Intervention and Identifiability in Latent Variable Modelling

Romeijn, Jan-Willem, Williamson, Jon (2018) Intervention and Identifiability in Latent Variable Modelling. Minds and Machines, 28 (2). pp. 243-264. ISSN 0924-6495. (doi:10.1007/s11023-018-9460-y)

Abstract

We consider the use of interventions for resolving a problem of unidentified statistical models. The leading examples are from latent variable modelling, an influential statistical tool in the social sciences. We first explain the problem of statistical identifiability and contrast it with the identifiability of causal models. We then draw a parallel between the latent variable models and Bayesian networks with hidden nodes. This allows us to clarify the use of interventions for dealing with unidentified statistical models. We end by discussing the philosophical and methodological import of our result.

Item Type:	Article
DOI/Identification number:	10.1007/s11023-018-9460-y
Uncontrolled keywords:	Interventions, Statistical inference, Identifiability, Latent variable modelling
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BC Logic
Divisions:	Faculties > Humanities > School of European Culture and Languages > Philosophy
Depositing User:	Jon Williamson
Date Deposited:	30 Mar 2018 14:18 UTC
Last Modified:	09 Jul 2019 08:53 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/66599 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)
Williamson, Jon:	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0514-4209