Observational Studies

Book Description

An Observational study is an empiric investigation of the effects caused by a treatment, policy , or intervention in which it is not possible to assign subjects at random to treatment or control, as would be done in a controlled experiment. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people. The second edition of ¿Observational Studies¿ is about 50 percent longer than the first edition, with many new examples and methods. There are new chapters on nonadditive models for treatment effects (Chapter 5) and planning observational studies (Chapter 11) and Chapter 9, on coherence, has been extensively rewritten. Paul R. Rosenbaum is Robert G. Putzel Professor, Department of Statistics, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Customer Reviews:

great overview of the topic.......2006-03-18

The book is very well written. It gives a great overview of the fundamental problems of causal inference in observastional studies. It has a lot of examples, homeworks and extensive references in every chapter.

up-to-date account of methods for observational studies.......2002-02-20

Many years ago the famous statistician Ronald Aylmer Fisher criticized analyses that linked lung cancer to smoking. He argued that these studies had hidden biases because they were not controlled experiments. He proposed that smokers could be different from non-smokers because of a genetic propensity to desire cigarettes and that this genetic trait could be correlated with a higher incidence of lung cancer. Thus it would be possible to see a higher frequency of lung cancer among smokers because of this genetic trait rather than because the smoking itself causes the cancer. As far-fetched as this argument may seem to us today, it is based on sound statistical principles and points out some of the potential problems that occur with observational studies.

Although randomized control trials are the best way to determine differences in treatment effects, they are not always practical or ethical. It would be wrong to randomly choose subjects and force some of them to smoke.

Getting around issues of bias in observational studies was first addressed by Cochran who published a book on the subject in 1983. Rosenbaum came out with his own book in 1995 and this second edition expands and updates that popular text.

In Chapter 1 he present examples of observational studies and raises many important issues. Chapter 2 explains the principles of randomized controlled experiments. In Chapter 3 he covers overt bias and some of the basic methods to adjust for it. The sensitivity of observational studies to hidden biases is covered in Chapter 4.

This book is well written, authoritative and contains numerous references and examples. It also includes a chapter on how to plan an observational study.

Book Description

Principles of Combustion, Second Edition is a revision of what was the leading book on combustion engineering. The new edition has been revised to include new theoretical results and measurement techniques of non-intrusive diagnostic methods, contains more material on chemical kinetics during ignition; and is expanded to provide more in-depth treatment of sensitivity analysis and methods for identifying controlling chemical mechanisms. Expanded coverage is combined with the latest results regarding turbulent activity during combustion and the chemical kinetics of flames.

Effective Groundwater Model Calibration: With Analysis of Data, Sensitivities, Predictions, and Uncertainty

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Effective Groundwater Model Calibration: With Analysis of Data, Sensitivities, Predictions, and Uncertainty
Mary C. Hill , and Claire R. Tiedeman
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 047177636X

Book Description

Methods and guidelines for developing and using mathematical models

Turn to Effective Groundwater Model Calibration for a set of methods and guidelines that can help produce more accurate and transparent mathematical models. The models can represent groundwater flow and transport and other natural and engineered systems. Use this book and its extensive exercises to learn methods to fully exploit the data on hand, maximize the model's potential, and troubleshoot any problems that arise. Use the methods to perform:

Sensitivity analysis to evaluate the information content of data
Data assessment to identify (a) existing measurements that dominate model development and predictions and (b) potential measurements likely to improve the reliability of predictions
Calibration to develop models that are consistent with the data in an optimal manner
Uncertainty evaluation to quantify and communicate errors in simulated results that are often used to make important societal decisions

Most of the methods are based on linear and nonlinear regression theory.

Fourteen guidelines show the reader how to use the methods advantageously in practical situations.

Exercises focus on a groundwater flow system and management problem, enabling readers to apply all the methods presented in the text. The exercises can be completed using the material provided in the book, or as hands-on computer exercises using instructions and files available on the text's accompanying Web site.

Throughout the book, the authors stress the need for valid statistical concepts and easily understood presentation methods required to achieve well-tested, transparent models. Most of the examples and all of the exercises focus on simulating groundwater systems; other examples come from surface-water hydrology and geophysics.

Book Description

Malliavin calculus provides an infinite-dimensional differential calculus in the context of continuous paths stochastic processes. The calculus includes formulae of integration by parts and Sobolev spaces of differentiable functions defined on a probability space. This new book, demonstrating the relevance of Malliavin calculus for Mathematical Finance, starts with an exposition from scratch of this theory. Greeks (price sensitivities) are reinterpreted in terms of Malliavin calculus. Integration by parts formulae provide stable Monte Carlo schemes for numerical valuation of digital options. Finite-dimensional projections of infinite-dimensional Sobolev spaces lead to Monte Carlo computations of conditional expectations useful for computing American options. The discretization error of the Euler scheme for a stochastic differential equation is expressed as a generalized Watanabe distribution on the Wiener space. Insider information is expressed as an infinite-dimensional drift. The last chapter gives an introduction to the same objects in the context of jump processes where incomplete markets appear.

Sensitivity Analysis in Linear Regression

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Sensitivity Analysis in Linear Regression
Samprit Chatterjee , and Ali S. Hadi
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Generalized Linear Models, Second Edition (Monographs on Statistics and Applied Probability)

ASIN: 0471822167

Book Description

Treats linear regression diagnostics as a tool for application of linear regression models to real-life data. Presentation makes extensive use of examples to illustrate theory. Assesses the effect of measurement errors on the estimated coefficients, which is not accounted for in a standard least squares estimate but is important where regression coefficients are used to apportion effects due to different variables. Also assesses qualitatively and numerically the robustness of the regression fit.

High Sensitivity Moire: Experimental Analysis for Mechanics and Materials (Mechanical Engineering Series)

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I love this RED book!

High Sensitivity Moire: Experimental Analysis for Mechanics and Materials (Mechanical Engineering Series)
Daniel Post , Bongtae Han , and Peter Ifju
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0387982205

Book Description

This book describes both the theory and practice of physical measurements that use high-sensitivity moire - principally moire interferometry. Its focus is on the mechanics and micromechanics of materials and structural elements. Unlike both classical and holographic interferometry, which are best suited for out-of-plane deformation measurements, moire interferometry provides whole-field maps of the in-plane displacements. Normal strains and shear strains are derived directly from the in-plane data. Moire with 2400 lines per mm is typical in practice, yielding a sensitivity of 2.4 moire fringes per micron of displacement. For micromechanics, sensitivity corresponding to 17 nm per fringe contour is demonstrated. Part II is devoted to applications of moire interferometry and microscopic moire interferometry. New studies, not previously published, are included. Diverse fields are addressed: advanced composite materials, thermal stresses, electronic packaging, fracture, metallurgy, time-dependence, strain gage calibration. The methods can be applied for whole-field measurements on nearly and solid body. This reader-friendly book should serve engineers and scientists who are concerned with measurements of real phenomena - and it should stimulate students to pursue the treasures of experimental analysis.

Customer Reviews:

I love this RED book!.......2003-03-05

My colleagues call it RED book. This is the most comprehensive and practical book for engineers who are interested in optical methods for mechanics. This book covers various optical techniques and real life applications. It focuses on moiré techniques (theories, instrumentations, data analysis, and applications). It is simply the best book for one who likes to understand, utilize, and implement moiré techniques.

Sensitivity & Uncertainty Analysis, Volume 1: Theory

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Sensitivity & Uncertainty Analysis, Volume 1: Theory
Dan G. Cacuci
Manufacturer: Chapman & Hall/CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1584881151

Book Description

As computer-assisted modeling and analysis of physical processes have continued to grow and diversify, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses have become indispensable investigative scientific tools. Most of the techniques used for these analyses are well documented. However, a particularly useful method based on adjoint operators and applicable to a much wider variety of problems than methods traditionally used in control theory has lacked a full, systematic treatment. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis. Volume I: Theory, fills that gap, focusing on the mathematical underpinnings of the Forward Sensitivity Analysis Procedure (FSAP), the Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Procedure (ASAP), and the use of deterministically obtained sensitivities for uncertainty analysis. After a review of the requisite background material, the author explores the concepts of local sensitivity analysis for both linear and nonlinear systems. This leads to the presentation of a global sensitivity analysis procedure for determining all of the system's critical points, and then analyzing these points locally by the ASAP. Along the way, the book presents several significant paradigms that illustrate the unique advantages of using the ASAP for large-scale systems characterized by many variables and parameters. The treatment is rigorous but accessible and includes a discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the ASAP and FSAP methods. The broad applicability of ASAP and FSAP make them valuable additions to your analytical toolbox and make this book a welcome complement to the available literature.

Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis, Volume II: Applications to Large-Scale Systems

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Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis, Volume II: Applications to Large-Scale Systems
Dan G. Cacuci , Mihaela Ionescu-Bujor , and Michael Navon
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 158488116X

Book Description

There are many methods for performing sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. Two of the modern--and most useful--deterministic methods, the Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Procedure (ASAP) and the Global Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis (GASAP), received detailed theoretical treatment in Volume I of this book. This volume extends the underlying theory of these methods into practice with a focus on their application to large-scale systems. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis Volume II: Applications to Large-Scale Systems begins with a review of the most prominent screening design, statistical, and deterministic methods. The authors then explore applications of the ASAP to transient one-dimensional two-phase flow problems, in particular its implementation into a large-scale code that simulates the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of light water nuclear reactors. They go on to build the theoretical foundation for the modular implementation of the ASAP for complex simulations systems and present the general sensitivity theory for the response functional of a physical system defined at critical points. The remaining chapters are devoted to applications of the ASAP to sensitivity analyses of large-scale models used for numerical weather prediction and climatic research and simulation. The examples presented clearly demonstrate the advantages of using the ASAP for large-scale systems characterized by many variables and parameters, particularly its exceptional computational efficiency. Rigorous but accessible, this book will build a thorough familiarity with ASAP and its advantages and make ASAP a valuable addition to your analytical toolbox.

Antibiotics in Laboratory Medicine: Making a Difference (Step-Up Series)

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Antibiotics in Laboratory Medicine: Making a Difference (Step-Up Series)
Victor Lorian
Manufacturer: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0781749832

Book Description

Implement the most current science and practice in antimicrobial research. Now, find the newest approaches for evaluating the activity, mechanisms of action, and bacterial resistance to antibiotics with this completely updated, landmark reference.

Turn to this comprehensive reference for groundbreaking evidence on the molecular link between chemical disinfectants, sterilants, and antibiotics. On the latest methods for detecting antibacterial resistance genes in the clinical laboratory, and antivirogram use to select the most active antiviral components against your patient's HIV.

Sensitivity Analysis in Practice: A Guide to Assessing Scientific Models

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Sensitivity Analysis in Practice: A Guide to Assessing Scientific Models
Andrea Saltelli , Stefano Tarantola , Francesca Campolongo , and Marco Ratto
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Hardcover

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Sensitivity Analysis

ASIN: 0470870931

Book Description

Sensitivity analysis should be considered a pre-requisite for statistical model building in any scientific discipline where modelling takes place. For a non-expert, choosing the method of analysis for their model is complex, and depends on a number of factors. This book guides the non-expert through their problem in order to enable them to choose and apply the most appropriate method. It offers a review of the state-of-the-art in sensitivity analysis, and is suitable for a wide range of practitioners. It is focussed on the use of SIMLAB – a widely distributed freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors – for solving problems in sensitivity analysis of statistical models.

Other key features:

Provides an accessible overview of the current most widely used methods for sensitivity analysis.
Opens with a detailed worked example to explain the motivation behind the book.
Includes a range of examples to help illustrate the concepts discussed.
Focuses on implementation of the methods in the software SIMLAB - a freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors.
Contains a large number of references to sources for further reading.
Authored by the leading authorities on sensitivity analysis.

Download Description

"Sensitivity analysis should be considered a pre-requisite for statistical model building in any scientific discipline where modelling takes place. For a non-expert, choosing the method of analysis for their model is complex, and depends on a number of factors. This book guides the non-expert through their problem in order to enable them to choose and apply the most appropriate method. It offers a review of the state-of-the-art in sensitivity analysis, and is suitable for a wide range of practitioners. It is focussed on the use of SIMLAB – a widely distributed freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors – for solving problems in sensitivity analysis of statistical models.

Other key features:

Provides an accessible overview of the current most widely used methods for sensitivity analysis.
Opens with a detailed worked example to explain the motivation behind the book.
Includes a range of examples to help illustrate the concepts discussed.
Focuses on implementation of the methods in the software SIMLAB - a freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors.
Contains a large number of references to sources for further reading.
Authored by the leading authorities on sensitivity analysis.

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