These pages offer tutorials, links, reference guides, and example code for LaTeX, R, and Ubuntu Linux. I developed this page as a central location for all of the resources I used in my short courses on LaTeX and R for UNC's Department of Political Science and Odum Institute for Research in Social Sciences. Here are the notes I created for these courses:
If you are interested in participating in any of my short courses the next time they are offered, please consult the Odum Institute calendar for more information on time and location. All short courses are free for UNC students, faculty, and staff. If you have questions about LaTeX or R, please contact me during my consulting hours at the Odum Lab by either calling me (919-843-6051) or visiting in Manning Hall room 02. My consulting hours for June 1-July 31, 2009 are Monday and Tuesday 1:00-5:00.
My final short courses will be in Manning Hall room 01 at the following times:
My final short courses will be in Manning Hall room 01 at the following times:
- An introduction to LaTeX: May 13, 2009, 9:00-4:00
Facebook Event Page, RSVP - A basic introduction to R: May 28, 2009, 9:00-4:00
Facebook Event Page, RSVP
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LaTeX is a desktop publishing system in which the user writes code to produce a document such as a paper, thesis, slide show, or poster. The requirement that users write in code is somewhat similar to writing in HTML. There are several advantages to using LaTeX: Mathematical equations are easier to write, and the final product represents them more accurately. LaTeX includes an automatic bibliography feature (which is free, unlike Endnote). LaTeX better accommodates the requirements of academic tables (even without purchasing a table editor). The documents look especially sharp, and style files (some posted here) automatically tell LaTeX how to format documents like dissertations and posters. -
R is an open-source program for statistical analysis and graphics. The advantages of knowing how to use R are: it is free (unlike SAS, SPSS, or Stata), it accommodates complex methods more readily, other researchers write free R programs that do methods that other packages cannot, and R's graphics are the best of any major graphics editor. -
Ubuntu Linux is an open-source operating system. If you are considering an alternative to Windows or Mac, this link will chronicle all that I have done to make my machine ready for scientific computing.