This is the program for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Activity Details

CE_13C Mon, 8/2/2010, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CC-1 (East)
An Introduction to R for SAS, SPSS, and Stata Users — Continuing Education Course
Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts
Instructor(s): Robert A. Muenchen, University of Tennessee, Ralph G. O'Brien, Case Western Reserve University
R is a free, powerful, and readily extensible platform for statistical computing and graphics that runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Its capabilities and user-base are growing exponentially, and one can now run R from within other statistical packages, including SAS and SPSS. However, R's fundamental programming environment differs dramatically from other software, which can confuse and intimidate even those with substantial experience in statistical programming. This course will introduce users of SAS, SPSS, and Stata to the R platform by comparing and contrasting it with those products. We will devote most of the day to working through realistic examples that attendees may run simultaneously on their own laptops. This will show (1) how to best interact with R (2) how R's programming structure merges data management, analysis, and graphics tasks, and (3) how R's many add-on libraries and functions allow for the most timely creation and distribution of new procedures that handle cutting-edge methods. Throughout the day, we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of R relative to the other statistical software. Attendees should know how to program in SAS, SPSS or Stata and be experienced in the methods typically covered in a two-semester introduction to statistical science.



2010 JSM Online Program Home

For information, contact jsm@amstat.org or phone (888) 231-3473.

If you have questions about the Continuing Education program, please contact the Education Department.