Use of computer software
Michael Joseph Campbell · 2021
Computers are ubiquitous and so should be used for more complex calculations. For serious analysis, a commercial package should be used. A proper commercial package will include a spreadsheet database that can handle missing values as well as category labels. Certain spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel can also do some statistical analysis. The best and most comprehensive free statistical package is the R package and since it is free it is universally available and can be used throughout the world. Several of the R packages have to be ‘installed’ and then ‘loaded’ before they can be used. Commercial packages are convenient for routine analysis, since the commands are ready at hand, and they deal well with missing numbers and data editing tasks. The chapter includes the calculations mentioned in the text.