Introduction to R

Get to know statistical programming with R

Introduction to R is a foundational course in the statistical programming language R. The course is designed for applied researchers with no or little previous programming skills.

Sponsored by HIDA, in cooperation with Core Facility Statistical Consulting at HMGU

Basic data structures

In this course you will learn the basics of coding in R. In particular, you will learn basic data structures and routines:

• Assigning objects
• Defining vectors and matrices
• Loading and managing data sets
• Building basic plots (in base R)

The course provides the necessary theoretical background to use R, hands-on examples with best-practice solutions, and practical exercises.

When should I attend this course?

Do you have interest in analyzing your data in a reproducible way and don’t know how to start? Then this course is a good opportunity to learn the basics of R.

Are you tired of using Excel or other graphical user interface programs in which you always have to start from scratch every time you want to change some details?

In R you can easily create scripts that include all steps of your data cleaning process and analysis. Such scripts allow for easy editing and the reproducibility of your research. In R you can quickly try many different ideas, correct any issues that arise, and update your analysis if needed with no effort.

Did you start learning R on your own, but would like to have a better understanding of the underlying system?
In our introduction to R course we explain how the system works and give you best practice examples, so you can easily adapt and apply this knowledge to your own research.
Is interactive learning important to you? Would you like to have a learning experience in which you can try things on your own yet still have an expert support you?

Our teaching philosophy combines self-learning with explanatory sessions. We purposefully do not (pre)record our sessions as we find that it is easier to learn if you have somebody available to answer your questions directly.

When should I not attend this course?

Have you coded in R for several years? Would you like to get to know more detailed features?

Then you can skip this course as it is designed as an introduction.
Do you expect to learn some detailed hacks on using tidyverse or ggplot2?

Then we recommend our advanced R courses respectively.*
Are you already familiar with the basics of R? Are you interested in learning how to analyze your data using statistical methods, like hypothesis testing or linear regression?

Then the “Introduction to Statistics” course will fit your needs better.* This R course is meant to provide you with the pre-requisites for the deeper analysis of data in a statistical manner.
Do you want to write your own statistical analysis program, using tools like loops, apply, or matrix multiplication?

Then you can skip this course as it is aimed at beginners.

*HIDA plans to offer these courses as well. We will announce them on this website