Purpose: To help students learn computing skills that will be useful to them both in academic endeavors and as working statisticians. To introduce students to programming using the free software package R and the widely used commercial software SAS. Programming skills, rather than straightforward data analyses, are emphasized in this course.
Current Textbook: The Little SAS Book: A Primer (4th edition), by Delwiche and Slaughter.
Required Supplementary Material:
Supplementary material available for download:
Basics of R: A Primer, by Don Edwards.
Click here for Basics of R: A Primer.
Introduction to R, Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN).
Available at CRAN home page (click "Manuals" at left side of page; then choose the first manual, "Introduction to R").
Required Computing Resources: Access to a computer with R (available as a free download from the CRAN home page) and SAS (students who want SAS can buy a copy from USC Computer Services). These packages are also available on the computers in the labs in LeConte College. Help in using R can be found on the CRAN home page.
Topics Covered | Time | |
Objects in R; Inputting and Outputting Data in R | 1.5 weeks | |
R Graphics, Functions, Arithmetic, Logicals, Conditional Execution, Subsetting, Sorting, Iteration | 2 weeks | |
Random Variables and Simulation Studies | 1.5 weeks | |
Introduction to SAS; Reading and Writing Data | 2 weeks | |
Working with Your Data; Sorting, Printing, Summarizing Data | 2 weeks | |
Modifying and Combining Data Sets | 1 week | |
MACRO programming in SAS; ODS output; PROC SGPLOT | 2.5 weeks |