S5E8: Selection Bias: Colliders, Censoring, and Confusion

In this episode of SERious Epidemiology, Hailey and Matt are joined by Dr. Louisa Smith to discuss Chapter 8 of Causal Inference: What If on selection bias. The conversation explores how selection bias can arise through conditioning on a collider, how it differs from confounding, and how loss to follow-up and censoring can introduce bias even in randomized trials. A major theme of this episode is the relationship between selection bias and confounding. We also discuss generalizability, target populations, competing events such as death. Finally, we talk about how challenging it is to address selection bias via analytic techniques including inverse probability weighting. This episode serves as a good reminder that when it comes to selection bias, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.