Research Guides: Introduction to R: Instructional Videos: Instructional Videos

Introduction to R

This guide will provide you with access to instruction in the basic functionality of the R software for statistical computing and graphics.

Instruction is provided through a series of videos, which are listed below in the recommended order for viewing.

Instructional Videos

If you already have some background in the use of R, you may skip ahead to a particular video of interest. However, since the successive videos build upon the content of earlier videos, it will be advantageous to view the videos in the order in which they are presented.

The videos contain a wide variety of examples demonstrating the use of R. These utilize data sets and pre-prepared code samples, which viewers may access and download by clicking on the Supporting Content tab on the left side of this page. To gain the full possible benefit from the videos, viewers are encouraged to download the supporting content and go through the examples on their own as they view the videos.

Instructional Videos

Intro to R No. 01: Overview
Description of the contents to be covered in the videos of the "Intro to R" series.
Intro to R No. 02: What is R and why should you use it?
A general description of R and the benefits of using it.
Intro to R No. 03: Where do I get and install R and RStudio?
Explains how to install R and its RStudio front end.
Intro to R No. 04: Resources for Learning R
Ways to learn R, including both resources in the collections of Florida Tech's Evans Library and online resources available to the public at large.
Intro to R No. 05: Basic R Components
Discusses some of the more popular data modes handled by R, including numerical, integral, complex, logical and character data.
Describes the types of data objects encountered in R, including vectors, matrices, lists and data frames.
Lists common data file formats that may be imported into R.
Intro to R No. 06: Functions and Packages
The structure of R commands, case sensitivity, the organization of commands with related purposes within packages, and the use of commands to create new data objects.
Intro to R No. 07: Specifying Locations of Data Elements
Syntax for specifying desired data elements within R data objects.
Intro to R No. 08: Starting up and configuring RStudio
How to start and configure RStudio.
Explanation of the uses of the different panes (windows) within RStudio.
Intro to R No. 09: Setting up your Working Directory in RStudio
How to set up your working directory in RStudio
Intro to R No. 10: Installing & Activating R Packages in RStudio
Indicates the R packages needed in the video examples.
Explains how to install and activate packages in RStudio.
Intro to R No. 11: Creating Data Objects
Hands-on examples of how to create data objects in R, including vectors, data frames, and matrices,
Discusses ways in which RStudio maintains records of previously created data objects and previously executed commands
Explains ways to access previously executed commands for the purpose of either reusing or modifying them.
Commands introduced include: "c", "data.frame", "matrix", and "View"
Intro to R No. 12: Accessing Built-in and External Data Sets
Provides examples of how to access built-in data sets (i.e. those that are automatically installed with R), as well as how to upload external data sets (e.g. CSV files) using the RStudio interface..
Commands introduced include "data" and "?".
Intro to R No. 13: Specifying Elements, Rows and Columns in R Data Objects
Hands-on examples of syntax for specifying the exact data you need within R Data Objects.
Commands introduced include: "colnames" and "rownames"
Intro to R No.14: Inspecting Data Objects
Hands-on examples of methods for quickly establishing the contents and characteristics of R data objects.
Commands introduced include "head", "tail", "any", "all", "unique", "mean", "range", and "max".
Intro to R No. 15: Popular Mathematical Functions in R
Hands-on examples of commonly used mathematical functions, such as taking absolute values and square roots, as well as ways of rounding numbers based upon decimal places or significant values.
Commands introduced include: "abs", "sqrt", "ceiling", "floor", "trunc", "round", and "signif".
Intro to R No. 16: Substituting, Ordering, Aggregating and Taking Subsets of Data
Hands-on examples of how to identify and correct incorrect "dirry" data, as well as how to order data objects by specified fields, aggregate data, and take subsets of data objects.
Commands introduced include: "sub", "order", "aggregate", and "subset".
Intro to R No. 17: Exporting Data from R
Hands-on example of how to export an R data object to a CSV file.
Commands introduced include: "write.csv" and "write.table".
Intro to R No. 18: Performing Statistical Analysis in R
Commonly used R statistical analysis tools.
Commands introduced include: "summary", "quantile", "seq", "library", "t.test", and "cor.test".
Intro to R No. 19: Quick Plots in R
How to do simple data plots in R, including scatter plots, arrays of plots, and box plots, as well as how to export plots as PDF or image files.
Commands introduced include: "dev.off", "plot", and "boxplot".
Intro to R No. 20: Creating an Elaborate Plot
instruction on how to prepare an elaborate plot using R, including formatting of background and label colors, labeling, tick marks, legends, trend lines, grid lines, etc.
Commands introduced include: "par", "points", "legend", "lm", "abline", "text", and "grid".
Intro to R No. 21: Quick Text Functions
Introduces some basic text functions, such as taking substrings, splitting text strings, and determining string lengths.
Commands introduced include: "substr", "nchar", and "strsplit".
Intro to R No. 22: Working with Dates and Time
Converting text fields into date format in R.
Commands introduced include: "as.Date"