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To Explain, to Predict, or to Describe: Figuring out the Study Goal [Commentary on "On the Uses and Abuses of Regression Models" by Carlin and Moreno-Betancur]
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To Explain, to Predict, or to Describe: Figuring out the Study Goal [Commentary on "On the Uses and Abuses of Regression Models" by Carlin and Moreno-Betancur]

Statistics in medicine, Vol.44(13-14), pp.e10307-n/a
01/06/2025
PMID: 40553038

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Mathematical & Computational Biology Mathematics Medical Informatics Medicine, Research & Experimental Physical Sciences Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Research & Experimental Medicine Science & Technology Statistics & Probability
I strongly support Carlin and Moreno-Betancur's assertion that regression modeling (and in fact, any modeling) should be driven by the type of research question: descriptive, predictive, or causal. I share six points to highlight and clarify further confusions and suggest additional tricks to identify the right type. These include a focus on actions, individual vs. collective, additional causal typologies, the significance of variable names, software-related issues, and the role of data.

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