I roto i te kuputuhi matua, kōrero ahau te hanga kerēme causal i raraunga kore-whakamātau mā te whakamahi i ngā taiao, me te ōrite. I roto i tenei tāpiritanga, ka whakamōhio ahau te tauira putanga pūmanawa, me te tautuhi i atu ïa te tikanga e kua hiahiatia hoki hīkaro causal i raraunga observational. Ka utu tenei pene i runga i Morgan and Winship (2014) ko Imbens and Rubin (2015) .