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Main Author: Almudevar, Anthony
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.23171
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author Almudevar, Anthony
author_facet Almudevar, Anthony
contents This article includes a discussion of the ``lost submarine problem", following Morey \emph{et al} (2016). As the title of that paper suggests (\emph{The fallacy of placing confidence in confidence intervals}), the example is intended to illustrate the futility of relying on the confidence interval as a formal inference statement. In the view of this author, the misgivings expressed in Morey \emph{et al} (2016) can be resolved using a decision theoretic approach. While it is true that a variety of statistical methods lead to a variety of confidence intervals, once we precisely define their purpose, a single optimal choice emerges. Furthermore, distinct purposes lead to distinct optimal choices. Therefore, that a variety of procedures exist is an advantage rather than a liability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_23171
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Revisiting the Lost Submarine Problem: A Decision Theoretic Approach
Almudevar, Anthony
Other Statistics
62C05
This article includes a discussion of the ``lost submarine problem", following Morey \emph{et al} (2016). As the title of that paper suggests (\emph{The fallacy of placing confidence in confidence intervals}), the example is intended to illustrate the futility of relying on the confidence interval as a formal inference statement. In the view of this author, the misgivings expressed in Morey \emph{et al} (2016) can be resolved using a decision theoretic approach. While it is true that a variety of statistical methods lead to a variety of confidence intervals, once we precisely define their purpose, a single optimal choice emerges. Furthermore, distinct purposes lead to distinct optimal choices. Therefore, that a variety of procedures exist is an advantage rather than a liability.
title Revisiting the Lost Submarine Problem: A Decision Theoretic Approach
topic Other Statistics
62C05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.23171