The problem of drawing causal inferences from retrospective case-control studies is
considered. A model for causal inference in prospective studies is reviewed and then
applied to retrospective studies. The limitations of case-control studies are formulated in
terms of the level of causally relevant parameters that can be estimated in such studies. An
example using data from a large retrospective study of coffee-drinking and myocardial
infarctions is used to illustrate the ideas of the article.
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