Using R and RStudio for Data Management, Statistical Analysis, and Graphics, 2nd Edition

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“K23166” — 2015/1/28 — 9:35 — page xxiii — #25

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Preface to the first edition

R (R development core team, 2009) is a general purpose statistical software package used

in many fields of research. It is licensed for free, as open-source software. The system is

developed by a large group of people, almost all volunteers. It has a large and growing user

and developer base. Methodologists often release applications for general use in R shortly

after they have been introduced into the literature. While professional customer support is

not provided, there are many resources to help support users.

We have written this book as a reference text for users of R. Our primary goal is to

provide users with an easy way to learn how to perform an analytic task ...