Unintentional Model Bias: Why Laziness and Census Data can be good proxies for racism
Unintentional Model Bias: Why Laziness and Census Data can be good proxies for racism
By Gary Angel
|December 22, 2019
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The Measurement Minute with Gary Angel
The easiest way to create a biased model is often to just use the data you have. Census data, in particular, is a common culprit. It’s free, well organized and incredibly robust. But neighborhood turns out to be a nearly perfect proxy for race and age (not so much for gender). But the obligation to find screening variables is muddy and hard to clarify. How much effort is required? What’s acceptable and what isn’t? Damn if I know…