INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS SOFTWARE

Software: There are several software packages available for use in this course.

1. JMP is a user friendly product from SAS, available on reasonable terms. The textbook offers brief tips and JMP offers both a live tutorial every Friday at 1:00 p.m.EST, and a recorded version of the webcast.
   - Suitable for a beginner with no software preference; offers a wide range of capabilities and links to SAS.
   
   
2. StatCrunch is web-based software available at very inexpensive rates.
   - Suitable for a beginner with no software preference and the desire to have software available over the web. Note that most statistics.com courses beyond the introductory courses use capabilities not available in StatCrunch.
   
   
3. Data Desk comes with the course text, and both the book and the lessons offer illustrations in Data Desk.
   - Suitable for a beginner with no software preference. Note that most statistics.com courses beyond the introductory courses use capabilities not available in Data Desk.
   
   
4. Excel has some basic statistical capabilities, though they are not the most rigorous. Help pages are available in the course for Excel.
   - Suitable for a beginner with Excel experience who is likely to continue using Excel; Excel add-ins are used in some advanced statistics.com courses, particularly those involving data mining, resampling, forecasting, and risk analysis.
   
   
5. Minitab is available for rent at a very reasonable price, and some illustrations and help pages are available for it in the course.
   - Suitable for a beginner with no software preference; offers a wide range of capabilities used in some advanced statistics.com courses, particularly those in the engineering and forecasting area.
   
   
6. PASW Statistics (formerly SPSS) is a full purpose, standard statistical software package that is relatively easy to learn. The textbook offers brief tips on using PASW Statistics, some tutorials are available for it, and a student version is available. PASW Statistics offers online seminars.
   - Suitable for a beginner who has a software preference for PASW Statistics (e.g. because it will be used at school or work). PASW Statistics offers most of the capabilities used in advanced statistics.com courses.
   
   
7. Stata is a full purpose, standard statistical software package that is relatively easy to learn. Some tutorials are available for it, and a student version is available.
   - Suitable for a beginner who has a software preference for Stata (e.g. because it will be used at school or work). Stata offers most of the capabilities used in advanced statistics.com courses.
   
   
8. SAS is a full purpose program that has a relatively high learning curve. It is available in a learning edition.
   - Not suitable for a beginner, recommended only for those with some SAS experience. SAS offers most of the capabilities used in advanced statistics.com courses.
   
   
9. R is a statistical programming and analysis environment that is open source and free. There are help pages available.
   - Not suitable for a beginner (for that, we recommend our Introduction to R courses), but some illustrations are offered in R for those familiar with it. R offers most of the capabilities used in advanced statistics.com courses.
   
   

Teaching assistants are able to offer assistance on all of the above packages. Each instructor is familiar with a subset - check the discussion board at the beginning of the course for details.

See software page for information on obtaining copies of the above software packages.