Introductory Statistics and Basic Graphs Using R

R is an open-source computer programing language that is known for its ability to perform statistical analyses and produce user-defined graphics (The R Project for Statistical Computing, n.d.). The R language is easy to learn and free of charge, making it an ideal tool for social work practitioners and researchers to use for data analysis. This paper will demonstrate the ease with which one can use R’s “stats” package, a default package included in many RGUIs, to perform introductory statistical analyses and produce basic graphs. As part of a larger symposium, this presentation will build upon the preceding sections by using the same dataset referenced throughout.

The presentation will begin by introducing R functions to perform univariate and multivariate statistical analyses up through the general linear model. Topics covered will include descriptive statistics, frequencies and crosstabs, t-tests, analysis of variance, relevant non-parametric tests, bivariate and multiple linear regression, and basic linear regression diagnostics. This presentation will also integrate instruction on how to produce high quality graphs using R. This will be done by providing the audience with an overview of graphing functions one can use in R relevant to each statistical analysis discussed. The presentation will take a “build-up” approach to introducing a number of basic graphs, such as simple bar charts, boxplots, histograms, and scatterplots, with a discussion of how one can customize and interact with these graphs using simple functions (e.g., labeling, layering, identifying and locating cases, etc.). Further, producing more complex graphs using various packages such as “car,” “ggplot2,” and “lattice” will be discussed.

Participants of this presentation will be given the opportunity to join a “Dropbox” containing a number of resources that can help them get started using R independently. Resources will include scripts, datasets, readings, package resources, and various supplemental materials they can use to help them become familiar with analytics using the R language.

R offers a number of advantages for social work practitioners and researchers, such as its open-source packages and their adaptable resources, the flexibility and control it provides users when executing statistical functions, its ability to simply integrate statistical results and graphs in publishable documents (e.g., LaTex and Word documents), and its easy-to-use graphical interface options (Dalzell, 2013; Muncheon, 2009). Social work practitioners and researchers can easily access R with no cost and use it to improve their practice and research efforts. This presentation will provide the foundation necessary for attendees to get started with R through the introduction of standard R functions for performing basic statistical analyses and producing complementing graphs.