Spring 2019 STAT 33211=CCTS 32411, CHDV 32411, PBPL 29411, PSYC 32411, SOCI 30318

This course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students from social sciences, statistics, public health science, public policy, and social services administration who will be or are currently involved in quantitative research. Questions about why a treatment works, for whom, under what conditions, and whether one individual’s treatment could affect other individuals’ outcomes are often key to the advancement of scientific knowledge. We will clarify the theoretical concepts of mediated effects, moderated effects, and spillover effects under the potential outcomes framework. The course introduces cutting-edge methodological approaches and contrasts them with conventional strategies including multiple regression, path analysis, and structural equation modeling. The course content is organized around application examples. The textbook “Causality in a Social World: Moderation, Mediation, and Spill-Over” (Hong, 2015) will be supplemented with other readings reflecting latest developments and controversies. Weekly labs will provide tutorials and hands-on experiences. All students are expected to contribute to the knowledge building in class through participation in presentations and discussions. Students are encouraged to form study groups, while the written assignments are to be finished and graded on an individual basis. Intermediate Statistics, Introduction to Causal Inference, and their equivalent are prerequisites.

Prerequisites: Intermediate Statistics, Introduction to Causal Inference, and their equivalent.