Class Schedule

Class: Tuesday / Thursday, 1:25-2:40pm

Office Hours:

Nick (Zoom or in Gross 231): Thursday 9 am - 10:00 am. Please email me in advance if you plan to attend. I’ll usually be there regardless, but knowing people are coming is useful if conflicts arise.

Diego (Zoom or Gross Hall 2nd Floor, 230K): Monday 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Meron (Zoom or Gross Hall 2nd Floor, 230N): Wednesday 12:00 - 1:00 pm.

Texts Used

This course will make use of readings from a handful of different sources. The main four, in order of the amount they will be used, are:

• DS4H: Data Science for Humans (This website, free.)

• Cunningham: Causal Inference Mixtape ($30 new, $20 used. Online Access through Duke Library)

• KTX: Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments: A Practical Guide to A/B Testing ($40 new, $30 used.)

• GHV: Regression and Other Stories ($40. Too new to have used versions.)

• Ellis: The Essential Guide to Effect Sizes (Free online through duke library)

Date	Topic	Do Before Class	In Class
Th Jan 8	Welcome Class	None	Class Motivation Structure
Tu Jan 13	Causal Questions: Purpose	Using Causal Questions Answering Causal Questions Read, sign, and submit syllabus	Potential Outcomes
Th Jan 15	Causal Questions: Potential Outcomes	Potential Outcomes Framework Optional: Read Chpt 4 in Cunningham from start (different presentation of potential outcomes). Note that Cunningham uses the term Simple Difference in Outcomes (SDO) instead of $widehat{ATE}$ (the term I use). They are perfectly interchangable.	Ex
Tu Jan 20	Causal Questions: Potential Outcomes	Cunningham, Chpt 4, pp 135 (“Independence Assumption”) - 148 (Stop at “Randomization Inference”) Indicator Variables	SUTVA Discussion
Th Jan 22	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, Internal Validity	Limitations of ATE Experiments: Internal Validity (In Practice): KTX: Chpt 2 (End to End Example)	Ex
Tu Jan 27	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, Internal Validity	Finishing Internal Validity: KTX: Chpt 3, “Threats to Internal Validity” (p. 42-47) KTX: Chpt 19 (A/A Testing) KTX: Chpt 22 (Managing Spillovers)	Ex
Th Jan 29	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, External Validity	Experiments: External Validity (In Practice): Experiments and External Validty KTX: Chpt 3, “Threats to External Validity” to end (p. 47-54) KTX: Chpt 23 (read all)
Tu Feb 3	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, Design	KTX: Chpt 7 (Overall Evaluation Criteria) Don’t stop experiments early!
Th Feb 5	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, Design	Designing Experiments Ellis, Chpt 3 (On Canvas) Optional: Statistical Power and Sample Sizes: GHV Ch 16
Tu Feb 10	Causal Questions: Experiments in Practice, P-Value Interpretation	Statistical Decision Theory (on Canvas). 550-556 (This is same as IDS 705 Lecture 8 Reading) Assessing Statistical Results: Magnitude, Precision, and Model Uncertainty
Th Feb 12	AB Testing Review
Tu Feb 17	Causal Questions: Regression	Causal Beyond Experiments Angrist and Pischke, Mastering Metrics, Chpt 2
Th Feb 19	Causal Questions: Matching	The Why of Matching The How of Matching Summary Methods for Matching Watch the video above from about 15 minutes in (where link starts) till at least 45 minutes in, keep going if you want to learn about propensity score matching problems.
Tu Feb 24	Causal Questions: Matching	Cunningham, Chpt 5, 206 (“Propensity Score Methods”) - 234 (Start of “Coarsened exact matching”) Why You Should Never Use Propensity Score Matching
Th Feb 26	Causal Questions: Panels and Fixed Effects
Tu Mar 3	MIDTERM	MIDTERM
Th Mar 5	Causal Questions: Differences and Differences /	Cunningham, Chpt 9 pp 406 (Difference in Differences) - pp 433 (Stop at “Importance of Placebos in Diff-in-Diff”) -(Book page numbers at bottom of PDF on canvas. Full chapter is in PDF, more than you need to read.) Optional but encouraged: (dont need to follow everything, but here’s a real diff-in-diff) Enfranchisement and Incarceration Diff-in-Diffs at Netflix
Tu Mar 10	NO CLASS
Th Mar 12	NO CLASS
Tu Mar 17	Teams 1	What Project Aristotle Learned Edmondson, The Fearless Organization, Chpt 1 (on Canvas) Problem and Questions Due
Th Mar 19	Teams 2	Review Team Charter Assignment Edmondson, Teaming, Chpt 2 (on Canvas) Optional: Fostering Psychological Safety Tips
Tu Mar 24	Prescriptive v. Descriptive Questions	Chpt 2 Chpt 5
Th Mar 26	Exploratory Questions: Purpose, Internal and External Validity	Chpt 6 Chpt 7
Tu Mar 31	Solving Problems by Answering Questions	Read, sign, submit syllabus on gradescope. How to Read Chpt 1 Whenever I list a Chpt number, you may assume it includes all subparts unless I say otherwise. So this includes all three big idea subsections.
Th Apr 2	Stakeholder Management	Chpt 3 Why It’s Important To Get Your Question Right (30 min video) Chpt 4
Tu Apr 7	Exploratory Questions: Internal Validity Concerns	Chpt 8
Th Apr 9	Passive Prediction Questions: Purpose, Internal Validity 1	Chpt 9 Chpt 10 Chpt 11 ONLY FIRST READING, not Fairness Total Error Framework
Tu Apr 14	Passive Prediction Questions: Internal Validity 2	Chpt 11 Fairness Section
April 16-26	Graduate Reading Period	Optional Due Date for Causal Rough Draft (11pm)
April 30ish	In Person Final Exam	YES AN IN PERSON FINAL — PLEASE EXPECT TO BE HERE IN PERSON