Causality in the Social Sciences: A structural modelling framework

Russo, Federica;Wunsch, Guillaume;Mouchart, Michel
(2018) , 16 pages

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Authors
  • Russo, Federica
    Author
  • Wunsch, GuillaumeUCLouvain
    Author
  • Mouchart, MichelUCLouvain
    Author
Abstract
There is no unified theory of causality in the sciences and in philosophy. In this paper, we focus on a particular framework, called Structural Causal Modelling (SCM), as one possible perspective in quantitative social science research. We explain how this methodology provides a fruitful basis for causal analysis in social research, for hypothesising, modelling, and testing explanatory mechanisms. This framework is not based on a system of equations, but on an analysis of multivariate distributions. In particular, the modelling stage is essentially distribution-free. Adopting an SCM approach means endorsing a particular view on modelling in general (the hypothetico-deductive methodology), and a specific stance on exogeneity (namely as a condition of separability of inference), on the one hand, and in interpreting marginal-conditional decompositions (namely as mechanisms), on the other hand.
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Russo, F., Wunsch, G., & Mouchart, M. (2018). Causality in the Social Sciences: A structural modelling framework (ISBA Discussion Paper 2018/27). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/171503