What Is Causal Inference?

Causal inference lies at the heart of our ability to understand why things happen by helping us predict the result of any action. This process is vital for businesses that aspire to turn data and information into valuable knowledge. With this report, data scientists and analysts will learn a principled way of thinking about causality using a suite of causal inference techniques now available.

Authors Hugo Bowne-Anderson, a data science consultant, and Mike Loukides, vice president of content strategy at O'Reilly Media, introduce causality and discuss randomized control trials (RCTs), key aspects of causal graph theory, and well-needed techniques from econometrics.