Statistical Analysis System or more popularly abbreviated simply as SAS is a suite of software tools which was created by the SAS Institute for use in business intelligence, analysis of multivariates, management of data as well as predictive analytics. The development of the SAS suite initially took place in 1966 at the “ North Carolina State University” and was maintained by the same institute till 1976 when the SAS Institute happened to be incorporated. Later on new procedures in statistics, more components and JMP were introduces as part of the SAS Bundle. A point and click UI was followed in its 9th version realized in 2004. Social Media analytics found its pride of place in 2010.
5 SAS Books for Beginners
SAS is a perennial favorite for analysis of data amongst newbies and seasoned professionals alike. This post lists in two parts 10 books that are a must read for those new to the world of SAS.
An Introduction to SAS® University Edition
Author: Ron Cody
As the name suggests this book is meant for students who use the University Edition of SAS. The target audience of this book are the people who want to make use of the point-and-click interface or SAS studio or want to write SAS programs for their own purposes or even both. It begins from the very basics by showing how to obtain a copy of University version of SAS and how to run it in the Windows or Mac environments. The first part guides you through common and basic tasks as well as running elemental statistical tests. The second part teaches you to write programs of SAS and the procedures to be followed so that varied tasks may be performed. It also goes through about how to use the interesting and intriguing sets of data that come bundled with the product.
The Little SAS® Book: A Primer, Fifth Edition
Authors: Lora D. Delwiche,Susan J. Slaughter
This book is a classic well placed to be part of SAS lore. The uses of this book is not confined to beginners alone but transcends beyond and places itself as a resource that you will find yourself coming back as you develop as a SAS user. The book, now in its fifth reincarnation, comes to terms with the default output that was introduced in version 9.3. SGPLOT, ODS Graphics and SGPANEL get special attention in this book.
SAS® Macro Programming Made Easy, Third Edition
Author: Michele M. Burlew
After providing a basic understanding of the concepts involved in SAS macro programming, it proceeds to provide beginners and newbies a through and comprehensive base in macro programming. Macros are a popular part of the SAS suite and are necessary in order to complete many jobs in programming. This is a step by step guide and you will soon be able to perform rapidly programming tasks, and pass info between the steps involved in the programming as well as enhancing code readability. It also gives tips that prove to be of invaluable help to those new in the SAS Macro programming world.
Elementary Statistics Using SAS®
Author: Sandra D. Schlotzhauer
If your objective is to perform analyses in order to solve problems, “Elementary Statistics Using SAS” will prove to be a friend in carrying out your task. The first section cover the primary principles used in data sets in SAS. The second part goes through the fundamentals of concepts related to statistics which are inclusive of hypothesis testing as well as normality. The rest of book there on goes to cover analyses for two or more groups, explores contingency tables and regression equations that are befitting.
Discovering JMP® 11
Author: SAS Institute
If JMP is a matter of much intrigue and mystery to you then Discovering JMP 11 is what you were looking for all this while. It introduces JMP to the beginner with gentle care and happens to be an excellent starting point for them. With this book you can import data to JMP and proceed to analyze and share whatever result might have emerged.
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We will continue with this post by listing another set of 5 top books that are essential to the whole experience of working in SAS.