Do You Need to Know Stata for Management Consulting
by Jeff Meyer
Similar many people with graduate degrees, I have used a number of statistical software packages over the years.
Through work and school I have used Eviews, SAS, SPSS, R, and Stata.
Some were more than hard to use than others simply if you used them often enough you would get proficient to take on the task at hand (though some packages required greater usage of George Carlin'southward 7 dirty words).
There was always one caveat which determined which package I used. which one my professor or my employer insisted that I use. But that all inverse when I decided to start upward my own consulting business organization.
professor or my employer insisted that I use. But that all changed when I decided to offset up my ain consulting business organization.
Eviews was chop-chop eliminated from the selection process due to its narrow focus. SAS came fully loaded but I had to be fully loaded with cash in order to afford information technology (btw, I'm not).
So the final contenders were R, SPSS, and Stata (wow, iii choices, just similar the TV prove "International House Hunters").
Why not R
R had a lot to offer. I remembered a friend'southward favorite saying, "If it's free, it's for me."
My biggest business concern with R was remembering how to utilize it. With the potential for infrequent utilize I might finish upward spending besides much time relearning how to utilise it.
Why not SPSS
I had used SPSS at graduate schoolhouse and had the student version on my desktop at home. I had read that SPSS was the choice of virtually social scientists.
Graphs (clients beloved graphs) were easy to create, copy, and paste into a Word document. If I forgot the code I could always revert to the menus. So I decided to use SPSS.
To begin learning the things they don't teach you in graduate school but you had better know if y'all don't want to make a fool of yourself, I started taking Karen's workshops.
The important topic of "bootstrapping" came up and I opened upward SPSS to begin practicing.
I believe I used 5 of George Carlin's words when I discovered that it was not included in the educatee version of SPSS. I opened up Stata (which I had on my desk top as well) and found the option (along with plenty of documentation on how to utilise it).
I then took Karen's workshop on "Missing Information" and quickly ran into issues of recreating her results due to the demand for an add-on module. I contacted SPSS and was told the missing data module was an boosted $1,500.
Once again I opened upward Stata and found that everything that I needed was included in the version of Stata that I owned.
Why Stata
Once I settled on using Stata equally my primary statistical software bundle I realized how much it has to offer besides existence less expensive.
Similar SPSS, Stata allows you to write code or use menus to perform your assay.
Stata has two master carte du jour tabs: Graphics and Statistics. Within "Statistics" there are twenty-ane sub tabs and numerous tabs within those tabs. Within "Graphics" there are twenty-one tabs as well (you remember the people at Stata similar to play Blackness Jack?).
I admit, this can be a bit daunting and fourth dimension consuming if you are trying to discover a specific function. But wait, there'south more.
In the control box you tin can type "aid" and what you are looking for. For example, if I want to run a logistic regression I simply type "help logistic regression" and documentation for running a logistic regression opens.
Within the assist guide is "Menu" which gives the path you lot take to apply the menu method of running the control. In this example information technology is: Statistics > Binary outcomes > Logistic regression.
The key point here is I don't waste time trying to find what I'm looking for. Afterwards running the command through the menus method the lawmaking shows upwards in the "Review" box. I can then re-create and paste the command into a "do-file".
A "do-file" is the text document that allows you to submit more than ane command to Stata at once.
Stata allows you to have more than one do-file opened at a fourth dimension. This is a big plus considering it makes it easy to re-create and paste from other project practise-files into the electric current practice-file. Using do-files is significantly quicker than using the menus if you have created template practice-files, especially for creating graphs.
In that location are so many options for creating a graph. It takes less than a minute to copy from a template and paste the commands into your current project.
Stata is extremely efficient running repetitive analysis when incorporating macros and loops in a exercise-file. This sounds like it may exist difficult only it'south not.
How well is Stata supported past Stata Corp? On average Stata sends out updated files every two months with new features and/or any fixes to reported glitches.The reference guide for Stata 13 is 281 pages filled with examples and links to the data sets used in the examples.
The professional person customs also provides incredible support. Stata allows third party written commands (besides known as modules) to be imported into the software.
The website http://ideas.repec.org/s/boc/bocode.html is a warehouse for hundreds of third political party written commands which have been tested before made public. Running a search for "logistic" returned 128 results.
The bottom line is Stata will run every assay that the other major statistical packages tin, if not more.
It is a very efficiently organized programme to learn to employ. Third party professionals are continuously offering new functions. Stata adds new features without charging a "new" version fee.
All this and the added bonus is it's reasonably priced and has no improver charges.
Jeff Meyer is a statistical consultant with The Analysis Factor, a stats mentor for Statistically Speaking membership, and a workshop instructor. Read more virtually Jeff here.
Getting Started with Stata
Jeff introduces you lot to the consequent structure that Stata uses to run every type of statistical assay.
Please note that, due to the large number of comments submitted, any questions on issues related to a personal report/projection will not exist answered. We suggest joining Statistically Speaking, where you have admission to a private forum and more than resources 24/7.
Source: https://www.theanalysisfactor.com/why-use-stata/
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