How Should I Learn R?

There are lots of good reasons to learn R, even if it won’t be your main statistical package. One very good reason is most of the seminars that we offer now use R as a primary tool.

The best path forward depends on what you already know. Check out the recommendations below for total beginners or for those who are looking to improve on some existing R proficiency. We clearly believe our courses are the very best way to learn R, but we will suggest free resources as well for those who are looking for them.

I AM A BEGINNER

If you are new to R, the best way to learn it is by taking our course, Introduction to R for Data Analysis. Or, if you’re coming from a SAS, SPSS, or Stata background, try our seminars on R for SAS Users, R for SPSS Users, and R for Stata Users.

What if you want to learn just enough R to feel comfortable in one of our seminars that use R? In that case, our first recommendation is to watch a free one-hour video that was prepared especially for participants in our seminars. This will help you learn the very basics.

Another free resource we recommend is Modern Dive. This online book provides a balanced introduction to R with a strong emphasis on data wrangling and visualization. After going through the first two parts, you would be ready for any of our R courses.

I ALREADY KNOW SOME R

If you have already started your R journey, you might still benefit from our Introduction to R for Data Analysis course, so it’s worth considering.

Again, for free resources, you can also work through the rest of Modern Dive, which will give you a very solid grounding in the tidyverse. You can also go directly to the tidyverse “bible,” R for Data Science. Completing either of these books would set you on the path to being a strong R coder. Finally, if you’re looking for something more modeling focused, you might try Tidy Modeling with R.

Of course, we also offer many convenient and affordable courses that will enable you to develop as an R coder. We especially recommend:

• Data Wrangling with the Tidyverse will help you learn data management skills using the tidyverse.
• Data Visualization Using R will teach you to use ggplot2 to make stunning graphs.
• Essential R Skills for Intermediate Users will give you the techniques and skills to help you write better R code, simplify your research, and improve your analyses.
• Interactive Visual Dashboards Using R Shiny will teach you how to create interactive dashboards using the open-source Shiny package for R, enabling you to communicate complex information effectively.
• Interpreting and Communicating Statistical Results with R will help you tackle the challenges of understanding and conveying complex statistical results by using several useful R packages (like marginaleffects, modelsummary, and tinytable).
• My First R Package will guide you through the creation of your very own R package.
• Reproducible Reports with Quarto and R Markdown will help you generate reports and presentations directly in RStudio.
• Workflow of Data Analysis will show you how to integrate R into an organized project workflow that will make you more productive.
• We also offer many additional seminars on a wide range of methods and analytic approaches, many of which use R.