Applied Statistics Workshop (Gov 3009)

Date: 

Wednesday, March 25, 2020, 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Location: 

Zoom - see below

The Gov 3009 workshop will be conducted remotely for the remainder of Spring 2020. 

Today's speaker: Weihua An (Emory University) presents “Causal Inference with Networked Treatment Diffusion” 

Zoom link: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/987462892

Abstract: Causal inference under treatment interference (i.e., one unit’s potential outcomes depend on other units’ treatment) is a challenging but important problem. Past studies usually make strong assumptions on the structure of treatment interference. In this study, I will highlight the importance of collecting data on actual treatment diffusion in order to more accurately measure treatment interference. Furthermore, I will show that with accurate measures of treatment interference, one can identify and estimate a series of causal effects that are previously unavailable, including the direct treatment effect, the treatment interference effect, and the treatment effect on interference. Last, I will use exponential random graph models to model treatment diffusion networks in order to reveal covariates and network processes that significantly correlate with treatment diffusion. I will illustrate the ideas and methods through a case study of a smoking prevention intervention conducted in six middle schools in China. The findings provide an empirical basis to evaluate previous assumptions on the structure of treatment interference, are informative for imputing treatment diffusion when it is unavailable, and help improve designs of future interventions that aim to optimize treatment diffusion.

The Applied Statistics Workshop (Gov 3009) meets all academic year, Wednesdays, 12pm-1:30pm, in CGIS K354. This workshop is a forum for advanced graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present and discuss methodological or empirical work in progress in an interdisciplinary setting. The workshop features a tour of Harvard's statistical innovations and applications with weekly stops in different fields and disciplines and includes occasional presentations by invited speakers. Free lunch is provided.

More information is available at the Gov 3009 website: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/applied.stats.workshop-gov3009