Weinberger, Naftali (2022) Signal Manipulation and the Causal Analysis of Racial Discrimination. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Discussions of the causal status of race focus on the question of whether race itself can be experimentally manipulated. Yet many experiments testing for racial discrimination do not manipulate race, but rather a signal by which race influences an outcome. Such signal manipulations are easily formalized, though contexts of discrimination introduce significant philosophical complications. Whether a signal counts as a signal for race is not merely a causal question, but depends on sociological and normative issues regarding discrimination. The notion of signal manipulation enables one to take these issues into account while still using causal counterfactual tests to detect discrimination. The analysis provided here is compatible with social constructivism and helps differentiate between cases in which it is more or less fruitful to model race causally.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Weinberger, Naftali
Keywords:	Causation; Race; Manipulability; Discrimination; Causal Modeling; Experiments; Social Construction
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Feminist Approaches General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Science and Society Specific Sciences > Sociology
Depositing User:	Mr. Naftali Weinberger
Date Deposited:	16 Feb 2022 03:35
Last Modified:	16 Feb 2022 03:35
Item ID:	20221
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Feminist Approaches General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Science and Society Specific Sciences > Sociology
Date:	February 2022
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/20221

Available Versions of this Item

• Signal Manipulation and the Causal Status of Race. (deposited 14 Oct 2021 01:26)
  • Signal Manipulation and the Causal Status of Race. (deposited 19 Oct 2021 17:44)
    • Signal Manipulation and the Causal Analysis of Racial Discrimination. (deposited 09 Feb 2022 03:24)
      • Signal Manipulation and the Causal Analysis of Racial Discrimination. (deposited 16 Feb 2022 03:35) [Currently Displayed]
        • Signal Manipulation and the Causal Analysis of Racial Discrimination. (deposited 08 Aug 2022 18:28)

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