Adjustment with Three Continuous Variables

Abstract

Spurious association between X and Y may be due to a confounding variable W. Statisticians may adjust for W using a variety of techniques. This paper presents the results of simulations conducted to assess the performance of those techniques under various, elementary, data-generating processes. The results indicate that no technique is best overall and that specific techniques should be selected based on the particulars of the data-generating process. Here we show how causal graphs can guide the selection or design of techniques for statistical adjustment. R programs are provided for researchers interested in generalization.