SCS Short Courses, Fall 2002

SCS Courses Data Analysis Using SAS Introduction to SPSS for Windows What's New in SAS? V8 (and beyond) An Introduction to R and S-Plus

Data Analysis Using SAS for Windows

Sessions One and Two provide an overview of SAS and its underlying logic; an explanation of the use of the Display Manager System to run a SAS job; an introduction to the SAS Data step for reading, transforming, and storing data; and a demonstration of how statistical analyses may be performed in SAS Insight.

Sessions Three and Four will concentrate on SAS programming techniques to modify data and enhance SAS output. More statistical procedures will be introduced for general linear models.

Introduction to SPSS for Windows

This course presents the basics of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Session One will introduce the computing concepts of SPSS, the different facilities for reading data into an SPSS spreadsheet, and saving SPSS data files for future use. At the end of the first session, participants should be able to run simple programs, including some statistical procedures.

Sessions Two and Three will cover basic data modifications, transformations and other functions including the uses of SPSS system files. More statistical procedures will also be introduced, with an emphasis on the use of graphical methods for examining univariate and bivariate relationships. Session Four will cover Analysis of Variance and Least Squares Regression. As with previous sessions, graphical techniques will be demonstrated.

What's New in SAS? V8 (and beyond)

The SAS System evolved rapidly from Version 6 to Version 8 (latest: 8.2), and now Version 9 is on the cusp. This workshop is oriented to those who have used SAS in the past and want to know what is new and worthwhile of attention, and what is on the horizon.

• Session 1: Focuses on new developments in statistical analysis:
  • generalized linear models (PROC GENMOD)
  • mixed models (PROC MIXED)
  • missing data imputation (PROC MI)
  • enhancements for other statistical procedures
• Session 2: Focuses on other new developments:
  • the output delivery system (ODS) for sending SAS output directly to Word, HTML, PDF and other formats
  • use of ODS facilities to customize display of SAS output
  • other enhancements

An Introduction to R and S-Plus

The statistical programming language and computing environment S, the de facto standard among statisticians, has two major implementations: the commercial product S-PLUS, and the free, open-source R. While some statistical packages make it difficult to undertake analyses that are non-standard or to add to the built-in capabilities of the package, S supports innovative programming; in this regard, statisticians have contributed literally dozens of freely available statistical "libraries" of R and S-PLUS programs. S is also particularly capable in the area of statistical graphics.

The seven sessions in this short course will cover (with chapter references to Fox, 2002):

• 1. Getting started with R and S-PLUS (Ch. 1)
• 2. Reading and manipulating data (Ch. 2 & 3)
• 3. Linear regression and linear models in S (Ch. 4)
• 4-5. An introduction to programming in S (Ch. 8)
• 6. S graphics (Ch. 7)
• 7. Generalized linear models in S (Ch. 5)

The statistical content is assumed known or taught in other courses. It is recommended that you buy one of:

1. J. Fox, An R and S-PLUS Companion to Applied Regression. Sage, 2002. Additional materials are available at http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/jfox/Books/Companion/index.html.
2. W. N. Venables and B. D. Ripley, Modern Applied Statistics with S-PLUS, Third Edition. New York: Springer, 1999.

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