The R Primer

Newcomers to R are often intimidated by the command-line interface, the vast number of functions and packages, or the processes of importing data and performing a simple statistical analysis. The R Primer provides a collection of concise examples and solutions to R problems frequently encountered by new users of this statistical software.

Rather than explore the many options available for every command as well as the ever-increasing number of packages, the book focuses on the basics of data preparation and analysis and gives examples that can be used as a starting point. The numerous examples illustrate a specific situation, topic, or problem, including data importing, data management, classical statistical analyses, and high-quality graphics production. Each example is self-contained and includes R code that can be run exactly as shown, enabling results from the book to be replicated. While base R is used throughout, other functions or packages are listed if they cover or extend the functionality.

After working through the examples found in this text, new users of R will be able to better handle data analysis and graphics applications in R. Additional topics and R code are available from the book’s supporting website at www.statistics.life.ku.dk/primer/