Binning data according to measured values of the variable
Not to be confused with Control variable or Control variable (programming).
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Controlling for a variable" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
In causal models, controlling for a variable means binning data according to measured values of the variable. This is typically done so that the variable can no longer act as a confounder in, for example, an observational study or experiment.
When estimating the effect of explanatory variables on an outcome by regression, controlled-for variables are included as inputs in order to separate their effects from the explanatory variables.[1]
A limitation of controlling for variables is that a causal model is needed to identify important confounders (backdoor criterion is used for the identification). Without having one, a possible confounder might remain unnoticed. Another associated problem is that if a variable which is not a real confounder is controlled for, it may in fact make other variables (possibly not taken into account) become confounders while they were not confounders before. In other cases, controlling for a non-confounding variable may cause underestimation of the true causal effect of the explanatory variables on an outcome (e.g. when controlling for a mediator or its descendant).[2][3]Counterfactual reasoning mitigates the influence of confounders without this drawback.[3]
^Frost, Jim. "A Tribute to Regression Analysis | Minitab". Retrieved 2015-08-04.
^Streiner, David L (February 2016). "Control or overcontrol for covariates?". Evid Based Ment Health. 19 (1): 4–5. doi:10.1136/eb-2015-102294. PMC 10699339. PMID 26755716. S2CID 11155639.
^ abPearl, Judea; Mackenzie, Dana (2018). The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-241-24263-6.
and 26 Related for: Controlling for a variable information
Acontrolvariable (or scientific constant) in scientific experimentation is an experimental element which is constant (controlled) and unchanged throughout...
Avariable is considered dependent if it depends on an independent variable. Dependent variables are studied under the supposition or demand that they...
VVC (Variable Valve Control) is an automobile variable valve timing technology developed by Rover and applied to some high performance variants of the...
VTEC (described as Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control, but stands for Valve Timing Electronically Controlled) is a system developed by Honda...
A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable (i.e. confounding...
process variables is essential in control systems to controllinga process. The value of the process variable is continuously monitored so that control may...
Instrumentation and control engineering (ICE) is a branch of engineering that studies the measurement and control of process variables, and the design and...
and the final control element (FCE) which controls the process necessary to automatically adjust the value of a measured process variable (PV) to equal...
micro-climate effects. In horticulture, these environmental variables may be avoided, controlled or manipulated in an indoor growing environment. Plants require...
environment in which a process runs. For example, a running process can query the value of the TEMP environment variable to discover a suitable location...
random variables, with the effect of a set of controlling random variables removed. When determining the numerical relationship between two variables of interest...
The term VariableControl Voice Actuator (VCVA) refers to a digital recording technology developed by Olympus, which is implemented in many of their digital...
addition of Boolean variables (true/false flags). Later authors showed that choice can be replaced by loops (and yet more Boolean variables). That such minimalism...
causal inference, a confounder (also confounding variable, confounding factor, extraneous determinant or lurking variable) is avariable that influences...
manifest variables have nothing in common after controllingfor the latent variable (local independence). Different types of the latent variable models...
controls" and need to be included to remove omitted variable bias. This issue arises when a bad control is an outcome variable (or similar to) in a causal...
A random variable (also called random quantity, aleatory variable, or stochastic variable) is a mathematical formalization of a quantity or object which...
average change over time in the outcome variablefor the treatment group to the average change over time for the control group. Although it is intended to mitigate...
Variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event in an internal combustion engine, and is often used to improve...
using a thermostat controllinga domestic boiler to large industrial control systems which are used forcontrolling processes or machines. The control systems...
Variable structure control (VSC) is a form of discontinuous nonlinear control. The method alters the dynamics of a nonlinear system by application of a...
A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automated transmission that can change through a continuous range of gear ratios. This contrasts with...
Global Information