You're reading from Causal Inference and Discovery in Python Unlock the secrets of modern causal machine learning with DoWhy, EconML, PyTorch and more

Product type Paperback

Published in May 2023

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781804612989

Length 456 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

Python

Tools

PyTorch

Concepts

Data Science

Author (1):

Aleksander Molak

View More author details

Table of Contents (21) Chapters

Preface

1. Part 1: Causality – an Introduction

2. Chapter 1: Causality – Hey, We Have Machine Learning, So Why Even Bother? FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 2: Judea Pearl and the Ladder of Causation

4. Chapter 3: Regression, Observations, and Interventions

5. Chapter 4: Graphical Models

6. Chapter 5: Forks, Chains, and Immoralities

7. Part 2: Causal Inference

8. Chapter 6: Nodes, Edges, and Statistical (In)dependence

9. Chapter 7: The Four-Step Process of Causal Inference

10. Chapter 8: Causal Models – Assumptions and Challenges

11. Chapter 9: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – from Matching to Meta-Learners

12. Chapter 10: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – Advanced Estimators, Experiments, Evaluations, and More

13. Chapter 11: Causal Inference and Machine Learning – Deep Learning, NLP, and Beyond

14. Part 3: Causal Discovery

15. Chapter 12: Can I Have a Causal Graph, Please?

16. Chapter 13: Causal Discovery and Machine Learning – from Assumptions to Applications

17. Chapter 14: Causal Discovery and Machine Learning – Advanced Deep Learning and Beyond

18. Chapter 15: Epilogue

19. Index

20. Other Books You May Enjoy

Constraint-based causal discovery

In this section, we’ll introduce the first of the four families of causal discovery methods – constraint-based methods. We will learn the core principles behind constraint-based causal discovery and implement the PC algorithm (Sprites et al., 2000).

By the end of this chapter, you will have a solid understanding of how constraint-based methods work and you’ll know how to implement the PC algorithm in practice using gCastle.

Constraints and independence

Constraint-based methods (also known as independence-based methods) aim at decoding causal structure from the data by leveraging the independence structure between three basic graphical structures: chains, forks, and colliders.

Let’s start with a brief refresher on chains, forks, and colliders. Figure 13.4 presents the three structures: