R for Microsoft® Excel Users: Making the Transition for Statistical Analysis

Introduction

My father once told me that in academia, the knives are so sharp because the stakes are so small. He was speaking of the squabbling that goes on among faculty in colleges and universities. I’ve heard that old observation many times since then, in different versions. I was reminded of it when I was researching what different people have to say about the application called R and about the application called Microsoft Excel. The feelings seem to run surprisingly high.

If I’m biased about R and Excel, you might expect that bias to favor Excel. I’ve been using Excel to run quantitative analyses since the late 1980s. I’ve been very happy with Excel when it comes to financial analysis, and fairly happy with its capabilities in the area ...