Russell Bowater

The 7 hardest lessons to learn in statistics

What is the current state of statistical theory? Is the theory of statistical inference essentially in a good state except for a relatively small number of issues that need to be tidied up? Or is current popular statistical theory nothing short of an embarrassment for anyone who wishes to describe themselves as a statistician? This talk explores these questions by presenting lessons that arguably need to be learnt but have proved difficult to learn for reasons that to a great extent are not related to doing good science. By exposing ourselves to such an uncomfortable level of introspection, a greater understanding can be gained about what we have done, where we are at and where we should be going.