June 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Technical Note
HBS Case Collection

Causal Inference

By: Iavor I Bojinov, Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:11

Abstract

This note provides an overview of causal inference for an introductory data science course. First, the note discusses observational studies and confounding variables. Next the note describes how randomized experiments can be used to account for the effect of confounding variables. Then it walks through the steps to designing an experiment, including a discussion of how to calculate the power of a test.

Keywords

Causal Inference; Causality; Experiment; Experimental Design; Data Science; Analytics and Data Science

Citation

Bojinov, Iavor I., Michael Parzen, and Paul Hamilton. "Causal Inference." Harvard Business School Technical Note 622-111, June 2022. (Revised January 2025.)