TY  - JOUR
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11245-013-9220-9
ID  - discovery1427791
N1  - The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11245-013-9220-9.
JF  - Topoi
N2  - Evidence-based medicine (EBM) makes use of explicit procedures for grading evidence for causal claims. Normally, these procedures categorise evidence of correlation produced by statistical trials as better evidence for a causal claim than evidence of mechanisms produced by other methods. We argue, in contrast, that evidence of mechanisms needs to be viewed as complementary to, rather than inferior to, evidence of correlation. In this paper we first set out the case for treating evidence of mechanisms alongside evidence of correlation in explicit protocols for evaluating evidence. Next we provide case studies which exemplify the ways in which evidence of mechanisms complements evidence of correlation in practice. Finally, we put forward some general considerations as to how the two sorts of evidence can be more closely integrated by EBM.
SN  - 0167-7411
SP  - 339 
AV  - public
Y1  - 2014/10//
TI  - Mechanisms and the Evidence Hierarchy
VL  - 33
KW  - Mechanism
KW  -  Difference-making
KW  -  Evidence
KW  -  Evidence of mechanism
KW  -  Evidence in medicine
KW  -  Evidence-based medicine
A1  - Clarke, B
A1  - Gillies, D
A1  - Illari, P
A1  - Russo, F
A1  - Williamson, J
EP  -  360
IS  - 2
ER  -