If you’ve ever asked (or maybe whined) "Why is R so hard to learn?!" you’re not alone!

Just for fun, I did a Google search on that very question.

There were 236 MILLION results!

So if you’ve felt frustrated or confused by R, you’re in good company.

But despite its steep learning curve, R does have some advantages:

• It’s free.
• It’s much more flexible than SPSS or other menu-driven programs.
• It’s multiplatform (making it easy to work with collaborators and open source (which means it’s easier for others to reproduce your results).
• You have more control over how the data is analyzed, and it’s more customizable.
• Did we mention, it’s free? :)

The biggest challenge with R is that it’s code-based and object-oriented. And if you’re not prepared to invest a lot of time into learning its intricacies, you’re probably going to be pretty lost.

Thankfully, there are a few options to make working with R much easier, including R Commander and LessR. These are Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that "lay over" R, making it easier to navigate and use.

While these GUIs make R much easier, they also need a bit of an introduction (which is why we’re offering a four-module live workshop on them). I want to show you just a sample of what you can accomplish in R without having to code. Here’s a blog post so you can see just how powerful this combo can be:

What R Commander Can Do in R Without Coding – More Than You Would Think

And if you’re interested in taking your R knowledge further (but you don’t want to code), consider joining us for

R for SPSS Users:
A User-Friendly Introduction to R without Programming
A 4-Module Online, Live Interactive Workshop with Trent Buskirk, PhD

Find out more here.

Happy analyzing,

Karen

(Not interested in hearing more about this workshop? Just click the link below to unsubscribe from the R for SPSS Promotion list.)