How to Interpret Covid-19 Predictions: Reassessing the IHME’s Model
S. Andrew Schroeder
Abstract
The IHME Covid-19 prediction model has been one of the most influential Covid models in the United States. Early on, it received heavy criticism for understating the extent of the epidemic. I argue that this criticism was based on a misunderstanding of the model. The model was best interpreted not as attempting to forecast the actual course of the epidemic. Rather, it was attempting to make a conditional projection: telling us how the epidemic would unfold, given certain assumptions. This misunderstanding of the IHME’s model prevented the public from seeing how dire the model’s projections actually were.
Topics & Concepts
CriticismCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Projection (relational algebra)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakPositive economicsEpistemologySociologyEconometricsEconomicsComputer sciencePolitical sciencePhilosophyLawMedicineVirologyOutbreakDiseasePathologyAlgorithmInfectious disease (medical specialty)COVID-19 epidemiological studiesCOVID-19 Pandemic Impacts