Access to SAS® and R
Software
Data analysis assignments and posted data analysis examples
use either SAS® or R software.
SAS® Software
If you do not currently use SAS® software,
here are three easy and inexpensive ways that you may obtain access
to its capabilities:
- Your home department may have SAS®
installed on the computer system or in computer labs.
- The CIRCA Grove Computer offers
both UNIX command-line and graphical interface (X-window) access to
SAS®.
Accounts on Grove are freely available to University of Florida
graduate students, and you can use Grove from many places, including
campus labs, computers on the campus network, and anywhere via dial-up
modem. For details, see
Grove's UNIX Tutorial.
You can apply for an account through
GatorLink. (Select Modify,
type in your username and password, and select grove unix services from
the menu at the left.)
Some information about SAS® on Grove:
- As a student at the University of Florida, you can participate in a
special SAS® licensing program for
use on your own personal computer. You pay a one-time fee ($35, as of
Fall 2007) to obtain the license, and it is currently renewable for
free each year that you are a registered University of Florida student
(subject to availability). To obtain a license:
- Visit the Technology Hub within the University Bookstore and Welcome
Center (located on Museum Road attached to Reitz Union) and pay for
an enrollment form.
(Please do not use the order form on the
Software Licensing Services web site — that form is not
for students.)
- Bring the enrollment form to
Software Licensing Services and trade
the form for media and a license key.
You can usually obtain the software very quickly, though it may
depend on your operating system platform and the availability of
software media.
This course will not provide a thorough introduction to
SAS®.
It will provide only a basic working knowledge necessary to perform the
analyses that are part of the course content. You may wish to consult the
following resources for more detailed information:
The graphical interfaces may also have built-in help facilities.
Here are some hints for getting started with
SAS®.
R Software
R is a flexible object-oriented programming environment for statistical
computation and graphics. (It is comparable to
MATLAB®, but with much different syntax
and user orientation.) R is free software — there is no charge for
you to download and use it.
Almost everything there is to know about the R language can be found at
The R Homepage, including some
instructions on installation and usage. The "Manuals" link leads to
documents that give general information about using R. Descriptions of various
R packages (which are extensions to R that provide additional useful functions)
can be found under the "CRAN" link. (After choosing a mirror, click on
the "Packages" link.)
This course will not provide a thorough introduction to R.
It will provide only a basic working knowledge necessary to perform the
analyses that are part of the course content.
Back to Course Page