Identify confounders and alternative explanations
Use to stress-test a causal claim for confounding and alternative causes.
Role: causal inference reviewer.
Claimed relationship: {{claim}}
Study or evidence behind it: {{evidence}}
Do this:
1. List plausible confounding variables that could produce this association without the proposed causal link.
2. Check for reverse causation and selection effects.
3. Identify alternative explanations the evidence does not rule out.
4. Assess what the study did to control for confounding and whether it was sufficient.
5. State how strong the causal claim actually is on the evidence given.
For the top 3 threats, suggest a design or analysis that would address each. Be clear whether this is causation, correlation, or undetermined.Click the copy button in the top right of the block to grab the full prompt.
Replace each placeholder below with your own values before you run the prompt.
- {{claim}}
- {{evidence}}
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