Course in the software package R

General content

The course will give a beginner / low-level introduction to the R programming language, a powerful tool for performing various types of statistical analyses and visualisation of data. In contrast to other software packages for statistical analyses, R is a programming language, which has to be learned like any other programming language.

You will learn 1) Basic concepts of R-programming syntax and logic 2) how to import and work with data and 3) how to visualize these data, and statistics, in very simple ways.

The statistical methods used in the course will be limited in the complexity, opting rather to demonstrate how R can be used. Methods will include descriptive statistics, simple hypothesis-testing (p-values, t-tests), correlation and regression concepts, with hands on exercises.

Finally, the course will also introduce the various options for creating high-quality and illustrative figures and other outputs within R, through the package ggplot2, with examples of basic plots (scatter, line, bars) and how to customize these plots (colours, labels, themes).

R is ideal to probe and investigate one’s own data in meaningful ways, and this course will get you started.

Type of course

Methods

General learning objectives

After completion of the course, the candidate will be able to prepare datasets and to perform (simple) statistical analyses within the software package R.

Knowledge

After completion of the course, the candidate...

• Has knowledge of the logical structure of the programming language R
• Has knowledge of the fundamental commands and data handling
• Has knowledge of how to organise data and to define appropriate data tables and types
• Has knowledge of how to program an appropriate statistical analysis
• Has knowledge of how to visualise the data and statistics in meaningful ways.

Skills

After completion of the course, the candidate...

• Can perform simple standard statistical test within R, like descriptive statistics, t-tests/p-values, and various types of correlation and regression analyses.
• Can read and evaluate the output of statistical analyses performed in R and is able to interpret possible error messages
• Can create various types of high-quality figures and result tables

General competence

After completion of the course, the candidate...

• Can master how to best perform statistical analyses within R and how to create suitable outputs for publications.

Once a year during either spring or autumn.

The course will be held Spring 2026. Check IGSIN pages (PhD Courses and Seminars | UiB) for information on when the course is held again and where.