The Rubin Causal Model

The Rubin Causal Model is a framework used to understand and measure the effect of an intervention or treatment. Imagine trying to determine if a new medicine works. For each person, there are two possibilities: how they would feel if they took the medicine, and how they would feel if they didn't. The model recognizes that we can only observe one of these for each individual. Its goal is to estimate the average difference in outcomes between those who received the treatment and those who didn't, accounting for differences across groups. This helps scientifically assess cause-and-effect relationships.