R in Action, Third Edition

2 Creating a dataset

This chapter covers

• Exploring R data structures
• Using data entry
• Importing data
• Annotating datasets

The first step in any data analysis is creating a dataset containing the information to be studied in a format that meets your needs. In R, this task involves

• Selecting a data structure to hold your data

• Entering or importing your data into the data structure

Sections 2.1 and 2.2 of this chapter describe the wealth of structures that R can use to hold data. In particular, section 2.2 describes vectors, factors, matrices, data frames, lists, and tibbles. Familiarizing yourself with these structures (and the notation used to access elements within them) will help you tremendously in understanding how R works. You might ...