengthen confidence in a causal claim when it is warranted and explicitly indicate sources of potential bias— including endogenous selection bias—when a causal claim is not appropriate.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It is possible that these increases in bias resulted from controlling for pre-treatment colliders.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“Interrogating the simple steps necessary for separating causal from noncausal associations, we next saw that endogenous selection bias is logically on par with confounding bias and overcontrol bias in the sense that all nonparametric identification problems can be reduced to confounding (i.e., not conditioning on a common cause), overcontrol (i.e., conditioning on a variable on the causal pathway”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Verma & Pearl 1988
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In both models, the pre-treatment variable X meets the commonsense, purely associational, definition of confounding: (a) X temporally precedes treatment, T; (b) X is associated with the treatment; and (c) X is associated with the outcome, Y.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on a Pre-Treatment Collider
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Furthermore, if the pre-treatment variable is both a collider and a confounder (as in Figure 13c), then conditioning on it may remove more bias than it induces, even though nonparametric point identification is still not feasible.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Greenland 2003 source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If it is known that the pre-treatment collider is not also a confounder, then the solution is not to condition on it when possible”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“(this is not possible in social network analysis, where conditioning on the pretreatment social tie is implicit in the research question).”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Second, conditioning on an intermediate collider may lead to bias that is larger than the effects pointing into the collider, although the bias will usually be smaller than those effects if the intermediate collider does not itself exert a causal effect on the outcome.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Greenland 2003 source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We believe that DAGs provide such a language because they focus the analyst’s attention on what matters for nonparametric identification of causal effects: qualitative assumptions about the causal relationships between variables.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
The authors state this as an assumption.
The DAGs in this review display all observed and unobserved common causes in the process under investigation.
“we assume that the DAGs in this review display all observed and unobserved common causes in the process under investigation.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the Hollywood example, beauty and talent are unassociated in the general population.
“Suppose, for argument’s sake, that beauty and talent are unassociated in the general population”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the Hollywood example, beauty and talent are separately sufficient for becoming a successful Hollywood actor.
“Suppose further that beauty and talent are separately sufficient for becoming a successful Hollywood actor.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the Hausman and Wise example, education and the error term U are independent in the population.
“Assume, for clarity and without loss of generality, that E and U are independent in the population”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the Lin et al. example, income and child support payments are treated as sharing no common causes.
“Without loss of generality, we neglect that I and P may share common causes.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the music study example, additional explanatory variables are not considered.
“For clarity, we do not consider additional explanatory variables in the study.”
The paper relies on this without support.
In the music example, topping the Billboard charts has a positive effect on inclusion in the Rolling Stone 500 in the population of all albums.
“The treatment is topping the Billboard charts, B, which presumably has a positive effect on R in the population of all albums.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In the music example, there is no common-cause confounding.
“In the absence of common-cause confounding (as encoded in Figure 7)”
The paper relies on this without support.
Most albums ever released neither topped the charts nor won inclusion in the Rolling Stone 500.
“most albums ever released neither topped the charts nor won inclusion in the Rolling Stone 500.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Motherhood affects a woman's reservation wage.
“Following standard labor market theory, assume that motherhood will affect a woman’s reservation wage, WR, i.e., the wage that would be necessary to draw her out of the home and into the workforce.”
The paper relies on this without support.
A woman accepts employment only if the wage offer meets or exceeds her reservation wage.
“Employment, E, is a function of both the wage offer and the reservation wage because a woman will only accept the job if the wage offer meets or exceeds her reservation wage.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Motherhood and offer wages share no common cause.
“(For simplicity, assume that M and WO share no common cause.)”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In Figure 9a, attrition is completely random with respect to both treatment and outcome.
“attrition is assumed to be completely random with respect to both treatment and outcome.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
In Figure 9b, poverty affects the risk of dropping out.
“In Figure 9b, poverty is assumed to affect the risk of dropping out, P→C.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Many social science data sets include information on motherhood but not on women's reservation wage.
“Many social science data sets include information on motherhood, M, but they typically do not include information on women’s reservation wage, WR.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Data typically include information on offer wages only for women who are employed.
“Importantly, the data typically include information on offer wages, WO, only for those women who are actually employed.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Most prospective longitudinal studies experience attrition over time.
“Most prospective longitudinal (panel) studies experience attrition over time.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Schooling is not randomly assigned, and individuals with higher innate ability are more likely to obtain more schooling and favorable later outcomes regardless of schooling.
“Schooling, of course, is not randomly assigned to students: On average, individuals with higher innate ability are both more likely to obtain more schooling and more likely to achieve favorable outcomes later in life regardless of their level of schooling.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Innate ability confounds the effect of schooling on wages.
“Figure 10a starts by positing the usual assumption that innate ability, U, confounds the effect of schooling on wages via the unblocked noncausal path S←U→W.”
The paper relies on this without support.
True innate ability is unobserved.
“Because true innate ability is unobserved, the path cannot be blocked, and the effect S→Y is not identified.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Civic engagement does not spread between friends.
“For expositional clarity, assume that civic engagement does not spread between friends [i.e., no arrow Yi(t)→Yj(t+1)].”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Each person's civic engagement is caused by their own characteristics, which are at least partially unobserved.
“Instead, each person’s civic engagement is caused by their own characteristics, U, such as altruism, which are at least partially unobserved [giving arrows Yi(t)←Ui→Yi(t+1) and Yj(t)←Uj→Yj(t+1)].”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Tie formation is homophilous, such that altruistic people form preferential attachments.
“Tie formation is homophilous, such that altruistic people form preferential attachments, Ui→Fi,j←Uj.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
The analyst assumes that controlling for some combination of observed pre-treatment variables is sufficient to identify the total causal effect of treatment.
“If the analyst is willing to assume that controlling for some combination of observed pre-treatment variables is sufficient to identify the total causal effect of treatment, then it is sufficient to control for all variables that (directly or indirectly) cause treatment or outcome or both (VanderWeele & Shpitser 2011).”
The authors state this as an assumption.
There exists some sufficient set of observed controls.
“Nevertheless, the advice is still conditional on some theory of data generation, however coarsely articulated, specifically that there exists some sufficient set of observed controls.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Assumption-free causal inference is impossible.
“Given that assumption-free causal inference is impossible, sociologists must rely on theory, prudent substantive judgment, and well-founded prior knowledge to assess the threat of bias.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The direct line between two variables in a network graph appears to suggest a direct (causal) relationship between them, but there are several other possibilities:”
From Using person-specific networks in psychotherapy: challenges, limitations, and how we could use them anyway (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
“Because true innate ability is unobserved, the path cannot be blocked, and the effect S→Y is not identified.”
§ Endogenous Selection Bias: The Problem of Conditioning on a Collider Variable > 5. EXAMPLES OF ENDOGENOUS SELECTION BIAS IN SOCIOLOGY > Conditioning on an Intermediate Variable
“To be concrete, consider the effect of schooling, S, on wages, W.”
Citations
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532
Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error
Heckman, J. J. (1979) · Econometrica · doi:10.2307/1912352 · Cited by 28,779
(2001) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 27,577
Structural Equations with Latent Variables
Bollen, K. A. (1989) · Wiley series in probability and statistics · doi:10.1002/9781118619179 · Cited by 17,944
Structural Equations with Latent Variables.
Clogg, C. C., & Bollen, K. A. (1991) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2072165 · Cited by 17,475
Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference
Pearl, J. (2009) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803161 · Cited by 11,653
Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies
Rubin, D. B. (1974) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0037350 · Cited by 9,436
Statistics and Causal Inference
Holland, P. W. (1986) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.1080/01621459.1986.10478354 · Cited by 5,293
(1976) · Annals of Economic and Social Measurement · Cited by 5,035
Causation, Prediction, and Search
Spirtes, P., Glymour, C., & Scheines, R. (1993) · Lecture Notes in Statistics · doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-2748-9 · Cited by 4,617
Research works printed but not linked: 12
- Angrist JD, 1996, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 8, 328
- Bareinboim E, 2012, Proc. 15th Int. Conf. Artif. Intell. Stat.(AISTATS), April 21–23, 2012, La Palma, Canary Islands, 22, 100
- Farr W, 1858, Transaction National Association Promotion Social Science, 504
- Glymour MM, 2008, Modern Epidemiology, 183
- Hausman JA, 1981, The Econometrics of Discrete Data, 365
- Heckman JJ, 1976, Ann. Econ. Soc. Meas., 5, 475
- Kim JH, 1983, Proc. 8th Int. Jt. Conf. Artif. Intell. (IJCAI-83), Karlsruhe, FRG, Aug. 8–12, 1983, 190
- Lin I, 1999, J. Off. Stat., 15, 143
- Pearl J, 2001, Proc. 17th Conf. Uncertain. Artif. Intell., Aug. 2–5, 2001, Seattle, WA, 411
- VanderWeele TJ, 2009, J. Mach. Learn., 10, 699
- Ver Steeg G, 2011, Proc. 27th Conf. Uncertain. Artif. Intell.(UAI2011), July 14–17, 2011, Barcelona, Spain, 717
- Verma T, 1988, Proc. 4th Workshop Uncertain. Artif. Intell., 352
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 801–900 of 1,194
Revisiting “The First-Daughter Effect”
Urbatsch, R. (2020) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1093/poq/nfaa029 · Cited by 2
Walters, G. D. (2021) · Criminal Justice Review · doi:10.1177/07340168211015728 · Cited by 2
“…respect to potential bias in the results, the current findings were moderately robust to the effects of omitted variable bias (Imai et al., 2010), and there was no evidence of endogenous selection bias when the precursor measures were removed from the regression equations (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundResultThe Demographic Echo of War and educational attainment in Soviet Russia
Yastrebov, G. (2021) · Demographic Research · doi:10.4054/demres.2021.45.22 · Cited by 2
“…in the Soviet economy pushing up the demand for a skilled workforce).27 The second source is possible endogenous selection on the outcome (e.g., Elwert and Winship 2014) due to socioeconomic differentials in life expectancy (also reported for Russia: Bessudnov, McKee, and Stuckler 2012;…”
BackgroundWalters, G., & Espelage, D. L. (2021) · Youth & society · doi:10.1177/0044118x211053025 · Cited by 2
“Conditioning on the precursor to a predicted variable has, at times, been found to artificially inflate pathway coefficients (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundWalters, G. D. (2022) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x221126194 · Cited by 4
“…(2013) “failsafe ef” procedure, (r my.x ) × (sd m.x ) × (sd y.x )/ (sd m ) × (sd y ), and sensitivity testing designed to rule out endogenous selection bias (Elwert & Winship, 2014) was implemented by removing the precursor measures from each regression equation and recalculating the coefficients.”
MethodBias? Clarifying the language barrier between epidemiologists and economists
Varga, A. N., Morel, A. E. G., van Dongen, J. M., Lokkerbol, J., Lindeboom, M., van Tulder, M. W., Bouter, L. M., & Bosmans, J. E. (2022) · Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology · doi:10.1007/s10742-022-00291-x · Cited by 2
“2020; Elwert and Winship 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialSmith, C. M., & Hirschl, N. (2022) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x221137899 · Cited by 4
“The analytic sample includes both those who did and did not graduate high school to avoid overcontrol bias (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundDirected Acyclic Graphs in Social Work Research and Evaluation: A Primer
Rose, R. A., Cosgrove, J. A., & Lee, B. R. (2022) · Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research · doi:10.1086/723606 · Cited by 2
“To be exhaustive, it is important to consider the focal latent variables and not rely entirely on observed variables (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
InfluentialQuantitative Methoden in den Internationalen Beziehungen
Ruhe, C., Schneider, G., & Spilker, G. (2022) · Springer Reference Sozialwissenschaften · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-19954-2_25-2 · Cited by 2
A Faustian bargain? Rethinking the role of debt in law students' career choices
Boutcher, S. A., Houle, J. N., Raup‐Kounovksy, A., & Seron, C. (2023) · Journal of Empirical Legal Studies · doi:10.1111/jels.12344 · Cited by 2
Graduates’ early wages in Germany: Does a university’s status of excellence make the difference?
Lang, S., & Schwabe, U. (2023) · Research in Social Stratification and Mobility · doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2023.100765 · Cited by 2
Advanced Considerations in Quantitative Methods for New Directions in Engineering Education Research
Katz, A., Godwin, A., & Brozina, C. (2023) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003287483-36 · Cited by 3
Walters, G. D. (2023) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2023.112374 · Cited by 2
Ramaswamy, V. M. C., Butler, T. G., Ton, B., Wilhelm, K. A., Mitchell, P. B., Knight, L. G., Greenberg, D. A., Ellis, A., Allnutt, S. H., Jones, J., et al. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1243655 · Cited by 2
“This selective nature of the sample leads to at least the potential for correlations between some variables to be spurious (Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundLabor Market Inequality, Debt, and the Consequences of Sub-Baccalaureate Higher Education
Rhodes, A. P. (2023) · Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1080/00380253.2023.2253315 · Cited by 2
“I do not include controls for marriage or parenthood to avoid conditioning on collider variables (Elwert and Winship 2014).”
BackgroundWalters, G. D. (2023) · Criminal Justice Studies · doi:10.1080/1478601x.2023.2263625 · Cited by 4
“…with Kenny’s (2013) ‘failsafe ef’ procedure, (r my.x ) x (sd m.x ) x (sd y.x )/(sd m ) x (sd y ), followed by sensitivity testing designed to rule out endogenous selection bias or a collider effect (Elwert & Winship, 2014) by recalculating the regression analysis without precursor measures.”
MethodBloome, D., & Pace, G. T. (2023) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/728735 · Cited by 3
Childhood cognitive ability and self-harm and suicide in later life
Iveson, M. H., Ball, E. L., Whalley, H. C., Deary, I. J., Cox, S. R., Batty, G. D., John, A. M., & McIntosh, A. M. (2023) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101592 · Cited by 2
“Furthermore, the fully-adjusted models were repeated without the adulthood deprivation measure in order to account for potential collider bias from including post-treatment controls (Elwert & Winship, 2014) (Supplementary Tables S4 and S5).”
MethodZavlis, O., Parsons, S. D., Fox, E., Booth, C., Songco, A., & Vincent, J. P. (2024) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579423001645 · Cited by 3
“An example collider case could involve depression, which instead of exerting “ causal ” effects on predictors (e.g., life experiences) and outcomes (i.e., biases), it could be “ caused ” by them (e.g., Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
Yahirun, J., & Torres, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12986 · Cited by 2
Horii, S., & Chikahara, Y. (2024) · Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1609/aaai.v38i18.30025 · Cited by 2
Second-order Economic Voting in Elections to the European Parliament
Bosch, A. (2024) · Papers Revista de Sociologia · doi:10.5565/rev/papers.3159 · Cited by 2
Approaches to Statistical Efficiency When Comparing the Embedded Adaptive Interventions in a SMART
Lycurgus, T., Kilbourne, A. M., & Almirall, D. (2024) · Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics · doi:10.3102/10769986241251419 · Cited by 3
“Conditioning on variables collected post-baseline may lead to “collider bias” (Hern´an et al., 2004; Cole et al., 2010; Elwert and Winship, 2014) because that covariate may be influenced simultaneously by both the treatment and other known or unknown factors contributing to the outcome.”
Slaveholder ancestry and current net worth of members of the United States Congress
Sehgal, N. K. R., & Sehgal, A. R. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0308351 · Cited by 2
Palsola, M., Araújo‐Soares, V., Hardeman, W., Haukkala, A., Heino, M. T. J., Sniehotta, F. F., Sund, R., Vasankari, T. J., & Hankonen, N. E. (2024) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjhp.12744 · Cited by 5
Mergener, A., Rinke, T., & Entgelmeier, I. (2024) · Social Sciences · doi:10.3390/socsci13100508 · Cited by 2
“Moreover, the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey contains a large number of socio-demographic, educational and job-related items, which enables the adjustment for relevant control variables in order to avoid possible confounding bias (Elwert and Winship 2014).”
Walters, G. D. (2024) · International Journal of Law and Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2024.102031 · Cited by 6
Trejo, S., & Kanopka, K. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2405725121 · Cited by 2
Krebs, B. P., Funck, M., Tomin, S., Wach, B., & Kabst, R. (2025) · R and D Management · doi:10.1111/radm.12752 · Cited by 2
“Participation in the #EUvsVirus hackathon was voluntary, and our selection of observations among the available data for testing our hypotheses was independent of teams' outcomes (Elwert and Winship 2014; Winship and Mare 1992, 328).”
The intergenerational effect of educational expansion: evidence from a natural experiment in Spain
Espadafor, M. C., & García-Sierra, A. (2025) · European Sociological Review · doi:10.1093/esr/jcaf003 · Cited by 2
Friederich, S. (2025) · Europhysics Letters (EPL) · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/adcbd0 · Cited by 2
Romero, D., Johansson, M., Berman, A. H., & Lindner, P. (2025) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.70074 · Cited by 1
“Collider bias refers to the distortion in the estimated association between two variables typically caused by selecting participants based on a third variable, which is a common effect (collider) of the two or more variables under analysis [22, 24, 26].”
Chamberlin, S., Pauline, L., & Krueger, P. M. (2025) · Population Research and Policy Review · doi:10.1007/s11113-025-09958-y · Cited by 3
“In the absence of longitudinal data about the temporal ordering of these variables, and given the risk of over-control bias (Elwert & Winship, 2014), we exclude them from our main analyses, but include them in sensitivity analyses in the online appendix.”
Paraben exposures and satiety hormones in preschool children: an ENVIRONAGE study
Reimann, B., Ruyter, T. D., Sleurs, H., Rasking, L., Verheyen, L., Giesberts, N., Pirard, C., Charlier, C., Frost, G. S., Vineis, P., et al. (2025) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2025.122300 · Cited by 2
Object Conditioning for Causal Inference.
Jensen, D. D., Burroni, J., & Rattigan, M. J. (2019) · Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence · Cited by 2
Ling, Z., & Tam, T. (2019) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.102401 · Cited by 3
Kratz, F., Bauer, G., & Brüderl, J. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-19206-8_5 · Cited by 2
Matching Strategies for Causal Inference with Observational Data in Education
Kim, Y., Lubanski, S. A., & Steiner, P. M. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93539-3_9 · Cited by 2
Continuity Trumps? The Impact of Interviewer Change on Item Nonresponse
Hajek, K., & Schumann, N. (2017) · Survey research methods · doi:10.18148/srm/2018.v12i3.7230 · Cited by 2
Modèles structuraux et inférence causale
Juhel, J. (2015) · Presses universitaires de Rennes eBooks · doi:10.4000/books.pur.61649 · Cited by 4
Schulformen und geschlechtstypische Berufsorientierungen
Siembab, M., & Wicht, A. (2020) · Zeitschrift für Soziologie · doi:10.1515/zfsoz-2020-0017 · Cited by 2
“Es ist wichtig, einen solchen collider bias zu reflektieren, da sich die verwendeten Konstrukte auf der Individual- und Schulebene ähneln (Breen 2018; Elwert & Winship 2014).”
BackgroundEstimating controlled direct effects through marginal structural models
Torres, M. (2020) · Political Science Research and Methods · doi:10.1017/psrm.2020.3 · Cited by 2
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108264822.020 · Cited by 4
The biasing effects of selection and attrition on estimating the mean
Lee, S., & Mendoza, J. L. (2022) · British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bmsp.12284 · Cited by 2
Can Money Buy Happiness? Income and Multidimensional Life Satisfaction in Brunei Darussalam
Slesman, L., Hoon, C. Y., Arifin, E. N., Haji-Othman, N. A., & Tan, A. (2023) · Asian Development Review · doi:10.1142/s0116110523500075 · Cited by 2
Ellison, G. T. H. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-26010-0_6 · Cited by 6
The effects of female education on child education: a prospective analysis
Grätz, M. (2023) · European Societies · doi:10.1080/14616696.2023.2275591 · Cited by 2
Shelter from the storm: do partnerships buffer the well-being costs of unemployment?
Prechsl, S., & Wolbring, T. (2023) · European Sociological Review · doi:10.1093/esr/jcad066 · Cited by 2
Christensen, D., Gibberd, A. J., McNamara, B. J., Eades, S., Shepherd, C., Preen, D. B., McAullay, D. R., & Strobel, N. (2023) · Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology · doi:10.1111/ppe.13018 · Cited by 2
“25,26 Based on the DAGs, a minimal sufficient adjustment set (MSA) to deconfound each exposure was identified in DAGitty 3.0.”
BackgroundInfluentialDo Consequences of Parental Job Displacement for Infant Health Vary Across Local Economic Contexts?
Baranowska-Rataj, A., Högberg, B., & Voßemer, J. (2024) · RSF The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences · doi:10.7758/rsf.2024.10.1.03 · Cited by 2
“Drawing on insights from causal graphs, our adjustment set included child, parental, and workplace characteristics measured in (t-2) that we assume to be confounders, that is, to affect the risk of job displacement and birth outcomes (Elwert and Winship 2014).”
The Effects and Costs of Air Pollution on Health Status in Great Britain
Giovanis, E., & Ozdamar, O. (2016) · International Journal of Sustainable Economies Management · doi:10.4018/ijsem.2016010104 · Cited by 5
Türkiye’de 2008 Yılı Sağlık Reformunun Cepten Yapılan Sağlık Harcamaları Üzerindeki Etkisi
Gıovanıs, E., & Özdamar, Ö. (2017) · Akdeniz Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi · doi:10.25294/auiibfd.357616 · Cited by 2
Walters, G. D. (2018) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-018-9670-x · Cited by 2
A Bayesian finite mixture of bivariate regression model for causal mediation analyses
Lefebvre, G., Samoilenko, M., Boucoiran, I., & Blais, L. (2018) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.7835 · Cited by 2
Walters, G. D. (2021) · Journal of Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1108/jcp-10-2020-0043 · Cited by 2
Overcoming the Poverty of Mechanism in Causal Models
Kleinberg, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108592703.011 · Cited by 2
Country-of-origin gender ideology and immigrants’ gender role attitudes toward women’s employment
Pessin, L., & Arpino, B. (2017) · Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) · Cited by 2
Do parental leaves make the motherhood wage penalty worse? Assessing two decades of German reformsPreprint
Mari, G., & Cutuli, G. (2018) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/f2nrc · Cited by 2
Common effect models: Positive or negative manifold?Preprint
van Bork, R., Marsman, M., Rhemtulla, M., Epskamp, S., Kruis, J., & Borsboom, D. (2019) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/xs4cy · Cited by 1
Optimization-based Causal Estimation from Heterogenous EnvironmentsPreprint
Yin, M., Wang, Z., & Blei, D. M. (2021) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2109.11990 · Cited by 2
“Accordingly, standard inference strategies, such as regression adjustment for all covariates, may produce biased causal estimates (Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundKnox, D., Lowe, W., & Mummolo, J. (2020) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3940802 · Cited by 2
Geraldo, P., & Brand, J. E. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0240 · Cited by 2
The Right to Work, Power Resources, and Economic InequalityPreprint
VanHeuvelen, T. (2019) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/7qb56 · Cited by 2
Morris, T., Dorling, D., Davies, N. M., et al. (2019) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/e6c37 · Cited by 2
“Third, because we condition our analysis on a measure of cognitive ability that was collected after the school enjoyment data, it is possible that this induced collider bias into our results (Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundWodtke, G. T., Ramaj, S., & Schachner, J. N. (2020) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/mv9d7 · Cited by 2
Longer Trips to Court Cause EvictionsPreprint
Hoffman, D. A., & Strezhnev, A. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4130696 · Cited by 2
Fixed Effects and Post-Treatment Bias in Legacy StudiesPreprint
Homola, J., Pereira, M. M., & Tavits, M. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/eha72 · Cited by 2
Lievore, I., Fedeli, E., & Triventi, M. (2023) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/7x5yn · Cited by 2
A college on every cape: Gender equality, gender segregation and higher educational expansionPreprint
Rogne, A. F., Knutsen, T., & Modalsli, J. H. (2023) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/xej64 · Cited by 1
Keller, B., & Branson, Z. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/58qmp · Cited by 2
The Evolution of Selection Bias in the Recent Epidemiologic Literature—A Selective OverviewPreprint
Lu, H., Howe, C. J., Zivich, P. N., Gonsalves, G., & Westreich, D. J. (2024) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/gqrca · Cited by 2
van Hagen, C. C. E., Vos, E. R. A., Delaunay, C. L., de Melker, H. E., Kissling, E., & Knol, M. J. (2025) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.03.31.25324928 · Cited by 2
Glyphosate exposure and GM seed rollout unequally reduced perinatal health
Saulnier, E., & Rubin, E. (2024) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4863595 · Cited by 1
Objective Status, Subjective Status and Prosociality of Swiss Apprentices
Liebe, U., Schwitter, N., & Tutić, A. (2019) · Swiss Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2478/sjs-2019-0004 · Cited by 1
Personality Traits and Mental Disorders
Hakulinen, C. A., Jokela, M. M., Mika Kivimaki, B., & Elovainio, M. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108264822.018 · Cited by 4
Anxiety, Depression and Cognitive Dysfunction
Eysenck, M. W., & Holmes, A. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108264822.033 · Cited by 3
Lynam, D. R., Vize, C. E., & Miller, J. D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108264822.043 · Cited by 2
Causation in a Physical World: An Overview of Our Emerging Understanding
Kleinberg, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108592703.005 · Cited by 1
The Relevance of SourceForge Data in the Age of GitHub
Almarzouq, M. N., AlZaidan, A., & Dallal, J. A. (2022) · ACM SIGMIS Database the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems · doi:10.1145/3571823.3571830 · Cited by 3
“Finally, observational studies involve additional challenges because collecting data according to contextual factors that exert a direct or indirect effect on the factors of interest might bias a study’s causal effect estimates (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialHelland, H., Wiborg, Ø. N., & Røberg, K. I. K. (2023) · European Societies · doi:10.1080/14616696.2023.2197988 · Cited by 2
“5 As is well known, the conventional control variable strategy may of course induce problems of endogeneity and collider problems (Elwert and Winship 2014).”
BackgroundFallesen, P. (2023) · Acta Sociologica · doi:10.1177/00016993231198334 · Cited by 1
“Insofar criminal activity correlates with the probability of fatherhood, conditioning on fatherhood creates endogenous selection (collider) bias (Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
BackgroundRøed, S. E., Nærland, R. K., Strat, M., Pallesen, S., & Erevik, E. K. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1265247 · Cited by 2
Fluder, R., Kessler, D., & Schuwey, C. (2024) · doi:10.33058/seismo.30894 · Cited by 1
Points of departure: family leave policy and women’s representation in management in U.S. workplaces
Mun, E., Vican, S. B., & Kelly, E. L. (2024) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/soae080 · Cited by 1
Nonprofit Chief Executive Compensation: Implications of Board Governance Activities
Bernstein, R. S., Fredette, C. A., & Postlethwaite, B. E. (2024) · Compensation & Benefits Review · doi:10.1177/08863687241275237 · Cited by 1
“…as a social context, are as susceptible to cognitive bias in the interpretating the viability of candidates in CEO selection processes that lead to endogenous biases in assessing social value and performative worth in subsequent evaluations (Elwert & Winship, 2014; Larzelere et al., 2004).”
Echoes from the trenches: World War I deaths and contemporary support for the far-right in France
Surdea‐Hernea, V. (2024) · European Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s1755773924000195 · Cited by 1
Understanding linear interaction analysis with causal graphs
Kim, Y., & Jung, G. (2024) · British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bmsp.12369 · Cited by 2
Personality and Meat Consumption Among Romantic Partners in Daily Life
Tan, N. P., Trenkenschuh, M., Ackermann, D., Betancourt, L. A. R., Bleidorn, W., & Hopwood, C. J. (2024) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12992 · Cited by 1
“Specifically, distinguishing partners based on their level of meat consumption could lead to spurious associations between personality and meat consumption (Elwert and Winship 2014).”
Divorce among more and less divorce‐prone populations following unilateral divorce laws
Andersson, L., Saarela, J. M., & Uggla, C. (2024) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.13056 · Cited by 2
Jones, A. M., & Roche, S. P. (2025) · Justice Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07418825.2025.2463414 · Cited by 2
“However, when confounders are measured with error, there will be “residual confounding” (Elwert & Winship, 2014, p. 43) even after controlling for them in a regression model (Pei et al., 2019; Westfall & Yarkoni, 2016).”
Constellations of Atypical Employment in Couples and Labour Income: Where is Disadvantage Located?
Westhoff, L. (2025) · Work Employment and Society · doi:10.1177/09500170251317435 · Cited by 1
“Further control variables, including family characteristics of the couple and other job-level characteristics, such as occupational status, are not included to avoid overcontrolling for variables that may be influenced by the couple’s employment constellation (Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
Income Volatility and Parenting Styles During Hard Times
Mari, G. (2025) · Demography · doi:10.1215/00703370-11861157 · Cited by 4
Counterfactual Slopes and Their Applications in Social Stratification
Yu, A., & Zhao, J. (2025) · Sociological Methodology · doi:10.1177/00811750251340392 · Cited by 1
“The implication of differential selection into treatment for the association between family background and the outcome can be understood from the perspective of collider bias (Hern´an et al., 2004; Elwert and Winship, 2014).”
Han, K. H., & Benton, R. A. (2025) · Socio-Economic Review · doi:10.1093/ser/mwaf028 · Cited by 3
Tostlebe, J. J., Pyrooz, D. C., Labrecque, R. M., & Useem, B. (2025) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102466 · Cited by 2
Labor supply response of women across the divorce process and the moderating role of children
Klingler, M. (2025) · Advances in Life Course Research · doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2025.100694 · Cited by 2
Moral Disengagement, Lack of Guilt, and Offending-Related Exhilaration
Brezina, T., & Chen, F. R. (2025) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/00938548251393404 · Cited by 1
“First, a model was estimated that excluded the precursors to the mediators, to explore whether the inclusion of precursors may have artificially inflated the path coefficients due to a collider effect (Elwert & Winship, 2014).”
Bischof, S. (2025) · Oxford Economic Papers · doi:10.1093/oep/gpaf031 · Cited by 1
Kausale Inferenz in der Versorgungsforschung: Konzepte, Methoden und Anwendungsperspektiven
Demirer, I., Schmitt, J. M., Vogt, V., Grill, E., Härter, M. C., Hoffmann, W. U., & Pfaff, H. (2025) · Das Gesundheitswesen · doi:10.1055/a-2765-8811 · Cited by 2
Blake, A. F., Moeyaert, M., Thoemmes, F. J., MacKinnon, D. P., & Chassin, L. (2026) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.107882 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Elwert, F., & Winship, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Sociology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2014-07-30
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-53
- ISSN
- 0360-0572 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2115
- PMC
- PMC6089543
- OpenAlex
- W2097829006
- Semantic Scholar
- 9fcc6fe93c9ce0c0b4773c18074c01bdf71db52d
- Cited by
- 1,168
- References
- 120
- Citations by year
- 2026: 70 · 2025: 102 · 2024: 156 · 2023: 156 · 2022: 122 · 2021: 125 · 2020: 150 · 2019: 94 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 4.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Sociology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (P30AG017266)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD047873)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Keywords
- collider bias, causal inference, causal graphs, social stratification, sociology of culture, social network analysis, political sociology, social demography, sociology of education
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-09-28, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-09-28 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
