2.2 The Utility of Learning R

If you’re reading this guide, you probably already find some value in learning R. What you may not know is the extent to which learning R is going to benefit your life. I really began learning R at the end of my first year of graduate school. The learning curve was steep, and I took breaks, but the grass is truly greener now that I have mastered some of R’s secrets.

Before learning R, it would take me 2 hours each day to manage my data in the best case scenario. In a worst case scenario, I would have spent the entire day looking at my data and fixing mistakes from cutting and pasting. None of this is accounting for the cost of accessing any of the proprietary software (Did I mention R is FREE?)

Today, everything moves much faster. The initial prep will take a few hours, depending on my data. This prep involves setting up the code, specifically planning out the organizational, graphing, statistical, and error-checking aspects of my data. After this single-day prep, every data update takes about 2 minutes if I don’t need to tweak my prep. How? First, I must turn on my computer. This takes about 30 seconds. Next, I have to open my R files, which takes about another 30 seconds if I’m being a bit generous. Finally, I hit Control + A followed by Control + Enter and all of my code runs in 1 minute (usually less). Ta-da! In 2 minutes, I have my data formatted and saved as an Excel file (yes, you can create files through R!), I have my graphs saved in a pdf, and I have my statistics saved in an Excel file. Two. Minutes. Do I have your attention now?

I won’t lie, it will take some time to get to 2 minutes. For me, it took 1 year. Learning any skill from scratch is going to be challenging at first. R is no exception. You must consistently practice R in order to retain any information. The intended purpose of this guide is to provide a unified source for complete beginners to start this process. It won’t be easy, but I firmly believe it’ll save you time and money.