Package com.bayesserver.causal

Class BackdoorCriterion

  • All Implemented Interfaces:
    Identification, Validation
    public final class BackdoorCriterion
extends Object
implements Identification, Validation
    Uses the 'Backdoor Criterion' to identify 'adjustment sets', that if found can be used to estimate the causal effect using theBackdoorInference. The version of the 'Backdoor Criterion' used is complete, and sometimes referred to as just the 'adjustment criterion'.

    Although the estimation can also be performed using Bayes Server, this criterion can also be used to identfy adjustment sets for use outside Bayes Server.

    For more information see 'On the Validity of Covariate Adjustment for Estimating Causal Effects' - Shpitser et al 2012.

    • Constructor Detail

      • BackdoorCriterion

        public BackdoorCriterion​(Network network)
        Initializes a new instance of the BackdoorCriterion class.
        Parameters:
        network - The Bayesian network.

    • Method Detail

      • getNetwork

        public Network getNetwork()
        The Bayesian network on which the identification is based.
        Specified by:
        getNetwork in interface Identification

      • validate

        public void validate​(Evidence evidence,
                     Distribution query,
                     ValidationOptions options)
        Tests whether adjustment inputs are valid, and throws an exception if not, with an error message.
        Specified by:
        validate in interface Validation
        Parameters:
        evidence - Evidence which contains both one or more interventions (treatments X), and optionally other standard (non-intervention) evidence.
        query - One or more outcomes (effects) Y.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.

      • isValid

        public boolean isValid​(Evidence evidence,
                       Distribution query,
                       ValidationOptions options)
        Tests whether adjustment inputs are valid, without raising an exception. If invalid, you can also call com.bayesserver.causal.Validation#validate(IEvidence, IDistribution, IValidationOptions) 'Validate' to throw an exception which contains an error message.
        Specified by:
        isValid in interface Validation
        Parameters:
        evidence - Evidence which contains both one or more interventions (treatments X), and optionally other standard (non-intervention) evidence.
        query - One or more outcomes (effects) Y.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.
        Returns:
        true if valid, false otherwise.

      • identify

        public IdentificationOutput identify​(Evidence evidence,
                                     Distribution query,
                                     IdentificationOptions options)
        Determines how to quantify a cause-effect relationship (for a particular criterion), but does not perform the actual estimation.
        Specified by:
        identify in interface Identification
        Parameters:
        evidence - Evidence which contains both one or more interventions (treatments X), and optionally other standard (non-intervention) evidence.
        query - One or more outcomes (effects), often denoted Y.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.
        Returns:
        Information on how to calculate the requested cause-effect relationship.

      • identify

        public IdentificationOutput identify​(List<CausalNode> treatments,
                                     List<CausalNode> outcomes,
                                     List<CausalNode> nonTreatmentEvidence,
                                     IdentificationOptions options)
        Determines how to quantify a cause-effect relationship (for a particular criterion), but does not perform the actual estimation.
        Specified by:
        identify in interface Identification
        Parameters:
        treatments - One or more treatments/interventions (X).
        outcomes - One or more outcomes (effects), often denoted Y.
        nonTreatmentEvidence - Any other evidence other than interventions.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.
        Returns:
        Information on how to calculate the requested cause-effect relationship.

      • validate

        public void validate​(List<CausalNode> treatments,
                     List<CausalNode> outcomes,
                     List<CausalNode> nonTreatmentEvidence,
                     ValidationOptions options)
        Tests whether adjustment inputs are valid, and throws an exception if not, with an error message.
        Specified by:
        validate in interface Validation
        Parameters:
        treatments - One or more treatments/interventions (X).
        outcomes - One or more outcomes (effects), often denoted Y.
        nonTreatmentEvidence - Any non-treatment evidence.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.

      • isValid

        public boolean isValid​(List<CausalNode> treatments,
                       List<CausalNode> outcomes,
                       List<CausalNode> nonTreatmentEvidence,
                       ValidationOptions options)
        Tests whether adjustment inputs are valid, without raising an exception. If invalid, you can also call {@link com.bayesserver.causal.Validation#validate(IList{CausalNode}, IList{CausalNode}, IList{CausalNode}, IValidationOptions)} 'Validate' to throw an exception which contains an error message.
        Specified by:
        isValid in interface Validation
        Parameters:
        treatments - One or more treatments/interventions (X).
        outcomes - One or more outcomes (effects), often denoted Y.
        nonTreatmentEvidence - Any non-treatment evidence.
        options - Other options that govern how the calculations are performed. Some options are common to all criterion, and some will have additional options specific to that criterion.
        Returns:
        true if valid, false otherwise.