Presentations
2025 Presentations
William Bier Interdisciplinary Award Lecture
Title: Who Benefits from Religious Attendance? Heterogeneous Causal Effects on Well-being and Cooperation in New Zealand
Presenter: Joseph Bulbulia
Event: William Bier Interdisciplinary Award, APA Division 36 Psychology of Religion
Date: 2025
Time: 11:30-12:30
Location: Convention Centre Street Level 208
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Abstract: This presentation examines who benefits from religious attendance using heterogeneous treatment effect methods applied to longitudinal data from New Zealand. We explore how the causal effects of religious participation on well-being and cooperation vary across different population subgroups, providing insights into when and for whom religious engagement promotes positive outcomes. The study links two literatures on religious attendance that have developed independently: health and cooperation.
Keywords: causal inference, heterogeneous effects, religion, well-being, cooperation, longitudinal, panel, New Zealand
Venue Location
SPARCC Day 2: Average Treatment Effects
Title: Average Treatment Effects: Church Attendance and Cooperation
Presenter: Joseph Bulbulia
Event: SPARCC Day 2 - Methods Workshop
Date: 2025
Location: Victoria University of Wellington
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Abstract: This workshop presentation focuses on average treatment effects in causal inference, specifically examining the relationship between church attendance and cooperation behaviours. Using panel data from New Zealand, we demonstrate methods for identifying and estimating causal effects while addressing common challenges in observational studies including confounding, selection bias, and temporal ordering.
Keywords: causal inference, average treatment effects, church attendance, cooperation, panel data, confounding, observational studies, New Zealand
SPARCC Day 2: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
Title: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects: Who Benefits from Church Attendance?
Presenter: Joseph Bulbulia
Event: SPARCC Day 2 - Methods Workshop
Date: 2025
Location: Victoria University of Wellington
- Download: Use the download button in Dropbox to save a local copy
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- Compatible with all modern browsers
Abstract: This workshop presentation explores heterogeneous treatment effects in the context of religious attendance and well-being outcomes. Moving beyond average effects, we examine how the causal impact of church attendance varies across different population subgroups, using machine learning methods to identify systematic patterns of treatment effect heterogeneity. The presentation demonstrates methods for discovering who benefits most from religious participation.
Keywords: heterogeneous treatment effects, causal inference, church attendance, well-being, cooperation, machine learning, subgroup analysis, personalised treatment effects, New Zealand
Workshop Context
These presentations were delivered as part of SPARCC Day 2, a methods workshop focusing on advanced statistical techniques for studying religion, spirituality, and social behaviour. The sessions covered practical applications of causal inference methods using real-world longitudinal data, progressing from average treatment effects to more sophisticated heterogeneous effect estimation.
Workshop Materials
The complete set of R scripts used in the SPARCC Day 2 workshop is available for download. This package includes:
- Setup verification script with CLI alerts
- 4 hands-on scripts demonstrating causal inference methods
- Simulated datasets with realistic NZ population characteristics
- Comprehensive README with installation and usage instructions
- Clean, documented code with lower-case comments and NZ English
Package Contents: Baseline adjustment, ATE estimation, heterogeneous effects, and policy learning scripts with the margot ecosystem.
Archive of Presentations
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