Difference-in-differences, Average Treatment Effects and the Importance of Mechanisms: Part 2
Counterfeit Did, True DiD or RCT?
I’m not really probably going to be doing a ton of editing on these Ignaz Semmelweis posts because to be honest, I’ve just been utterly astonished that as I’ve been studying the case more closely that I’m watching my opinions evolve. I think the substack really just has to become more of a place where I’m processing at least part of the time. So bear with me and if you just know I’m inviting you to eavesdrop on my personal thoughts, and take everything I say with a grain of salt, I won’t feel bad if I’m leading anyone astray.
In that last post, I went through Ignaz Semmelweis’s article in which he came to the conclusion that the reason the fatal fevers were happening in the physician wing but not as much in the midwife wing of a Vienna hospital was because physicians’ hands were contaminated with “cadaveric” particles from when they did autoposies for class. It’s a brilliant article in my opinion, and its rhetoric I’m sure holds wisdom and guidance for all of us, no matter our backg…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Scott's Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.