Section outline

  • DAGs

    How to draw and use directed acyclic graphs; d-separation; DAGs to represent common biases in epidemiology; limitations of DAGs

    Faculty:  Rebecca Graff


    • Required Reading (please read PRIOR to watching the lectures):

      1. Chapter 2, Hernán & Robins, Causal Inference Book, online (if you didn't already read it for Week 1)
      2. Chapter 6, Hernán & Robins, Causal Inference Book, online

    • Optional Reading:

      1. Chapters 7.1-7.4, 8.1-8.5, and 9, Hernán & Robins, Causal Inference Book, online
      2. Chapter 12, Rothman, Greenland, & Lash, 2008

      3. "Using Causal Diagrams to Understand Common Problems in Social Epidemiology", M Glymour. chapter 18 in Methods in Social Epidemiology, 2nd edn. (2017) Oakes and Kaufman eds. Wiley (This is an updated and somewhat friendlier version of the chapter in Modern Epi). http://publicifsv.sund.ku.dk/~nk/epiF14/Glymour_DAGs.pdf

      4. Hernán MA, Hernández-Díaz S, Robins JM. A structural approach to selection bias. Epidemiology. 2004 Sep 1;15(5):615-25. (This was a very influential paper that reconceptualized how we think about selection bias). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15308962 

      5. VanderWeele TJ, Hernán MA. Results on differential and dependent measurement error of the exposure and the outcome using signed directed acyclic graphs. American journal of epidemiology. 2012 May 8;175(12):1303-10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22569106

    • Recorded Lectures (please watch PRIOR to class):

      Access restricted to registered students

    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - Part 1 Media Resource

    • Session Slides:

    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - Part 1 File
    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - Part 2 File
    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - Part 2 with Answers to Exercises UPDATED File
      Uploaded 01/14/21, 15:59
    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - All Parts File
    • Directed Acyclic Graphs - All Parts with Answers to Exercises UPDATED File
      Uploaded 01/14/21, 16:00

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (access restricted to registered students):

    • Class Recording - Week 2 Media Resource
      Not available unless: You belong to a group in Registered Students Only

    • Assignment:

      Due Thursday, January 28, 2021 at the beginning of lecture

    • Directed Acyclic Graphs Homework Questions File
    • Article to Read for HW - Hernan, et al. Ann Neurol 2001 File
      Not available unless: You belong to Registered Students Only
    • Homework #2 Submission Assignment

    • Assignment Answer Key (access restricted to registered students):

    • Directed Acyclic Graphs Homework Answer Key File
      Not available unless: You belong to a group in Registered Students Only