WTCA0001 Arts & Science for Evidence-Based Decision Making

Hiroshima University Syllabus

Japanese

Academic Year 2024Year School/Graduate School Graduate School of Innovation and Practice for Smart Society (Master's Course)

Lecture Code WTCA0001 Subject Classification Specialized Education

Subject Name Arts & Science for Evidence-Based Decision Making

Subject Name
（Katakana）

Subject Name in
English Arts & Science for Evidence-Based Decision Making

Instructor GOTO DAISAKU,YOSHIDA YUICHIRO,KHAN GHULAM DASTGIR,SAIJO HARUNOBU,CARO-BURNETT JOHANN

Instructor
(Katakana) ゴトウ　ダイサク,ヨシダ　ユウイチロウ,ハーン　グラム　ダスタギール,サイジョウ　ハルノブ,カロ　バーネット　ヨハン

Campus Higashi-Hiroshima Semester/Term 1st-Year, First Semester, 1Term

Days, Periods, and Classrooms (1T) Mon1-4：IDEC 204

Lesson Style Lecture Lesson Style
(More Details) 　

Credits 2.0 Class Hours/Week 　 Language of Instruction E : English

Course Level 5 : Graduate Basic

Course Area（Area） 24 : Social Sciences

Course Area（Discipline） 03 : Economics

Eligible Students

Keywords

Special Subject for Teacher Education 　 Special Subject 　

Class Status
within Educational
Program
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced
Evaluation
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)

Class Objectives
/Class Outline The art and science of decision making is entering into a new era. The paradigm shift is upgrading the process of decision making and its impact evaluation from an experience-based subjective approach to a more objective, evidence-based one. Evidence-based decision making does not merely mean the utilization of data. Rather, it explicitly prohibits doing so, by acknowledging the wisdom that what our data shows in front of our eyes is just the correlation, and not the causation that we need to base our decision on. Throughout the course, all concepts are delivered without using technical expressions. Students will acquire the intuition directly from the lectures and presentations, and are expected to learn the fundamentals of evidence-based decision making and its impact evaluations.

Class Schedule lesson1 Correlation vs. Causation

lesson2 Counterfactuals & Unit Level Treatment Effects

lesson3 Average Treatment Effects & Conditional Average Treatment Effects

lesson4 Confounders and Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs)

lesson5 Statistical vs. Causal Inference

lesson6 Controlled Experiments & Randomized Experiments

lesson7 Difficulties in Performing Randomized Experiments

lesson8 The Two Kinds of Natural Experiments

lesson9 Justifying As-If Randomization

lesson10 Noncompliance in Experiments & Survey Noncompliance

lesson11 4 Ways of Dealing with Noncompliance: Bounds Analysis for Missing Data

lesson12 Visual Logic of Instrumental Variables

lesson13 The 3 Assumptions of Instrumental Variables

lesson14 The "No Defiers" Assumption & The Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE)

lesson15 Regression Discontinuity Design as a Relevant Variation of IV Analysis

quizzes

Text/Reference
Books,etc. • Angrist, Joshua D. , and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. Mastering 'metrics: The path from cause to effect. Princeton university press, 2014.

• Angrist, Joshua D. , and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist's companion. Princeton university press, 2009.

• Huntington-Klein, N. (2022). The effect: An introduction to research design and causality. Chapman and Hall/CRC.

PC or AV used in
Class,etc. 　

(More Details) a computer & a projector

Learning techniques to be incorporated 　

Suggestions on
Preparation and
Review Please watch the following YouTube videos for more about the causal inference:

Mod•U: Powerful Concepts in Social Science

(1) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Introduction to Causality
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=FNpcwiOme1g&list=PL1M5TsfDV6Vufqfs_h5fDR3pBhIj4QOW7

(2) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Your Guide to Experiments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5TVIPknDI4&list=PL1M5TsfDV6Vui- q_q1Bq5kF2Y77udGwWx

(3) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Your Guide to Instrumental Variables
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4xF_DMbL14w&list=PL1M5TsfDV6VsE11CCeMuBL0owBpwp4xru

Requirements

Grading Method class participation and performances in quizzes

Practical Experience

Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it

Message

Other

Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes.
Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

Academic Year	2024Year	School/Graduate School	Graduate School of Innovation and Practice for Smart Society (Master's Course)
Lecture Code	WTCA0001	Subject Classification	Specialized Education
Subject Name	Arts & Science for Evidence-Based Decision Making
Subject Name （Katakana）
Subject Name in English	Arts & Science for Evidence-Based Decision Making
Instructor	GOTO DAISAKU,YOSHIDA YUICHIRO,KHAN GHULAM DASTGIR,SAIJO HARUNOBU,CARO-BURNETT JOHANN
Instructor (Katakana)	ゴトウ　ダイサク,ヨシダ　ユウイチロウ,ハーン　グラム　ダスタギール,サイジョウ　ハルノブ,カロ　バーネット　ヨハン
Campus	Higashi-Hiroshima	Semester/Term	1st-Year, First Semester, 1Term
Days, Periods, and Classrooms	(1T) Mon1-4：IDEC 204
Lesson Style	Lecture	Lesson Style (More Details)

Credits	2.0	Class Hours/Week		Language of Instruction	E : English
Course Level	5 : Graduate Basic
Course Area（Area）	24 : Social Sciences
Course Area（Discipline）	03 : Economics
Eligible Students
Keywords
Special Subject for Teacher Education		Special Subject
Class Status within Educational Program (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced Evaluation (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Class Objectives /Class Outline	The art and science of decision making is entering into a new era. The paradigm shift is upgrading the process of decision making and its impact evaluation from an experience-based subjective approach to a more objective, evidence-based one. Evidence-based decision making does not merely mean the utilization of data. Rather, it explicitly prohibits doing so, by acknowledging the wisdom that what our data shows in front of our eyes is just the correlation, and not the causation that we need to base our decision on. Throughout the course, all concepts are delivered without using technical expressions. Students will acquire the intuition directly from the lectures and presentations, and are expected to learn the fundamentals of evidence-based decision making and its impact evaluations.
Class Schedule	lesson1 Correlation vs. Causation lesson2 Counterfactuals & Unit Level Treatment Effects lesson3 Average Treatment Effects & Conditional Average Treatment Effects lesson4 Confounders and Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) lesson5 Statistical vs. Causal Inference lesson6 Controlled Experiments & Randomized Experiments lesson7 Difficulties in Performing Randomized Experiments lesson8 The Two Kinds of Natural Experiments lesson9 Justifying As-If Randomization lesson10 Noncompliance in Experiments & Survey Noncompliance lesson11 4 Ways of Dealing with Noncompliance: Bounds Analysis for Missing Data lesson12 Visual Logic of Instrumental Variables lesson13 The 3 Assumptions of Instrumental Variables lesson14 The "No Defiers" Assumption & The Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) lesson15 Regression Discontinuity Design as a Relevant Variation of IV Analysis quizzes
Text/Reference Books,etc.	• Angrist, Joshua D. , and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. Mastering 'metrics: The path from cause to effect. Princeton university press, 2014. • Angrist, Joshua D. , and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist's companion. Princeton university press, 2009. • Huntington-Klein, N. (2022). The effect: An introduction to research design and causality. Chapman and Hall/CRC.
PC or AV used in Class,etc.
(More Details)	a computer & a projector
Learning techniques to be incorporated
Suggestions on Preparation and Review	Please watch the following YouTube videos for more about the causal inference: Mod•U: Powerful Concepts in Social Science (1) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Introduction to Causality https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=FNpcwiOme1g&list=PL1M5TsfDV6Vufqfs_h5fDR3pBhIj4QOW7 (2) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Your Guide to Experiments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5TVIPknDI4&list=PL1M5TsfDV6Vui- q_q1Bq5kF2Y77udGwWx (3) Causal Inference Bootcamp: Your Guide to Instrumental Variables https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4xF_DMbL14w&list=PL1M5TsfDV6VsE11CCeMuBL0owBpwp4xru
Requirements
Grading Method	class participation and performances in quizzes
Practical Experience
Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it
Message
Other
Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes. Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

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