<p>Software access:  Personal computer: Freely available at http://cran.r-project.org</p><p> On Campus: Campus-wide statistical software access: http://www.umass.edu/statdata/index.html</p><p> In the math department: R is available on any Linux/Mac/Windows machines. On Linux, R is invoked by typing “R” in the terminal</p><p> In Windows, Tinn-R is recommended to replace the basic script editor in R. It is available at http://www.sciviews.org/Tinn-R/</p><p>Resources:  Manuals and documentations: http://cran.r-project.org</p><p> Free online tutorial books: http://www.umass.edu/statdata/resources.html</p><p> Reference book: Modern Applied Statistics with S by W. N. Venables and B. D. Ripley, 2003, 4th edition</p><p>Why R? (From http://www.statmethods.net/index.html)  It's free! If you are a teacher or a student, the benefits are obvious.  It runs on a variety of platforms including Windows, Unix and MacOS.  It provides an unparalleled platform for programming new statistical methods in an easy and straightforward manner.  It contains advanced statistical routines not yet available in other packages.  It has state-of-the-art graphics capabilities.</p><p>Comparison between SAS and R (From http://oit.utk.edu/scc/RforSAS&SPSSusers.pdf) THE FIVE MAIN PARTS OF SAS AND SPSS While SAS and SPSS offer many hundreds of functions and procedures, these fall into five main categories: 1. Data input and management statements that help you read, transform and organize your data. 2. Statistical and graphical procedures to help you analyze data. 3. An output management system to help you extract output from statistical procedures for processing in other procedures, or to let you customize printed output. SAS calls this the Output Delivery System (ODS), SPSS calls it the Output Management System (OMS). 4. A macro language to help you use sets of the above commands repeatedly. 5. A matrix language to add new algorithms (SAS/IML and SPSS Matrix). R performs these five functions in a way that completely integrates them all. Most R procedures are written using the R language, which allow you to see and modify in any way you like. R’s output is dramatically easier to use. On the topic of matrix languages, SAS and SPSS offer them in a form that differs sharply from their main languages. In R, the matrix capabilities are completely integrated. Why SAS?  SAS deals with large datasets extremely well</p><p> Good at data management and generates nice reports</p><p> Used for many government and businesses for traditional and regulated statistical data analysis</p><p>An interesting article to read on the comparison in NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/technology/business-computing/07program.html</p>