I'm currently studying financial analysis, and I need to conduct a panel regression with fixed effects for my thesis. Unfortunately, my data analytics skills are pretty basic. While I've taken some stats courses, they didn't dive deep enough for what I need to accomplish. My experience is mostly with linear and logistic regression models using SPSS, which I find much easier for simple datasets. With only about three months to get this done, I'm looking for advice on which programming language—Python, R, or Stata—would be the easiest to learn and use for my project. Any suggestions?
1 Answer
To be honest, if you're hopping into this kind of work without much background, it might feel a bit overwhelming. Think about it like this: saying you don’t need to learn a programming language for analytics is like saying you’re an accountant but can’t use a calculator. SPSS is getting a bit dated; while it’s still in circulation, R is what a lot of people are moving towards nowadays. However, with trends shifting, Python with Apache Spark is becoming super popular, so that might be the way to go if you're up for a bit of a challenge.
I hear you! I thought about picking up Python too, but I was told R is easier for beginners like us. It's a shame my uni stuck to SPSS when I clearly need something more relevant for my thesis. But I’m planning to just focus on the easiest option to get this thesis done!