title: Causal identification: a charge of epidemiology in danger of marginalization.
abstract: The requirement for framing all causal questions as well-defined interventions is being promoted in the causal inference literature within epidemiology. One can consider this perspective as an intervention on the field which requires a refocusing of epidemiologic questions and retooling of epidemiologic methods. Although this intervention has produced many positive results, we think that its underlying assumptions and the possibilities of unintended consequences warrant examination. In so doing, we argue that this approach can lead to the neglect of causal identification as a useful link between associations and the estimation of intervention effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Electronic address: Sbs5@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY; Epidemiology, Worldwide Safety and Regulatory, Pfizer Inc., New York, NY.
authors.forename: Nicolle M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY; Epidemiology, Worldwide Safety and Regulatory, Pfizer Inc., New York, NY.
authors.forename: Ulka B
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D015984:Causality; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012107:Research Design
keywords: Causal effects; Counterfactuals; Potential outcomes