What’s the best/ cheapest analytical software available? Stata was like $290 for a year license. Anything cheaper I could be using? I am just wanting to learn and do some very simple regressions. Something to put on the old resume. Thanks
http://www.r-project.org/ for free,multiple platforms,simple programming language (matrix language like in matlab) many many many libraries to download/install for free much recommended
appreciate it
If you are enrolled as as student Matlab is 89USD if I remember correctly. But really for simple regression, get Excel. R is nice and free, but the learning curve is harder to climb. Anyways, I am a Matlab fan for the time being.
sounds like I should just get acquainted with excel as a beginner and do what I can there. thanks
Excel has worked for me fine. I have used SPSS in the past as well - we used to print out these long documents on crappy line printers, but i’m sure the technology is better now.
well you said something about putting stuff on the old resume…nobody is impressed by Excel’s regression functionalities which you could probably exhaust in 5-7 mins…you should learn R and then teach me coz i have forgotten it all 
I find Excel a PITB for anything other than simple regression. Technically, it can do multiple regression, but I find it very very clunky. If you have a well defined model with fewer than 8 independent variables, then you can throw the data at it, but if you have to do much exploratory analysis or analysis of residuals, then you are in for a lot of manual labor. Stata is probably the cheapest commercial package, and it’s very good for this purpose. If you have a university affiliation, you can get a permanent license for something like $200 (I saw the price you quoted. I got Stata 9 for something like $150 a few years ago and the license is still good). If you are really hard up for cash, R will do it for you for free, and is pretty powerful. It may be worth learning for several reasons. However, the data management side of things in R is a major pain, and the documentation is very decentralized and piecing it together is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. There is also Octave, which is an open-source Matlab clone. But Matlab has many of the same problems that R has with data management. Finally, I remember something called Weka, which is (or was) free. I’m pretty sure it can handle regression. I don’t know how easy it is to use, but I suspect it’s easier than R, and free is less expensive than Stata.
I remember something called EVIEWS but dont know whether it is for free…it is basically point and click most of the time (very very easy to use and all residual tests are pretty straightforward)… also there is something called SPLUS…but i forget whether it has become R or is part or R or blebleble(sorry)…
S-Plus is basically a commercial version of R, which has some libraries of its own and - I believe - a GUI interface. There is a rudimentary GUI interface for R called “R commander,” and I believe most installations of R now let you install that by default, but there is still a learning curve. Eviews is there, and I seem to remember it was once free, but it seems to be commercial software now.
i am off to play lego universe…itsawesome and free
bchadwick : comedian, asset allocation expert, economist, computer programme wizard, lecturer, portugese speaker - is there no end to your talents? Are you a one man hedge fund? Are you The Architect? Stop making me feel bad.
I’ve got to agree with Bchad on this - Excel is junk for anything other than simple regressions. I’ve used Shazam, Stata, Eviews, and Limdep in my work and they’re all pretty decent. If you don’t want to spend any cash, try Gretl. Its an open source piece of software than can do almost everything the commercial programs can do. It can be downloaded here http://gretl.sourceforge.net/
Hi Lincolnlogs, I’d recommend EVIEWS as well. It has an easy to use graphical interface yet powerful, displays all the useful stats after each regression, lots of useful documentation in its help function, up to date statistical tests and it’s used by professional statisticians. You can get your hands on the student version for $40, which has restrictions in comparison to the full version, but is more than capable of meeting your needs. Downside is that you may need to find a friend who is currently enrolled as a student somewhere in order to purchase it. If you want a step by step guide on the theory and how to use EVIEWS to do the relevant tests, I found the following text useful when I was at uni: “Undergraduate Econometrics” coupled with the companion guide “Using Eviews For Undergraduate Econometrics” by Hill, Griffiths and Judge. There also seems to be another newer book with companion EVIEWS guide published by Wiley written by Hill, Griffiths and Lim. I wouldn’t recommend R, because it’s an exercise in itself to understand the R programming language, which is frustrating in the way it differs from Matlab programming language. These two programs also lack a graphical user interface and require a basic understanding of programming to use efficiently. Up to you which way you want to go.
Alladin Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > http://www.r-project.org/ > > for free,multiple platforms,simple programming > language (matrix language like in matlab) > many many many libraries to download/install for > free > > much recommended ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This And if you put on your resume that you know regression, be prepared to get questioned. I would own you.
Blake McCallister Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Alladin Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > http://www.r-project.org/ > > > > for free,multiple platforms,simple programming > > language (matrix language like in matlab) > > many many many libraries to download/install > for > > free > > > > much recommended > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This > > And if you put on your resume that you know > regression, be prepared to get questioned. I > would own you. What?!
Wait, so people put “regression” as a resume skill?
Shazam I used this software in my econometrics courses, and it’s very useful once you learn how the programming goes…