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George Mason University InfoGuides

Software: Learn R

Resources to learn and use the Open Source Statistical software R (R-Project)

Packages for Exploratory Data Analysis

Charts and Tables
Special Purpose
  • summarytools - Creates SPSS-like tables such as frequency, descriptive, and crosstabs
  • DataExplorer - Focuses on plots and reporting, also includes some data cleaning/prep  functions ("feature engineering").
  • gtsummary - create publication-ready analytical and summary tables
  • flextable - format tables for publication
  • See also the Graphics tab

Point-and-Click Tools

  • ggquickeda - Best if you have categorical variables and would like to modify them before creating visuals.
    • Only imports csv files within the interface, or can specify dataset when starting.
    • Includes many tools to modify categorical data, like creating factors and merging groups.
    • Many options to create plots, though the interface is cluttered and not always intuitive. Can also create Descriptive Statistics tables
  • ExPanDar - Point-and-Click Interface (can import SPSS files)
    • Nice looking, but not customizable. Further, no code is produced, but you can make data changes such as: change variables, filter cases, group by factor levels, remove some outliers, and create new variables through formulas. Can save and restore settings, and can right click to save images (as png).
    • Designed for time series, but datasets with any unique numeric variable will work

Packages featuring Less Typing (e.g., for Teaching)