In three or four years I think I have made one recess and hundreds of tenons.  With a Vicmarc 120 chuck and jaws I am very confident in the holding power - on small bowls the tenon is little more than 3/32" long, and even on large bowls I seldom make a tenon as long as 1/4".  I remember having one break, but can't remember if it was due to a major catch or perhaps tightening the jaws too much and weak grain.

Does a recess have a tendency to split an end grain bowl? And does a tenon have have a tendency to leave a side grain bowl?

The big technical argument between recess and tenon has to do with the relationship between the direction of stress imposed on the blank relative to the direction of the fibers in that blank.  That is, using a recess on a spindle turning tends to separate the fibers along the length of the spindle, while using a tenon on a face-grain turning tends to pull the tenon off the turning (and that problem is aggravated if the jaws concentrate that stress at the point where the tenon meets the bottom of the turning).

So that almost sounds like a Ford versus Chevy situation (or, if you wish, boxers versus briefs) - its your choice.

But there is another factor - some turners tend to favor a recess because it can be left in place, while using a tenon requires an additional step to remove the tenon.  And my non-scientific research (looking at turnings for sale in galleries and shops while shopping with my wife) leads me to suspect that production turners who make a living from turning and are concerned about volume tend to use recesses. 

I've also noticed that turners in Ireland and the UK also often leave a recess on the bottom of their bowls and platters.

I like a recess,  so i don't have spend time removing a tenon.  Of course i power sand the sharp edges of the recess with bowl off the lathe,  then sign and date, then seal.       You will need an inch of wood around the recess for support or you may split the bowl.

Some things to remember re chuck.  Any chuck has its maximum holding power when the jaws make a perfect circle.  Usually that means the jaws are open about 1/16 in.   Problems start to occur when you open the jaws much wider that a perfect circle.  If you open the jaws up and grab a well made tenon  you are grabbing with 8 points of the jaws.  Open the jaws up in a recess and you may only be actually holding with 4 points so with a tenon it is critical you are close to a perfect circle.  The other thing to always avoid with a tenon or recess is to never have your jaws grabbing directly to end grain.  Hope this helps.  I have heard 2 pros say that a recess is the strongest.  I tried a recess when I was a beginner and had a lot of failures but now use a recess most of the time.