MATLAB (General Package)
Mathematical software
| Functionality | Background | Licence availability, restrictions & links to distributor |
| MATLAB is a general purpose mathematical analysis and calculation package. It supports the development and evaluation of virtually any mathematical calculation, including, of course, statistical calculations. The matrix manipulation functions allow many statistical analyses to be developed from ‘first principles’, but the Statistics Toolbox provides access to a range of purpose-built functions for standard statistical analyses, including EDA, regression modelling, analysis of variance, multivariate statistics, design of experiments and statistical process control. MATLAB has a strong focus on matrix calculations, whilst Mathematica is focused more on computer algebra approaches. |
Matlab’s development extends back to the It is a tool that has been used |
Supplied by the MathWorks through a total Academic Headcount Agreement which allows staff and student use at home and on University-owned machines. Further information and download details: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/its/ |
General Purpose Packages which have some Statistical Functionality
These packages are not basically designed for statistical analysis, but all have some statistical functionality and some, being mathematical tools, pretty much allow you to write any statistical analysis from scratch. But we would generally advise using packages that were designed primarily for statistical analysis since their functionality will generally have been tested and verified for statistical purposes. If you write your own calculations in a mathematical calculation tool, you risk miscoding the statistical technique and drawing poor or completely wrong inferences.
Please share your experiences and examples of how you have used this software by leaving a comment below, to help others choose the right software for their research requirements.