C Introduction to R

This semester we will be using the statistical package R to do many of the calculations we will need to perform. R is a powerful, free, multi-platform package (which means that you can download it to your personal computer and keep it for use after the course is over) but it is not the easiest statistical package to use. We will also be using a package called RStudio, which makes using R a bit simpler but there is still a bit of a learning curve to each package.

In order to make things easier for you I have prepared a series of “crib sheets” describing the steps necessary to perform each of the statistical tests we will learn this semester. While the crib sheets can stand alone and, if followed, should provide you with the information you need to solve problems, there is a series of videos available on YouTube that provide more detail on each of the tests. The author of these videos is Mike Marin, a statistics instructor at the University of British Columbia. You do not need to use Marin’s videos, but you may find them helpful in understanding some of the details of using R. The link to his videos is: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqzoL9-eJTNATicffatWXTEjwMq6N0Sf3

Cribsheet “B” also lists the titles and direct links to each of the videos.

On many of the crib sheets I have prepared, there are references to the appropriate Marin videos for the topic. Again, you are not required to watch the videos, but you may find them helpful in understanding some of the information.

Marin makes extensive use of a data set called LungCapData which I have downloaded to our D2L site. You may want to download the data to your own computer - or flash drive if you intend to use the lab computers - so that you can follow along with some of his examples. While most of my crib sheets make use of data that you can enter or I will provide, some do refer to the LungCapData.