"R" - how much time would it take to get up to speed as an SPSS user?

[Max Gunther]

Hi All,

I am considering learning "R" because it is what is used by our
bio-statistics department in Vanderbilt's medical school. They obviously
have a ton of libraries etc. that they are using so I would not have to
start from scratch so to speak; however, I am wondering how long do you
think it would take to get up to speed in "R" (i.e. to be able to manipulate
variables, run simple correlations, regressions, ANOVA's etc.) as a
not-particularly-advanced SPSS user?

Many thanks,
Max Gunther

--
Max Gunther, PhD

Department of Radiological Sciences
Center for Health Services Research
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN www.icudelirium.org

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[Peck, Jon]

SPSS now has a plugin for R (starting with SPSS 16), so you can have the best of both worlds.  It is very easy to run R code within SPSS with this plugin.  The output goes to the SPSS Viewer.  The simplest case is where someone has created a package for some statistical computation and you just want to use it.  By installing that package in R, you can wrap it in
BEGIN PROGRAM R.
dataframe <-spssdata.GetDataFromSPSS()
results <- <call the R package with the dataframe>
print(results)
END PROGRAM.

and you are done, although there are lots of other things you can do this way.  With SPSS 17, it is easy for users to create custom SPSS dialog boxes to run R programs.

The R language is very different from SPSS and has its own set of quirks and performance characteristics, so it's definitely a learning experience.  If you have a C programming background, that eases the learning.

There is a book that will be available in September by Bob Muenchen called
R for SAS and SPSS users
You can read about it on Amazon now.  But be warned: it's 550 pages.

SPSS 16 plugs in R 2.5.  SPSS 17 uses R 2.7.

HTH,
Jon Peck

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Max Gunther
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:13 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [SPSSX-L] "R" - how much time would it take to get up to speed as an SPSS user?

Hi All,

I am considering learning "R" because it is what is used by our
bio-statistics department in Vanderbilt's medical school. They obviously
have a ton of libraries etc. that they are using so I would not have to
start from scratch so to speak; however, I am wondering how long do you
think it would take to get up to speed in "R" (i.e. to be able to manipulate
variables, run simple correlations, regressions, ANOVA's etc.) as a
not-particularly-advanced SPSS user?

Many thanks,
Max Gunther

--
Max Gunther, PhD

Department of Radiological Sciences
Center for Health Services Research
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN www.icudelirium.org

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
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[Wesley Joe]

You might look at "Zelig" from the Harvard-MIT Data Center.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Max
Gunther
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 11:13 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: "R" - how much time would it take to get up to speed as an SPSS
user?

Hi All,

I am considering learning "R" because it is what is used by our
bio-statistics department in Vanderbilt's medical school. They obviously
have a ton of libraries etc. that they are using so I would not have to
start from scratch so to speak; however, I am wondering how long do you
think it would take to get up to speed in "R" (i.e. to be able to manipulate
variables, run simple correlations, regressions, ANOVA's etc.) as a
not-particularly-advanced SPSS user?

Many thanks,
Max Gunther

--
Max Gunther, PhD

Department of Radiological Sciences
Center for Health Services Research
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN www.icudelirium.org

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command SIGNOFF SPSSX-L For a list of
commands to manage subscriptions, send the command INFO REFCARD

=====================
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[lts1]

Hi Max,

I used both S+ and R in a class a few years ago. As a former computer
programmer & systems analyst, I had no trouble following the syntax and
logic of R. However, the same cannot be said for my classmates. Many
struggled mightly, and one thing we all found frustrating were the error
messages - they were quite cryptic at times.

That said, if you're comfortable with computer code/syntax in general, and
have a good support system, I say go for it! However, if the thought of
writing even a single line of code makes you break out in a rash, I would
seriously consider avoiding the the dermatologist and S+ & R.

I hope this helps.

    Best,
        Lisa

Lisa T. Stickney, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Merrick School of Business
U. of Baltimore
[hidden email]



----- Original Message -----
From: "Max Gunther" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 11:13 AM
Subject: "R" - how much time would it take to get up to speed as an SPSS
user?

> Hi All,
>
> I am considering learning "R" because it is what is used by our
> bio-statistics department in Vanderbilt's medical school. They obviously
> have a ton of libraries etc. that they are using so I would not have to
> start from scratch so to speak; however, I am wondering how long do you
> think it would take to get up to speed in "R" (i.e. to be able to
> manipulate
> variables, run simple correlations, regressions, ANOVA's etc.) as a
> not-particularly-advanced SPSS user?
>
> Many thanks,
> Max Gunther
>
> --
> Max Gunther, PhD
>
> Department of Radiological Sciences
> Center for Health Services Research
> Vanderbilt University Medical Center
> Nashville, TN www.icudelirium.org
>

=====================
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[Anthony Babinec]

Here is an "independent" website that has some useful
information on R for users of SPSS and other statistical
packages.

http://www.statmethods.net/


Anthony Babinec
[hidden email]

"Fermentation and civilization are inseparable." John Ciardi
-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Max
Gunther
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 10:13 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: "R" - how much time would it take to get up to speed as an SPSS
user?

Hi All,

I am considering learning "R" because it is what is used by our
bio-statistics department in Vanderbilt's medical school. They obviously
have a ton of libraries etc. that they are using so I would not have to
start from scratch so to speak; however, I am wondering how long do you
think it would take to get up to speed in "R" (i.e. to be able to manipulate
variables, run simple correlations, regressions, ANOVA's etc.) as a
not-particularly-advanced SPSS user?

Many thanks,
Max Gunther

--
Max Gunther, PhD

Department of Radiological Sciences
Center for Health Services Research
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN www.icudelirium.org

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD