tipr (Q1351246)

The strength of evidence provided by epidemiological and observational studies is inherently limited by the potential for unmeasured confounding. We focus on three key quantities: the observed bound of the confidence interval closest to the null, the relationship between an unmeasured confounder and the outcome, for example a plausible residual effect size for an unmeasured continuous or binary confounder, and the relationship between an unmeasured confounder and the exposure, for example a realistic mean difference or prevalence difference for this hypothetical confounder between exposure groups. Building on the methods put forth by Cornfield et al. (1959), Bross (1966), Schlesselman (1978), Rosenbaum & Rubin (1983), Lin et al. (1998), Lash et al. (2009), Rosenbaum (1986), Cinelli & Hazlett (2020), VanderWeele & Ding (2017), and Ding & VanderWeele (2016), we can use these quantities to assess how an unmeasured confounder may tip our result to insignificance.