This chapter provides an introduction to basic skills in R. Please don’t let the word ‘basic’ disappoint you: it is amazing what you can do with minimal training in R. Following chapters will build upon the skills you learn here. A word on our perspective. The goal of this website it not to teach R: it is to teach experimental design and analysis. We use R when we need software (for reasons explained in “Getting started”, below), but the principles we teach apply beyond R. Therefore, we keep our code as basic as possible. This might infuriate R enthusiasts because our code will not be maximally efficient. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about R to please experiment and explore more widely; we provide some starting links, below.Getting startedHere are 5 sessions with self-directed exercises that teach R basics and include:Why are we using R? How to install R on your computer Introducing ‘objects’, scripts, and how to obtain help with R Data types, storing data, and your first R functions Importing data into a dataframe in R, how to view your data, and basic data manipulation Histograms Document Session 1: Introduction to R (65.65 KB / PDF) Document Session 2: Learn how to interact with R (593.27 KB / PDF) Document Session 3: Learn how to store data and change your data (116.57 KB / PDF) Document Session 4: Learn how to use data in “dataframes” (128.73 KB / PDF) Document Session 5: Learn basic methods for plotting histograms (197.95 KB / PDF) How to create an Rstudio project How to import data into RThis video provides three methods to import data into R. Additional resourcesThere is almost always more than one approach to accomplish a task in R. For example, many methods can import data, manipulate data, and produce functionally equivalent figures. Therefore, do not be alarmed if different sources of information provide different methods. (That said, it is wise to understand differences between tools when performing an analysis.) Here are some additional resources to help you get started with R:Coding club at the University of EdinburghSWIRLS - a platform for learning (and teaching) statistics and R simultaneously and interactivelyThe website rseek.org is a great resource to find answers to your questions about R and all of R's capabilities. This website saves my neck on a regular basis.Tips for R - Website page on the University of British Columbia which offers great tips to solve challenges you might face with R. Document experimental data - haemoglobin (46.29 KB / XLSX) Document experimental data - hurricanes (11.21 KB / XLSX) This article was published on 2024-08-05
