[R] A somewhat off the line question to a log normal distrib

Robin Hankin r.hankin at soc.soton.ac.uk
Thu Dec 2 14:21:36 CET 2004




>>
>> I'd say that without a tool like R you cannot learn statistics.
>
> I believe Fisher and a few others managed to get by without it.
>

Fair point.  Maybe it should have said  " without a tool like R *I* 
cannot learn statistics"
Or even "for me, 'understanding concept X' == 'coding X up in R and 
playing with it' "

(maybe Fisher had some R-like tool hardwired into his neural apparatus).

The other point I was trying to make was that R is a natural language 
for
the expression of statistical ideas, and I usually interpret my 
inability to express
a statistical idea in R idiom as a symptom of not understanding the 
stats.
Once I understand the concepts, coding them up is easy, usually.

The CLT is  a case in point, and I've been playing with the Extreme 
Value Distribution recently
in the same way.


best wishes

rksh




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