Graphing Data with R: An Introduction - Softcover

Complex relationships are often more easily grasped by looking at a picture, or a graph, than they might be if one tried to absorb the nuances in a verbal description or discern the relationships in columns of numbers. This book is about using graphical methods to understand complex data by highlighting important relationships and trends, reducing the data to simpler forms, and making it possible to take in a lot of numbers at a glance.

The tool set used to accomplish the task is the free programming language and library of programs called "R." The book explains, in plain language, how to download R to a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer, how to enter your own data or to copy publicly available data from many web sites, and how to understand, use, and produce effective graphs.

John Jay Hilfiger is a statistician, with an MS in biostatistics. He has worked as a statistical/computer consultant in three major universities (Rochester, Iowa, Cornell). He has also made heavy use of his data background in positions as associate dean and as director of institutional research. In addition, Hilfiger is a composer/arranger (over 100 publications) and has been a music professor (masters and PhD in music). A big part of his experience has been helping other people analyze their data with numbers, graphs and insight; writing this book is an extension of that pursuit.