Health SPHere

Alumni magazine of the Boston University School of Public Healt

Health SPHere

Alumni magazine of the Boston University School of Public Healt

Matching Methods for Causal Inference: A Review and a Look Forward

When estimating causal effects using observational data, it is desirable to replicate a randomized experiment as closely as possible by obtaining treated and control groups with similar covariate distributions. This goal can often be achieved by choosing well-matched samples of the original treated and control groups, thereby reducing bias due to the covariates. Since the 1970s, work on matching methods has examined how to best choose treated and control subjects for comparison. Matching methods are gaining popularity in fields such as economics, epidemiology, medicine and political science. However, until now the literature and related advice has been scattered across disciplines. Researchers who are interested in using matching methods---or developing methods related to matching---do not have a single place to turn to learn about past and current research. This paper provides a structure for thinking about matching methods and guidance on their use, coalescing the existing research (both old and new) and providing a summary of where the literature on matching methods is now and where it should be headed.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-STS313 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

BJC Bulletin 1930-1931

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1014/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1938-1939

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1021/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1936-1937

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1020/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1929-1930

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1013/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1935-1936

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1019/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1934-1935

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1018/thumbnail.jp

BJC Bulletin 1933-1934

A graduate roster is located at the back of the bulletin.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1017/thumbnail.jp