Win-Win: Reconciling Social Epidemiology and Causal Inference

Abstract Social epidemiology is concerned with the health effects of forces that are “above the skin.” Although causal inference should be a key goal for social epidemiology, social epidemiology and quantitative causal inference have been seemingly at odds over the years. This does not have to be the case and, in fact, both fields stand to gain through a closer engagement of social epidemiology with formal causal inference approaches. We discuss the misconceptions that have led to an uneasy relationship between these 2 fields, propose a way forward that illustrates how the 2 areas can come together to inform causal questions, and discuss the implications of this approach. We argue that quantitative causal inference in social epidemiology is an opportunity to do better science that matters, a win-win for both fields.