This intensive two-day course will provide an introduction to R, aimed at those who have previously used other software for statistical analysis and want to switch to using R. The course uses the RStudio development environment for and will focus on the practical operation of the software and obtaining useful output.

The first day covers the basics of R and how it operates. You will learn how to get your data into R, manipulate it to obtain basic summary statistics, tables and charts and get to know how the R environment works.  You will also see how the impressive graphics capabilities of R can be used to produce customised charts.  As well as getting to know the R language, we will show you how RStudio can be used as a front-end for managing your R programming. This first day of the course can be taken on its own as our Getting Started with R and RStudio course.

The second day will show you how to use R to apply commonly used statistical techniques, including tabulation, hypothesis testing, linear regression and methods for categorical variables. You may bring your own data for analysis or use the example datasets we provide.

We recommend downloading the free software in advance of the course and can give instructions if needed. Alternatively, remote access to computers in our labs can be arranged.

See our full range of courses (and options for bespoke courses) at https://go.herts.ac.uk/sscu or contact the course organiser, Professor Neil Spencer, at statistics@herts.ac.uk.

No prior knowledge of computer programming is required but familiarity with basic statistical methods would be advantageous.

There is no formal assessment as part of this course.