Installing packages in R

Installing packages in R

Like indicated in the introduction of the tutorial, R is a open source software package. This makes it free for everyone to develop different applications that could be applied to the R console. Such a application is called a package. Examples of packages are:

• Zelig: To make more sophisticated calculations for a regression analysis;
• Foreign: Installation of this package will make R able to read more types of files.

When you have downloaded R, no additional packages are installed. In the first place this is not a problem since you could perform quite good data analysis with R without additional packages installed. For example, the calculations in this tutorial do not require additional packages. 

If you want to install packages in the R console, you can do this as follows:

Enter the command available.packages(). If you press enter, a window appears where you have to choose a mirror. Select a mirror that mostly fits your location. 

If you have done this, a list of packages appears that are ready for installation. If you have found a package, copy the name of that package and past this in the following command: install.packages('*name of the package that you want to install*'). By pressing Enter the package gets installed and R indicates in which folder this package is located.

Installing packages in R

List of R commands

List of R commands

*name of new variable*<-c(value,value,value,......more values)	Assigning a variable based on a value or a string of values.
*name of new variable*<-*data or more values*	Assigning a variable to a dataset or other value.
attach(*variable*)	Making a matrix of a variable of a dataset.
min(*variable*) or min(*variable*, *vraibale* ….more variables)	Finding the minimum value from a variable or from a string of variables.
max(*variable*) or max(*variable*, *variable* ….more variables)	Finding the maximum value from a variable or string of variables.
lenght(*variable*)	Showing the number of values of a variable.
sum(*variable*)	The sum of all values of a specific variable.
mean(*variable*)	Showing the mean (average) of the values from a variable.
sd(*variable*)	Showing the standard deviation of the values from a variable.
detach(*variabele*)	Detach a matrix from a variable.
median(*variabele*)	Calculating the median from the values that a variable contains.
cor(*variabele1*, *variabele2*)	Showing the correlation between two variables.
plot(*variabele1*, *variabele2*)	Plotting a graph from two variables.
hist(*variabele*)	Making a histogram of a variable.
	Making a boxplot of a variable.
barplot(*variable 1*, *variable 2*, more variables)	Making a bar graph of variables.
dotplot(*variable 1*, *variable 2*)	Making a dot plot of two variables.
pie(*variable*)	Making a pie chart of a variable.
*variable*[*position or name of variable 1*, *position or name of variable 2*]	Finding a value in the matrix of a variable.
read.csv(‘*name of a csv-file*’)	Importing a csv-file in R.
*name of the regression*<-lm(*dependent variable*~*independent variable 1*+*independent variable 2*+*more independent variables*)	Making a regression analysis with a dependent varaibele or one of more independent variables.
summary(*name of the regression*)	Showing the results and data of the regression analysis.