August 28, 2025
Statistics refers to the branch of math used to collect, analyze, and interpret data to make decisions. Analytics is the inspection of the data, and used to find patterns and trends. When working with datasets and statistical computing, the programming language R is most commonly used. For my advanced statistics and analytics class, we had to download and install R and RStudio, the integrated development environment for R. This was fairly straightforward, and using the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAM) and Posit, I was able to install them both.
Both R and RStudio are entirely new to me, though I have taken a programming class before, where I learned Python and some JavaScript, so I have some basic coding and programming experience. When I initially reviewed the syllabus I was a little intimidated by this course, especially by the final project, which is a majority of our grade, but also by R itself. Though, after playing around in RStudio a bit, and installing the ‘learnr’ package to access a few tutorials for the program, I already feel more comfortable and confident about approaching assignments and projects this semester.
The most challenging part of this assignment was actually setting up this blog. I had spent a couple hours creating and designing a website, only to accidently write it over with a pre-made template through WordPress. Frustratingly, I had to start over from scratch. It was a good reminder that every new tool comes with a learning curve and mistakes are just a part of the process.