1
00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:12,920
In this class, we'll be
using R to work with data

2
00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:14,630
and build models.

3
00:00:14,630 --> 00:00:16,640
But what is R?

4
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,420
R is a software environment
for data analysis,

5
00:00:20,420 --> 00:00:23,690
statistical computing,
and graphics.

6
00:00:23,690 --> 00:00:25,850
It is also a
programming language

7
00:00:25,850 --> 00:00:28,000
which is natural
to use and allows

8
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,119
you to complete data
analyses in just a few lines.

9
00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:35,210
We won't be doing much
programming in class,

10
00:00:35,210 --> 00:00:37,640
and almost everything
we ask you to do

11
00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,370
can be completed in a few lines.

12
00:00:40,370 --> 00:00:42,780
There's a lot more
that you can do with R

13
00:00:42,780 --> 00:00:44,910
than just what we
teach in this class,

14
00:00:44,910 --> 00:00:47,260
but you will have a
good understanding of R

15
00:00:47,260 --> 00:00:51,440
and how to use it
in just a few weeks.

16
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,470
R originated from the
statistical programming

17
00:00:54,470 --> 00:00:58,470
language S, which was
developed by John Chambers

18
00:00:58,470 --> 00:01:01,980
while at Bell Labs in the 1970s.

19
00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:04,390
The first version
of R was developed

20
00:01:04,390 --> 00:01:07,530
by Robert Gentlemen
and Ross Ihaka

21
00:01:07,530 --> 00:01:11,480
at the University of
Auckland in the mid-1990s.

22
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,810
They wanted a better
statistical software

23
00:01:13,810 --> 00:01:17,400
to use in their Macintosh
teaching laboratory

24
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,880
and decided to create their own.

25
00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,860
They also released it as an
open-sourced alternative to S

26
00:01:23,860 --> 00:01:26,390
and encouraged others
to download and help

27
00:01:26,390 --> 00:01:29,080
develop the software.

28
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,289
There are many choices
for data analysis

29
00:01:31,289 --> 00:01:33,640
software available today.

30
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,450
In addition to R,
some popular examples

31
00:01:36,450 --> 00:01:45,479
are SAS, Stata, SPSS, Excel and
Excel add-ons, MATLAB, Minitab,

32
00:01:45,479 --> 00:01:47,860
and pandas in Python.

33
00:01:47,860 --> 00:01:50,460
So, why are we using R?

34
00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:53,190
R is free and
open-sourced and is

35
00:01:53,190 --> 00:01:57,670
available on all platforms,
Mac, Windows, and Linux.

36
00:01:57,670 --> 00:01:59,780
R is also widely used.

37
00:01:59,780 --> 00:02:03,510
There are more than two
million users around the world.

38
00:02:03,510 --> 00:02:07,590
This means that new features are
being developed all the time,

39
00:02:07,590 --> 00:02:11,430
and there are a lot of
community resources for R.

40
00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:15,140
Additionally, R makes it
easy to re-run previous work

41
00:02:15,140 --> 00:02:17,000
and to make adjustments.

42
00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:22,050
R also has nice graphics
and visualizations.

43
00:02:22,050 --> 00:02:25,800
We will just be using the
R command line interface.

44
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,770
However, if you would like
to try a graphical user

45
00:02:28,770 --> 00:02:32,110
interface, or GUI,
there are many choices.

46
00:02:32,110 --> 00:02:35,620
Two popular choices
are RStudio and Rattle.

47
00:02:38,630 --> 00:02:41,760
There are many R resources
available online.

48
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,810
In addition to the official
R page and the download page,

49
00:02:45,810 --> 00:02:47,850
there are many helpful websites.

50
00:02:47,850 --> 00:02:50,750
Here are a few popular ones.

51
00:02:50,750 --> 00:02:53,650
In general, though, if
you're looking for a command

52
00:02:53,650 --> 00:02:57,280
or how to do something
in R, try googling it.

53
00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,790
Often, if you just try typing
"R" and then what you're

54
00:03:00,790 --> 00:03:02,840
looking for in a
search engine, you

55
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,730
can find some very helpful
posts and websites.

56
00:03:06,730 --> 00:03:10,390
We want to emphasize, though,
that the best way to learn R

57
00:03:10,390 --> 00:03:12,260
is through trial and error.

58
00:03:12,260 --> 00:03:15,070
So, let's get
started working in R.