Causal Inference for Multiple Treatments using Fractional Factorial Designs

2019/05/18 by Nicole E. Pashley, Marie‐Abèle Bind, Pashley, Nicole E. +1 · 1 citation
Decision Sciences · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Hibiscus Plant Research Studies #Methodology (stat.ME) #Optimal Experimental Design Methods

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1905.07596

openalex publication_date 2019/05/18 · openalex created_date 2022/07/23 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

We consider the design and analysis of multi-factor experiments using fractional factorial and incomplete designs within the potential outcome framework. These designs are particularly useful when limited resources make running a full factorial design infeasible. We connect our design-based methods to standard regression methods. We further motivate the usefulness of these designs in multi-factor observational studies, where certain treatment combinations may be so rare that there are no measured outcomes in the observed data corresponding to them. Therefore, conceptualizing a hypothetical fractional factorial experiment instead of a full factorial experiment allows for appropriate analysis in those settings. We illustrate our approach using biomedical data from the 2003-2004 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the effects of four common pesticides on body mass index.

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