Basic introduction to "R", a free and open source statistical programming language designed to help users analyze data sets by creating scripts to increase automation. The program can also be used as a free substitute for Microsoft Excel.

1. Program Overview
David Lambert
2014

2. “R” Overview
• What is “R”?
• What does “R” look like?
• Who uses “R”?
• Why “R”?
• Installing “R”
• Where can I find “R”esources?
• “R” in One Month?

3. What is “R”?
“R” is a…
• Statistical Calculator/Language
• Means, Probability, NOVA, F-Test, T-Test, etc.
• Programming Language
• High-level programming platform to call, create,
and organize advanced data structures.
• Graphical Interface
• Vast list of analytic models to help visualize data.

4. What does “R” look like?
“R” Script
“R” Console
“R” Variables
“R” Models
R Studio, a widely used IDE (Integrated development environment) for “R”

5. Who uses “R”?
Just a few small companies….
List of Companies Aquired from,
http://www.revolutionanalytics.com/companies-using-r
4/14/14

6. Why “R”
“R” is quickly becoming the preferred Analytic Tool and package for many
companies world-wide. Why?
• “R” is free
• “R” is open-source
o Coders, Staticians and Data Scientists are constantly writing blogs,
papers and new programming packages, set on improving functionality,
ease and implementation of “R”.
• “R” is powerful
o “R” can utilize the majority of other commercial statistical languages
including JMP, Mathematica, MATLAB, SPSS, STATISTICA, and SAS.
o “R” can be integrated with other popular programming languages such
as Python, Perl, RUBY, C and C++.
o “R” can manipulate many different data types including
characters, numerics, integers, complex, and logical expressions.
o “R” can scrape data from Excel, XML, JSON, SQL, HDF5, Web, API’s
and more.
http://
www.econometricsbysimulation.com/
2014/03/why-use-r-five-reasons.html

7. Excel vs. “R”
Why “R”
Price $109.99 Free
Data Entry Data Must Be Entered Physically (Typically) Data can be gathered autonomously by
scraping webpages, servers or files
Data Access Must Have All Files on Computer or Cloud Can Scrape Data or Call Files from Internet or
Network
Efficiency Must Open Whole Spreadsheet(s) or
WorkBook(s). Can bog down memory.
Can easily call information, partial information
or variable information from File(s)
Adaptability Very Low Customization Open-Source and Programmable
Integration Limited Software to Software Integration Diverse Communication Between multiple
Coding Languages

8. http://www.r-project.org/
Download “R”
Link
“R” Homepage
Installing “R”

9. http://www.r-project.org/
List of Servers
1. Scroll to your Country
2. Click closest location
for fastest download
Installing “R”
Mirror/Server Page

10. http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
Choose Operating System
Installing “R”

11. http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
This is the basic installer.
Start by using this.
Installing “R”

12. “R”esources within “R”
A useful tool in “R” is the help function
within the program. Running the function
will give a detailed report of the available
information.
help(functionName)
o Type any “R” function into the
help() function or type a “?” in front
of any function and a help page
URL will pop up on the screen
about the function.
“help(mean) OR ?mean” will produce a page that looks like this
Description
Usage
Arguments
Value
Reference
See Also
Examples

13. Where can I find “R”esources
There are many free resources for “R”
Websites
• R Project
o Robust resource for R packages and information. Can be technical.
o http://www.r-project.org/
• Quick R
o Great website with lots of useful articles, tutorials and more.
o http://www.statmethods.net/
• Revolution Analytics
o R News and Community
o http://www.revolutionanalytics.com/
• Stack Overflow
o Very large and dedicated programming community. Q&A Forum with real problems being solved. Not strictly “R” but great info.
o http://www.stackoverflow.com
• R-Bloggers
o News and Tutorials by “R” users in blogger format.
o http://www.r-bloggers.com/
• r-dir
o “R” reference site. Wonderful links to sections based on Tutorials, Courses, and databases for “R”
o http://r-dir.com/

14. Articles
• Econometrics by Simulation
o http://www.econometricsbysimulation.com/2014/03/why-use-r-five-reasons.html (Great article for Reasons to use “R”)
Interactive
• Code School
o Code School offers various interactive tracks that intuitively and effectively demonstrate use and importance of the technology
being disccused. Very impressive educational structure and course materials.
o Try “R”
o https://www.codeschool.com/courses/try-r
Online Certification Programs
• Coursera
o Free Online classes including video lectures, modules, exercises and huge discussions boards
o https://www.coursera.org/
§ John Hopkins University: Data Science Certification
§ https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1?utm_medium=listingPage
• Udacity
o Limited in terms of course offerings compared to Coursera but still serves as a great resource and Certification Opportunity for “R”
o https://www.udacity.com/
Where can I find “R”esources

15. Video Sequences
• Youtube/Google
o As always, there is a plethora of ‘YouTubers’ giving excellent tutorials for free. Many are very good at it.
o https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOU2XLYxmsIK9qQfztXeybpHvru-TrqAP (Google Dev. Team, Intro to “R”)
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDrYUqNrHg (More in-depth video sequence.)
• R for Statistical Programming
o http://sentimentmining.net/StatisticsWithR/
Where can I find “R”esources

16. Where can I find Datasets?
1. “R” packages have datasets in them
• Install.package(“Histdata”)
• Historical Data sets and analysis
2. Websites have datasets
• Data.gov
• Data.gov.IN
• Data.gov.UK
• Government data with many different datasets from different industries.
• HealthData.gov
• Governement health data.
• Scb.se/en_/
• Statistics Sweden. Open government data.
• Ropengov.github.io/
• Open government datasets.

17. “R” in One Month?
Here I will discuss a guideline to get new “R” users on their feet and ready to play with the software.
• Week 1
• Complete “Try R” Chapters 1-8
o https://www.codeschool.com/courses/try-r
• Install “R” program or “R” Studio.
• Install SWIRL Package and Complete Tutorial
• Week 2
• Begin Google Dev “Intro to R” Video Sequence
• Youtube Google Dev R Video Sequence
• Sign up for Coursera.com: John Hopkins - R Programming
• https://www.coursera.org/course/rprog
• Import file(s) and/or download file(s) from internet to upload into “R”.
• Learn to call documents into “read.table” and create a “data.frame”.
• Learn about different file types; XML, CSV, XLXS.
• Week 3
• “Data.frame” manipulation. Learn to scrape variables, columns/rows, or values from a document into a “data.frame”.
• Run simple functions on scraped data such as mean(), sum(), etc.
• Week 4
• Call information from multiple sources and analyze data through basic functions
• Generate random values from data set.
• Create visual graph from data; Histogram, Plot, etc.

18. “R” in One Month?
• Week 1
1. Complete “Try R” Chapters 1-8
• https://www.codeschool.com/courses/try-r
2. Install “R” program or “R” Studio.
• http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
Mac Install Windows Install
3. Install SWIRL Package and Complete Tutorial
https://class.coursera.org/rprog-008/assignment/view?assignment_id=9Intro to SWIRL

19. “R” in One Month?
• Week 2
1. Begin Google Dev “Intro to R” Video Sequence
• Youtube Google Dev R Video Sequence
• Follow along with exercises Video 1-7 (approx. 2 min each)
2. Sign up for Coursera.com: John Hopkins - R Programming
• https://www.coursera.org/course/rprog
• Watch Week 1 Video Lectures
• Goals:
• Import file(s) and/or download file(s) from internet to upload into “R”.
• Learn to call documents into “read.table” and create a “data.frame”.
• Learn about different file types; XML, CSV, XLXS.

20. “R” in One Month?
• Week 3
1. Continue Google Dev “Intro to R” Video Sequence
• Youtube Google Dev R Video Sequence
• Follow along with exercises Video 8-15 (approx. 2 min each)
2. Continue at Coursera.com: John Hopkins - R Programming
• https://www.coursera.org/course/rprog
• Watch Week 2 Video Lectures
• Goals:
• “Data.frame” manipulation. Learn to scrape variables, columns/rows, or values from a document into a “data.frame”.
• Run simple functions on scraped data such as mean(), sum(), etc.

21. “R” in One Month?
• Week 4
1. Continue Google Dev “Intro to R” Video Sequence
• Youtube Google Dev R Video Sequence
• Follow along with exercises Video 16-21 (approx. 2 min each)
2. Continue at Coursera.com: John Hopkins - R Programming
• https://www.coursera.org/course/rprog
• Watch Week 3 Video Lectures
• Goals:
• Call information from multiple sources and analyze data through basic functions
• Generate random values from data set.
• Create visual graph from data; Histogram, Plot, etc.

22. Contact
David Lambert