Purpose of this Guide
The information in these pages will help you:
- find statistics in library databases
- find articles in scholarly journals with results of statistical studies and experiments
- find reference sources to define and explain concepts in your textbook
- Contact librarians for research assistance.
Resources for Getting Started with R and R Studio
R is a language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques. R is available as a free software, which runs on Linux, MacOS and Windown. You can download R from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN), part of The R Project for Statistical Computing.
RStudio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for R and Python. It includes a console, syntax-highlighting editor that supports direct code execution, and tools for plotting, history, debugging, and workspace management. It is available as an open source edition and runs in Windows, MacOS, and Linus environments. You can download RStudio from the POSIT website.
This helpful YouTube video talking you through downloading R and RStudio:
- How to Download and Install R and R Studio (about 5 minutes)
Installing R on Your Machine has step-by-step instructions on how to install R and RStudio Desktop on Windows and MacOS. It also has instructions for installing R Kernel on Jupyter Notebook for both Windows and MacOS.
Once you've installed RStudio, Descriptive Statistics and an Overview of RStudio (about 6 minutes) will get help get you started using RStudio
Resources on R for this Course
YaRrr! The Pirate's Guide to R by Nathaniel D. Phillips
- An introduction to the basic analytical tools in R, from basic coding and analyses, to data wrangling, plotting, and statistical inference.
An Introduction to Political and Social Analysis Using R by Thomas M. Holbrook
- This book provides students with a comprehensive and accessible overview of important issues related to political and social data analysis, wile also providing a gentle introduction to using the R programming environment to address those issues.
R Workflow article by Frank E. Harrell, Jr.
- Covers how to use R effectively all the way from importing data to analysis and making use of RStudio's Quarto for making reproducible reports with R and other language. This article also provides an overview of R Workflow for Reproducible Data Analysis and Reporting by the same author, which contains best practices in reproducible data documentation and manipulation, statistical analysis, graphics, and reporting.
R Tutorials and Resources: Getting Started with R
- This page has links to other webpages with tutorials on learning how to use R. There are also links to other topics related to R.
- Has some additional resources for installing R and RStudio on your computer, and developing your expertise with R.
Learn R by Martin Morris
- This research guide from McGill University focuses on R's manipulation and cleaning functions to help you get your data into the right shape and format for running smooth analyses.
Statquest!! Video Index by Josh Starmer
- The Video Index page contains links to playlists and individual videos on such topics as Statistics, Statistical Tests, and Statistics in R. The videos in each category are organized from basic concepts to complicated concepts.
SimpleR -- Using R for Introductory Statistics by John Verzani
- According to the author: "these notes are an introduction to using the statistical software package R for an introductory statistics course. They are meant to accompany an introductory statistics book .... The goals are not to show all the features of R, or to replace a standard textbook, but rather to be used with a textbook to illustrate the features of R that can be learned in a one-semester, introductory statistics course."
An Introduction to R by Alex Douglas, Dean Roos, Francesca Mancini, Ana Couto & David Lusseau
- "The aim of this book is to introduce you to using R, a powerful and flexible interactive environment for statistical computing and research."
Quick R by Rob Kabacoff of Datacamp
- Provides a roadmap and the code necessary to get started programming with the R programming language.
R for Epidemiology by Brad Cannell and Melvin Livingston. While geared toward epidemiologic research, this book has chapters on:
- Installing R and RStudio
- What is R?
- Navigating the RStudio Interface
- Speaking R's Language
- Let's Get Programming
- Asking Questions
Beginner's Guide to R from Computerworld is a series of articles by Sharon Machlis on learning to use R. The articles include:
- Introduction - getting started with R
- Getting your data into R - tips on how to import data in various formats, both local and on the web
- Easy ways to do basic analysis - extracting some simple statistics
- Painless data visualization - simple graphics, bar graphs, and a few more complex charts
- Syntax quirks you'll want to know - some R ideosyncrasies
- Useful resources
- The complete guide as a PDF download (free registration required)
- 4 data-wrangling tasks for advanced beginners
Posit Cheatsheets is a series of cheatsheets that make it easy to use several R packages.
More Resources for R and R Studio
- Introduction to Data Science : Data Analysis and Prediction Algorithms with R by Rafael A. IrizarryThis book introduces concepts and skills that can help you tackle real-world data analysis challenges. It covers concepts from probability, statistical inference, linear regression and machine learning and helps you develop skills such as R programming, data wrangling with dplyr, data visualization with ggplot2, file organization with UNIX/Linux shell, version control with GitHub, and reproducible document preparation with R markdown.
- R & Social Science : Getting Started With Applied Use of R in the Social Sciences by Michael ClarkThis ebook shows specific R tools framed within social science applications, along with programming examples.
- R for Fledglings by Therese M. Donovan, Michelle Brown, Jonathan E. KatzA short introduction to R, aimed at new users of R.
- R for Non-Programmers : A Guide for Social Scientists (R4NP) by Daniel DauberThis book provides a helpful resource for anyone looking to use R for their research projects, regardless of their level of programming or statistical analysis experience. Each chapter presents essential concepts in data analysis in a concise, thorough, and user-friendly manner. R4NP will guide you through your first steps on a possibly endless journey full of ‘awe and wonder’.
This book is designed to be accessible to beginners while also providing valuable insights for experienced analysts looking to transition to R from other computational software. You don’t need any prior knowledge or programming skills to get started. R4NP provides a comprehensive entry into R programming, regardless of your background.
Statistics Video Tutorials
The Against All Odds: Inside Statistics videos from Films on Demand provide an overview on the art and science of gathering, organizing, analyzing and drawing conclusions from data.
Databases with Statistical Content
The following library resources will provide access to statistical summaries, as well as datasets.
- Cross-National Time Series Data Archive This link opens in a new windowA data set comprised of more than 200 years of annual political, legislative, and economic data from 1815 onward for over 200 countries. Over two million data points, from 196 variables, in easy to use Excel format.
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new windowA compendium of statistics from over 37,000 data series -- three times more than in the previous edition -- and dozens of new topics, among them slavery, American Indians, and poverty. Other topics include migration, health, crime, the Confederate States of America, population demographics, religion, business, and education. There are also many essays by recognized experts to put the topics in context.
- ICPSR This link opens in a new windowA searchable archive of social science data from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), an international consortium of over 750 research universities working together to acquire and preserve social science data, to provide open and equitable access to these data, and to promote effect data use.
In addition to archiving collections from such disciplines as sociology, economics, political science, and history, ICPSR also has a number of special emphases: gerontology, substance abuse and mental health, criminal justice, child care, health and medical care, and demography.
The data can be downloaded and analyzed in multiple software formats including SPSS, SAS, Stata, and R. - OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new windowJournals, books, and statistics from the Organization for Economic Development (OECD). Special emphasis on international economics, development and health; country economics, and agriculture. More than 45 different statistical databases, with internationational coverage.
Ask A Librarian
Having trouble? Ask!
- Use our 24/7 Live Chat located on the bottom right of library websites.
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- Use "Email a Librarian" to ask a question. Most responses within 1 business day.
- Stop by the first floor Research & Access Desk anytime the library is open