The theories of causality put forward by Pearl and the Spirtes-Glymour-Scheines group have entered the mainstream of statistical thinking. These theories show that under ideal conditions, causal relationships can be inferred from purely statistical observational data. Nancy Cartwright advances certain arguments against these causal inference algorithms: the well-known factory example argument against the Causal Markov condition and an argument against faithfulness. We point to the dependence of the first argument on undefined categories external to the technical apparatus of causal inference algorithms. We acknowledge the possible practical implication of her second argument, yet we maintain, with respect to both arguments, that this variety of causal inference, if not universal, is nonetheless eminently useful. Cartwright argues against assumptions that are essential not only to causal inference algorithms but to causal inference generally, even if, as she contends, they are not without exception and that the same is true of other, likewise essential, assumptions. We indicate that causal inference is an iterative process and that causal inference algorithms assist, rather than replace, that process as performed by human beings.

The theories of causality put forward by Pearl and the Spirtes-Glymour-Scheines group have entered the mainstream of statistical thinking. These theories show that under ideal conditions, causal relationships can be inferred from purely statistical observational data. Nancy Cartwright advances certain arguments against these causal inference algorithms: the well-known factory example argument against the Causal Markov condition and an argument against faithfulness. We point to the dependence of the first argument on undefined categories external to the technical apparatus of causal inference algorithms. We acknowledge the possible practical implication of her second argument, yet we maintain, with respect to both arguments, that this variety of causal inference, if not universal, is nonetheless eminently useful. Cartwright argues against assumptions that are essential not only to causal inference algorithms but to causal inference generally, even if, as she contends, they are not without exception and that the same is true of other, likewise essential, assumptions. We indicate that causal inference is an iterative process and that causal inference algorithms assist, rather than replace, that process as performed by human beings.

Causal graphs are essential tools to find sufficient adjustment sets in observational studies. Subject matter experts can sometimes specify these graphs, but often the dependence structure of the variables, and thus the graph, is unknown even to them. In such cases, structure learning algorithms can be used to learn the graph. Early structure learning algorithms were implemented for either exclusively discrete or continuous variables. Recently, methods have been developed for structure learning on mixed data, including both continuous and discrete variables. In this thesis, three structure learning algorithms for mixed data are evaluated through a simulation study. The evaluation is based on graph recovery metrics and the ability to find a sufficient adjustment set for the average treatment effect (ATE). Depending on the intended purpose of the learned graph, the different evaluation metrics should be given varying attention. It is also concluded that the pcalg+micd algorithm learns graphs such that it is possible to find a sufficient adjustment set for the ATE in more than 99% of the cases. Moreover, the learned graphs from pcalg+micd are the most accurate compared to the true graph using the largest sample size.

Automatic Root Cause Analysis (RCA) systems aim to streamline the process of identifying the underlying cause of software failures in complex cloud-native environments. These systems employ graph-like structures to represent causal relationships between different components of a software application. These relationships are typically learned through performance and resource utilization metrics of the microservices in the system. To accomplish this objective, numerous RCA systems utilize statistical algorithms, specifically those falling under the category of causal discovery. These algorithms have demonstrated their utility not only in RCA systems but also in a wide range of other domains and applications. Nonetheless, there exists a research gap in the exploration of the feasibility and efficacy of multivariate time series causal discovery algorithms for deriving causal graphs within a microservice framework. By harnessing metric time series data from Prometheus and applying these algorithms, we aim to shed light on their performance in a cloudnative environment. Furthermore, we have introduced an adaptation in the form of an ensemble causal discovery algorithm. Our experimentation with this ensemble approach, conducted on datasets with known causal relationships, unequivocally demonstrates its potential in enhancing the precision of detected causal connections. Notably, our ultimate objective was to ascertain reliable causal relationships within Ericsson’s cloud-native system ’X,’ where the ground truth is unavailable. The ensemble causal discovery approach triumphs over the limitations of employing individual causal discovery algorithms, significantly augmenting confidence in the unveiled causal relationships. As a practical illustration of the utility of the ensemble causal discovery techniques, we have delved into the domain of anomaly detection. By leveraging causal graphs within our study, we have successfully applied this technique to anomaly detection within the Ericsson system. / System för automatisk rotorsaksanalys (RCA) syftar till att effektivisera process för att identifiera den underliggande orsaken till programvarufel i komplexa molnbaserade miljöer. Dessa system använder grafliknande strukturer att representera orsakssamband mellan olika komponenter i en mjukvaruapplikation. Dessa relationer lär man sig vanligtvis genom prestanda och resursutnyttjande mätvärden för mikrotjänsterna i systemet. För att uppnå detta mål använder många RCAsystem statistiska algoritmer, särskilt de som faller under kategorin orsaksupptäckt. Dessa algoritmer har visat att de inte är användbara endast i RCA-system men även inom en lång rad andra domäner och applikationer. Icke desto mindre finns det en forskningslucka i utforskningen av genomförbarhet och effektivitet av orsaksupptäckt av multivariat tidsserie algoritmer för att härleda kausala grafer inom ett mikrotjänstramverk. Genom att utnyttja metriska tidsseriedata från Prometheus och tillämpa Dessa algoritmer strävar vi efter att belysa deras prestanda i ett moln- inhemsk miljö. Dessutom har vi infört en anpassning i formen av en ensemble kausal upptäcktsalgoritm. Vårt experiment med denna ensemblemetod, utförd på datauppsättningar med kända orsakssamband relationer, visar otvetydigt sin potential för att förbättra precisionen hos upptäckta orsakssamband. Särskilt vår ultimata Målet var att fastställa tillförlitliga orsakssamband inom Ericssons molnbaserade systemet ’X’, där grundsanningen inte är tillgänglig. De ensemble kausal discovery approach segrar över begränsningarna av att använda individuella kausala upptäcktsalgoritmer, avsevärt öka förtroendet för de avslöjade orsakssambanden. Som en praktisk illustration av nyttan av ensemblens kausal upptäcktstekniker har vi fördjupat oss i anomalidomänen upptäckt. Genom att utnyttja kausala grafer inom vår studie har vi framgångsrikt tillämpat denna teknik för att detektera anomali inom Ericsson system