Introduction to R, a statistical software package - November 2018

Course overview

R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is available as free software and compiles and runs on Windows, MacOS, and a wide variety of UNIX platforms and similar systems. This half-day course includes lectures and computer practicals, and aims to give its delegates experience of using the software.

Who should attend? Is it right for me?

This course is aimed at researchers and PhD students within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences who require a basic understanding of R software as part of their research studies. It is suitable for those who have no previous experience of R, as well as those seeking to refresh their skills.

What will delegates learn?

By the end of this course delegates will have an understanding of:

• How to use command line to run code
• Various functions to read in, summarise and analyse data
• How to get help within R

What does the course cover?

• Data structure
• Reading data into R
• Summarising data via graphs and hypothesis tests
• Regression
• Help commands and finding further assistance

Statistical knowledge will not be covered as part of the course – the focus instead will be on using R to undertake basic statistical commands. The course will consist of 2 short lectures, each followed by a practical session.