Orsaksforskning

Orsaksforskning is the systematic investigation of causes. In Swedish usage the term covers etiologic research in medicine as well as causal inquiry in the social and behavioral sciences. The aim is to identify factors that influence outcomes, distinguish causal from merely associated factors, and understand how mechanisms lead from cause to effect.

In medicine and epidemiology, orsaksforskning seeks etiologies of diseases and conditions, to inform prevention and treatment. Classic considerations include Hill's criteria for causation and modern causal inference frameworks that formalize counterfactual reasoning and the role of mediators and confounders.

Researchers use observational designs such as cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, along with experimental designs including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experiments. Advances include Mendelian randomization, directed acyclic graphs, and other causal inference methods to estimate causal effects from data.

Data sources include population registries, electronic health records, and longitudinal cohorts. Common challenges are confounding, reverse causation, measurement error, and selection bias. Replication, transparency, preregistration, and sensitivity analyses are emphasized to strengthen causal claims.

Applications span public health policy, clinical guidelines, and social policy evaluation. While the term has long roots in epidemiology, orsaksforskning is increasingly interdisciplinary, incorporating statistics, economics, and philosophy of science to clarify what can be inferred about cause and effect.