Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models

Getting started with R, Bugs, and a text editor

Follow the instructions at www.stat.columbia.edu/∼gelman/arm/software/ to download, install, and set up R and Bugs on your Windows computer. The webpage is occasionally updated as the software improves, so we recommend checking back occasionally. R, OpenBugs, and WinBugs have online help with more information available at www.r-project.org, www.math.helsinki.fi/openbugs/, and www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/bugs/.

Set up a working directory on your computer for your R work. Every time you enter R, your working directory will automatically be set, and the necessary functions will be loaded in.

Configuring your computer display for efficient data analysis

We recommend working with three nonoverlapping open windows, as pictured in Figure C.1: an R console, the R graphics window, and a text editor (ideally a program such as Emacs or WinEdt that allows split windows, or the script window in the Windows version of R). When programming in Bugs, the text editor will have two windows open: a file (for example, project. R) with R commands, and a file (for example, project.bug) with the Bugs model. It is simplest to type commands into the text file with R commands and then cut and paste them into the R console. This is preferable to typing in the R console directly because copying and altering the commands is easier in the text editor. To run Bugs, there is no need to open a Bugs window; R will do this automatically when the function bugs() is called (assuming you have set up your computer as just described, which includes loading the R2WinBUGS package in R).