Causal Effects of Perceived Immutable Characteristics
针对种族、性别等不可变特征，观测研究难以推断因果效应。本文提出将焦点从实际特征转向感知特征，解决缺乏类似随机实验的“处理”和事后偏差问题，并以死刑判决中种族作用的研究为例说明。
Despite their ubiquity, observational studies to infer the causal effect of a so-called immutable characteristic, such as race or sex, have struggled for coherence, given the unavailability of a manipulation analogous to a “treatment” in a randomized experiment and the danger of posttreatment bias. We demonstrate that a shift in focus from actual traits to perceptions of them can address both of these issues while facilitating articulation of other critical concepts, particularly the timing of treatment assignment. We illustrate concepts by discussing the designs of various studies of the role of race in trial court death penalty decisions. © 2011 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.