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Do Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Exist?
For the last 50 years, we've designed cars to be safe...
For the 50th-percentile male.
Well, that's actually not 100% correct.
According to Stanford's report, we introduced "female" crash test dummies in the 1960s, but...
They were just scaled-down versions of male dummies and...
Represented the 5th percentile of females in terms of body size and mass (aka the smallest 5% of women in the general population).
These dummies also did not take into account female-typical injury tolerance, biomechanics, spinal alignment, and more.
But...
Does it matter for actual safety?
In the episode, we cover:
- Do heterogeneous treatment effects (different effects in different contexts) exist?
- If so, can we actually detect them?
- Is it more ethical to look for heterogeneous treatment effects or rather look at global averages?
Video version available on the Youtube:
https://youtu.be/V801RQTBpp4
Recorded on Nov 12, 2025 in Malaga, Spain.
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About Richard
Professor Richard Hahn, PhD, is a professor of statistics at Arizona State University (ASU). He develops novel statistical methods for analyzing data arising from the social sciences, including psychology, economics, education, and business. His current focus revolves around causal inference using regression tree models, as well as foundational issues in Bayesian statistics.
Connect with Richard:
- Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-hahn-a1096050/
About Stephen
Stephen Senn, PhD, is a statistician and consultant who specializes in drug development clinical trials. He is a former Group Head at Ciba-Geigy and has taught at the University of Glasgow and University College London (UCL). He is the author of "Statistical Issues in Drug Development," "Crossover Trials in Clinical Research," and "Dicing with Death."
Connect with Stephen:
- Stephen on LinkedIn:
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