The R Book

by Michael J. Crawley

The high-level language of R is recognized as one of the most powerful and flexible statistical software environments, and is rapidly becoming the standard setting for quantitative analysis, statistics and graphics. R provides free access to unrivalled coverage and cutting-edge applications, enabling the user to apply numerous statistical methods ranging from simple regression to time series or multivariate analysis.Building on the success of the authorâ s bestselling An Introduction using R, The R Book is packed with worked examples, providing an all inclusive guide to R, ideal for novice and more accomplished users alike. The book assumes no background in statistics or computing and introduces the advantages of the R environment, detailing its applications in a wide range of disciplines.Provides the first comprehensive reference manual for the R language, including practical guidance and full coverage of the graphics facilities.Introduces all the statistical models covered by R, beginning with simple classical tests such as chi-square and t-test.Proceeds to examine more advance methods, from regression and analysis of variance, through to generalized linear models, generalized mixed models, time series, spatial statistics, multivariate statistics and much more.The R Book is aimed at undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals in science, engineering and medicine. It is also ideal for students and professionals in statistics, economics, geography and the social sciences.

Genres: Programming, Reference, Computers, Science, Textbooks, Mathematics, Technical

942 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's big. It's incomplete (as I think any book on R has to be). But it is the book I'm using the most as I continue to learn about R. This is a "cookbook": the author gives several specific examples of how to do specific tasks. If you can find one that matches what you want to do (and it is a big book), then it's great. If not, it's frustrating.

Of the four books I have on R/S/S+, this would be the one I'd start with if I had it to do over again. Still, the idea way of learning R is sharing a lab with someone who already knows it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for learning the R language. Disastrous if used to learn stats. Be forewarned: Crawley makes a SERIOUS MISTAKE concerning the use of step-wise methods in hypothesis testing, which he advocates throughout the book. DO NOT FOLLOW HIS ADVICE. His knowledge of R is supreme. Of statistics, well, not so much.

Crawley is a biologist first, statistician second, and it shows. He displays a lack of fundamental training in statistics, as one might expect of a self-taught statistician. As a consequence, his book does a disservice to the unexperienced readers who naively assume he knows what he is talking about.

[Peter Flom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this large book on R is its breadth: No one book can cover all of R, but this covers a lot.

The biggest problem is the index and contents, which could have been better done and which could have made the book more usable

[Ostilio Portillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent books for those who want to expand their knowledge of the R language. The author discusses a great variety of topics and examples about multiple statistical procedures and models; However, in my opinion, this book will be more helpful for those who are already familiarized with the R code since theoretically speaking concepts, theorems, and principles and not discussed in-depth, but the way on how to perform the analysis and interpret the outcomes in R is presented with great detail.
This isn't the first statistics book I read written by Michael J. Crawley and once more I was not disappointed.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'lll be honest, this really made my head hurt. I've not used R, or any other stats package, so I was hoping for a bit of an easy lead in introduction type thing. This was not it. It's starts out like it might be then bam, it hits you with lots of coding type stuff and technical stats type stuff in a instruction manual style that is almost impossible to read coherently. I have a feeling that this will make an excellent reference guide once I get going with R but for starting out, you might want to start elsewhere...

[Lauren Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

im going to use this space to rant and rave about how amazing R is, and how completely amazing this book is. first of all, R is free. second, it is easy to use. it is user-friendly. it produces pretty graphs and figures and tables. and this book makes all of that happen. i am recommending to myself to stick with r forever and never look back, unless some other software program that is also free and easy to use that has a companion book like this is created, and its better than r. but i doubt it. also dont forget yaletoolkit...and subsequently whatis(x).

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard to find a good R-Book. This one did the job for me while I was learning, but you will be lost if you are not on r-seek constantly filling the gaps. This book also requires a strong stomach for poor writing and typos. I was an reviewer for the forthcoming "R In Action" and felt that it filled many of the holes this book contained. R-seek and google will also be the ultimate R companion though.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

R book is an essential book when working with R, especially for beginners!

[Lord_Humungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good recipe book for R if you already know statistics. If you don't, it gives a false sensation that you will, at the beginning, but soon gets too complex.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine and useful reference on the R programming language for my bookshelf. If you are learning or using R this is a great reference source.

[Marcos Egea gutiérrez-cortines · Rating 5 out of 5]

You do not read this book. You use it extensively.