Comment: Spherical Cows in a Vacuum: Data Analysis Competitions for Causal Inference

Abstract

A recent data analysis competition compared the performance of several methods for causal inference from observational data. However, sound causal inference requires not only adequate data analysis techniques but also subject-matter expertise about the causal structure of the problem under study. Therefore, until a methodology is developed to combine data analysis and subject-matter knowledge, causal inference competitions may only provide advice to practitioners under ideal conditions.