#R COMMANDER VS R STUDIO UPDATE#

I am told there are parts of the analysis toolpak which are wrong, though I’ve never found them myself. There are many problems with statistical analysis with Excel. I have already written somewhat about the good and bad aspects of Excel, and the evils of Excel histograms. Here are my pros and cons for each of these, and when are they most suitable. I have dabbled in R, but never had students who are suitable to be taught using R. These days I am preparing materials for courses using iNZight, which is a specifically designed user interface with an R engine. Over the years I have taught statistics using Excel, Minitab and SPSS. If they are research students and need to take the course as part of a research methods paper, then they should be taught on the package they are most likely to use in their research.

If the students are strong in programming, such as engineering or computer science students, then they are less likely to find the programming a barrier, and will want to explore the versatility of the package. If the students are never likely to do any more statistics, what matters most is that they understand the elementary ideas, feel happy about what they have done, and recognise the power of statistical analysis, so they can later employ a statistician. What is it that you want them to feel and do and understand? You have to ask yourself, what are the attitudes, skills and knowledge that you wish the students to gain in the course.

The short answer is: It depends on your class.

#R COMMANDER VS R STUDIO UPDATE#

Update in April 2018: I have written a further post, covering other aspects and other packages. I often hear this question: Should I use Excel to teach my class? Or should I use R? Which package is the best?

R commander vs r studio