Relationships · Categorical data
Choosing a Categorical Effect Measure
Which scale answers the policy question you actually need to answer?
Page 1 of 7 · Big Picture
The big picture: Choosing a Categorical Effect Measure
Should the contrast be absolute, relative-risk, or odds based?
Why a policy analyst should care
Risk differences, risk ratios, and odds ratios express different comparisons, so choosing the scale determines what readers will understand the effect to mean.
Follow the idea from the opening question to a practical decision. These are the conceptual moves this module will develop:
1 Question Which comparison scale answers the question?
2 Explore Choose the scale for the decision
3 Formalize Match the measure to the estimand
4 Transfer Choose a measure for policy
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