What is R?
R is a coding language for statistical computing and graphics that you may find yourself using as an actuary! It is primarily run through RStudio, which you should be able to access on any Penn State computer, or download to use on your own device for free here.
Why Should I Learn R?
The Society of Actuaries recognizes the importance of knowing how to use R and that is one of the reasons why they created the Predictive Analytics Exam. The PA exam is a 5 hour and 15 minute project that is completed with the use of R. It is a real-world business problem with data you will have to sort and perform analysis on to support your conclusion.
How Can I Learn R?
Penn State is ready to help students learn R and offers several courses for this purpose. A good place is start is STAT 184: Introduction to R. After taking this course, try some of the below options to learn more:
- Penn State Classes: (note that the course descriptions for 461 and 462 do not mention R. This is because R is used in these classes as a teaching tool. Code is usually provided, and you are tasked with interpreting the output - a good starting place to learning R!)
- STAT 184: Introduction to R
- STAT 380: Data Science through Statistical Reasoning and Computation
- STAT 440: Computational Statistics
- This class uses the most R out of the upper level Stat courses. It helps to have at least some exposure to R before taking this class
- STAT 461: Analysis of Variance
- This class focuses on teaching theory, but applies the concepts using R. It's a great class for your first exposure to R
- STAT 462: Applied Regression Analysis
- This class focuses on teaching theory, but applies the concepts using R. It's a great class for your first exposure to R
- STAT 463: Applied Time Series Analysis
- This class teaches lots of theory and uses some R as well. Think of it as additional exposure to using R in a time series context, but don't expect to learn R inside and out
- STAT 484: The R Statistical Programming Language
- STAT 485: Intermediate R Statistical Programming Language
- Datacamp is a private learning organization where you can take full length courses in R to understand how it works from the ground up. The full service is paid, but you can try out a few lessons for few to see if you like it!
- Here is a link to a playlist of videos to help you learn R in an active and visual way!
- Here is a free online textbook called "R Programming for Data Science"
How Can I Use R?
Here is an example of what you could do in R! You can clearly see that there is a direct, positive relationship between the amount of time somebody spends on The Actuarial Science Club Website and the average score they receive on their actuarial science exams! With a correlation value of 0.778, you should certainly be using The Club Website as much as possible!
