For example, if you're going to work for the government in DC you simply must know SAS. Stata is very popular in academia, but different fields and even different employeers within the same field use different statistical packages. This is very important because you don't always get a choice. In other words, don't think of statistical software like a little black box that spits out magic answers when you click/type the right combo. You can ALWAYS learn new sets of commands, if you understand what's happening in the background. I script in STATA, but I can bet that the GUI is how that program will be taught.ĭon't make the mistake of thinking you'll learn one statistical package and forget the others though it's more important to learn what you're actually DOING to the data when you analyze it. Once your learn a scripting language taking those principles across programs is very easy. With that said I will say that something I have encountered is that depending on how niche your analysis is, you might run something in one program, write up the results and send it out for publication only to have a reviewer ask you to redo the SAME analysis in another program. This leads to my next point: Your data should be reproducible, so regardless of what field you are in you should be using scripts with annotations and some kind of version control to have a clear space that charts the evolution of your findings.
#Stata vs r how to
Learn how to script and you'll know your analysis like the back of your hand. Scripting forces you to know a lot of your analysis.
![stata vs r stata vs r](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ZMPn.jpg)
However, I feel like I rarely encounter people that try to move away from GUIs once they learn how to use them.
![stata vs r stata vs r](https://fiverr-res.cloudinary.com/images/q_auto,f_auto/gigs/155919150/original/3a5893c055cc3ac6b9ad1ba0114e4273d59d8e86/do-statistical-data-analysis-using-stata-spss-r.jpg)
The logic usually follows that these are good to learn on.
![stata vs r stata vs r](https://fiverr-res.cloudinary.com/images/t_main1,q_auto,f_auto,q_auto,f_auto/gigs/168970503/original/5a6612de36e704bb12c9663d76eebae19dac6458/do-statistical-data-analysis-using-r-spss-stata.jpg)
I generally think that GUIs are a horrible way to go. I think it's really at the vanguard of statistical software.