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The regression uses as independent variables not only the one or ones whose effects on the dependent variable are being studied, but also any potential confounding variables, thus avoiding omitted variable bias. "Confounding variables" in this context means other factors that not only influence the dependent variable (the outcome) but also ...
In the examples listed above, a nuisance variable is a variable that is not the primary focus of the study but can affect the outcomes of the experiment. [3] They are considered potential sources of variability that, if not controlled or accounted for, may confound the interpretation between the independent and dependent variables.
An operational confounding can occur in both experimental and non-experimental research designs. This type of confounding occurs when a measure designed to assess a particular construct inadvertently measures something else as well. [20] A procedural confounding can occur in a laboratory experiment or a quasi-experiment. This type of confound ...
Statistical bias exists in numerous stages of the data collection and analysis process, including: the source of the data, the methods used to collect the data, the estimator chosen, and the methods used to analyze the data. Data analysts can take various measures at each stage of the process to reduce the impact of statistical bias in their ...
The "propensity" describes how likely a unit is to have been treated, given its covariate values. The stronger the confounding of treatment and covariates, and hence the stronger the bias in the analysis of the naive treatment effect, the better the covariates predict whether a unit is treated or not.
Overmatching thus causes statistical bias. [13] For example, matching the control group by gestation length and/or the number of multiple births when estimating perinatal mortality and birthweight after in vitro fertilization (IVF) is overmatching, since IVF itself increases the risk of premature birth and multiple birth. [14]
By pairing students whose values on the confounding variables are similar, a greater fraction of the difference in the value of interest (e.g. the standardized test score in the example discussed above), is due to the factor of interest, and a lesser fraction is due to the confounder.
Retrospective cohort studies restrict the investigators' ability to reduce confounding and bias because collected information is restricted to data that already exists. There are advantages to this design, however, as retrospective studies are much cheaper and faster because the data has already been collected and stored.