Now, if you’re familiar with either statistics or J.R.R. Tolkien, I know the title grabbed your attention. And if not, don’t worry; all will become clear in time, but I’ve always wanted to reference The Lord of the Rings in a title (and scientific papers provide little opportunity for that).

Statistics is a way of learning and making decisions when faced with uncertainty—in other words, all the time. There are two primary types of statistical methods, Bayesian and frequentist, and some statisticians have strong opinions about both. I apologize if I have omitted someone’s preferred approach for dealing with uncertainty; I know there are others. 

Despite the title above, I do not really think that one method is better than the other, and I think the world is better off by having both at our disposal. For those of you who have a different opinion, note that there is a comments section below. I’d like to hear your thoughts, and if I am able to reply, I will. (Note also that I will be loose with terminology on purpose because this is not a technical paper, and it will make the examples a little easier to follow.)

 …