title: Data, design, and background knowledge in etiologic inference.
abstract: I use two examples to demonstrate that an appropriate etiologic analysis of an epidemiologic study depends as much on study design and background subject-matter knowledge as on the data. The demonstration is facilitated by the use of causal graphs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Robins
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D017698:Postmenopause; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D013223:Statistics as Topic