[Theory] NOW: [TTIC Talks] 4/26 Research at TTIC: Siddharth Bhandari, TTIC

[Brandie Jones]

*When:*         April 26th* at 12:30pm CT  *


*Where:*        Talk will be given *live, in-person* at

                       TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue

                        5th Floor, Room 530


*Virtually:*    via Panopto (Livestream
<https://uchicago.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=40c91295-4215-418a-962a-b067015cf4c1>
)



*Who:*           Siddharth Bhandari, TTIC



*Title*:           Median of differences is not difference of medians


*Abstract:*   Average Treatment Effect (ATE) estimation is a well-studied
problem in causal inference. However, it does not necessarily capture the
heterogeneity in the data, and several approaches have been proposed to
tackle the issue, including estimating the Quantile Treatment Effects. In
the finite population setting containing n individuals, with treatment and
control values denoted by the potential outcome vectors a,b, much of the
prior work has focused on estimating median(a)− median(b). It is known that
estimating the difference of medians is easier than the desired estimand of
median(a−b), called the Median Treatment Effect (MTE). The fundamental
problem of causal inference -- for every individual i, we can only observe
one of the potential outcome values, i.e., either the value ai or bi, but
not both, makes estimating the MTE particularly challenging.

In this talk, we will see that the MTE is not estimable, and we will
instead focus on a notion of quantile approximation of the MTE. We will
prove lower bounds on the approximation factor and see an instance optimal
efficient algorithm for approximating the MTE.

Based on joint work with Raghavendra Addanki at Adobe Research
(2403.10618.pdf (arxiv.org)).

***********************************************************************************************

*Masks are optional in all common areas. **Full visitor guidance is
available at ttic.edu/visitors <http://ttic.edu/visitors>.*

***********************************************************************************************

*Research at TTIC Seminar Series*



TTIC is hosting a weekly seminar series presenting the research currently
underway at the Institute. Every week a different TTIC faculty member will
present their research.  The lectures are intended for students
seeking research topics and advisors and for the general TTIC and
University of Chicago communities interested in hearing what their
colleagues are up to.

--
*Brandie Jones *
*Executive **Administrative Assistant*
Toyota Technological Institute
6045 S. Kenwood Avenue
Chicago, IL  60637
www.ttic.edu
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