CSSS Seminar - Addressing Measurement Error Bias in Grouped Continuous Data for Causal Inferences
Ramses Llobet, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, UW, Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 - 12:30 pm
Abstract:
Applied researchers often analyze ordered categories that discretize continuous quantities (income, time frequencies, biomarkers, exposures). Treating such indices as continuous or imputing bin midpoints are convenient but misleading strategies to estimate marginal effects in regression analyses. This paper characterizes a form of measurement error that arises in those strategies by design, from the sampling mechanism, which induces biased and inconsistent estimations that are model-dependent and a priori unpredictable. I provide a solution to this problem, a calibration method - regularized interval regression - that treats responses as intervals of a latent distribution, and predicts calibrated proxies robust to measurement error biases in downstream linear regressions. Monte Carlo evidence shows that, relative to midpoint imputation and “ordinal-as-continuous,” the calibrated proxy yields unbiased…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Savery Hall (SAV). Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/s/91612004486. Campus room: 409. Accessibility Contact: csss@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit csss.uw.edu. CSDE Closing Reception 2026: Celebration of Trainees' Accomplishments
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Parrington Hall (PAR). Campus room: 320. Accessibility Contact: Maddie Farris - CSDE Program Coordinator (csde-prgm-coord@uw.edu). Event Types: Ceremonies.
Friday, June 5, 2026, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit csde.washington.edu.