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Poster

Using Embeddings to Correct for Unobserved Confounding in Networks

Victor Veitch · Yixin Wang · David Blei

East Exhibition Hall B + C #143

Keywords: [ Applications -> Network Analysis; Deep Learning ] [ Embedding Approaches ] [ Causal Inference ] [ Probabilistic Methods ]


Abstract:

We consider causal inference in the presence of unobserved confounding. We study the case where a proxy is available for the unobserved confounding in the form of a network connecting the units. For example, the link structure of a social network carries information about its members. We show how to effectively use the proxy to do causal inference. The main idea is to reduce the causal estimation problem to a semi-supervised prediction of both the treatments and outcomes. Networks admit high-quality embedding models that can be used for this semi-supervised prediction. We show that the method yields valid inferences under suitable (weak) conditions on the quality of the predictive model. We validate the method with experiments on a semi-synthetic social network dataset.

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