CHSPR Seminar | Causal Epistemology: Applications

Boris Sobolev, University of BC

Tuesday, Oct 25, 2022
12-1 pm PT
In-person in SPPH (room TBA) or virtual (via Zoom)

How do we know that the vaccine works and that cancer treatment prolongs life? We see treatments and we see changes in health. How do we know that one causes the other? It follows from reasoning. We reason that randomization makes treatment groups alike. We reason that stratification blocks covariation. We then credit the treatment with changes in health. In this talk, I will share a breakthrough made by discovering the hierarchy of seeing, doing, and imagining in causal attribution. The main learning objective is to recognize the different types of applications in health research as we move through the hierarchy.

Dr Boris Sobolev is Professor and Head, Health Services and Policy, at the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He held the Canada Research Chair in Statistics and Modeling of the Health Care System from 2003-2013. His research examines how people get access to health care, what treatments they receive, and what happens to patients as a result of this care. The societal value of health services and outcomes studies lies in identifying the ways in which health care can best be organized, financed, and delivered. The main reason for public support of health services research is the common understanding that new knowledge will lead to more effective health care.

Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.