Evidence and the Assessment of Causal Relations in the Health Sciences
Evidence and the Assessment of Causal Relations in the Health Sciences
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DOI：
10.1080/02698595.2012.653113
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
影响因子：
0.8
通讯作者：
Galavotti, Maria Carla
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Campaner, Raffaella;Galavotti, Maria Carla
该贡献声称健康科学中因果关系的两个基本概念是操纵性和机械性，并调查了哪些类型的证据对于因果关系的评估很重要。本文是我们 2007 年文章“因果关系的多元性”的发展，其中我们着眼于计量经济学和单个医学例子，主张对因果关系进行多元解释。目前的贡献具有更广泛的关注点，并考虑了属于健康科学的整个学科范围内的证据概念。第 1 节讨论了各种证据和因果关系之间的关系，并展示了如何在各种医疗案例中采用不同的因果关系概念。第二节提请注意对于任何适当的因果关系认识论至关重要的问题，例如类型和标记之间的区别、观察和实验制度、解释和预测。最后，阐明了背景的概念，强调了其在评估因果关系中的作用。所有这些问题都是在我们所谓的“自下而上”认识论的框架内解决的。
This contribution claims that the two fundamental notions of causation at work in the health sciences are manipulative and mechanistic, and investigates what kinds of evidence matter for the assessment of causal relations. This article is a development of our 2007 article, 'Plurality of Causality', where we argue for a pluralistic account of causation with an eye to econometrics and a single medical example. The present contribution has a wider focus, and considers the notion of evidence within a whole range of disciplines belonging to the health sciences. Section 1 addresses the relations between kinds of evidence and causal accounts, and it is shown how different notions of causation can be employed in various medical cases. Section 2 calls attention to issues crucial for any adequate epistemological theory of causation, such as the distinctions between types and tokens, observational and experimental regimes, explanation and prediction. Lastly, the notion of context is articulated, highlighted in its role in the assessment of causal links. All these issues are tackled in the framework of what we label a 'bottom-up' epistemology.