Session 1 Starting with R

Welcome to the Course!

1.1 Overview

Installing R and opening files

In this session you will learn:

  1. What is R?
  2. How to install R
  3. Where to get help

1.1.1 What is R?

For network analysis, you need two different bits of software, R and RStudio. R is a programming language that you will write code in and R Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which makes working with R easier.

1.1.2 How To Install Base R

Install base R from https://cran.rstudio.com/. Choose the download link for your operating system (Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows).

1.1.3 How To Install R Studio

Go to https://rstudio.com and download the RStudio Desktop (Open Source License) version for your operating system under the list titled Installers for Supported Platforms.

If you are using a Mac, please install XQuartz

1.1.4 Quiz

Quickfire Questions

We have put questions throughout to help you test your knowledge. When you type in or choose the correct answer, the dashed box will change color and become solid green.

  • From the following options, how do you get R for this course?

R is the basic package. R Studio is an add-on that make R much easier to use.

1.2 Where to Get Help

Learning R can take time. Please do not feel that you have to grasp everything right away and it is totally ok to copy and paste.

1.2.1 Google

“Never commit to memory what can be easily looked up in books”

Often people simply google what they want to achieve in R. For example, in preparing this tutorial I googled “how to run a linear mixed effects model in R” (as I did not know) and found the following helpful tutorial which goes through all the steps. This is just one of many examples of resources that are available.

1.2.2 Stackoverflow

Stackoverflow is a website where you can ask for help on bits of coding that you are struggling with. You can search for commonly asked questions and responses.

Feel free to google any time.