Statistical Analysis: an Introduction using R/R/Matrices
Much statistical theory uses matrix algebra. While this book does not require a detailed understanding of matrices, it is useful to know a little about how R handles them.
Essentially, a matrix (plural: matrices) is the two dimensional equivalent of a vector. In other words, it is a rectangular grid of numbers, arranged in rows and columns. In R, a matrix object can be created by the matrix() function, which takes, as a first argument, a vector of numbers with which the matrix is filled, and as the second and third arguments, the number of rows and the number of columns respectively.
R can also use array objects, which are like matrices, but can have more than 2 dimensions. These are particularly useful for tables: a type of array containing counts of data classified according to various criteria. Examples of these "contingency tables" are the HairEyeColor and Titanic tables shown below.
[] can be used to access individual elements or sets of elements in a matrix or array. This is done by separating the numbers inside the brackets by commas. For example, for matrices, you need to specify the row index then a comma, then the column index. If the row index is blank, it is assumed that you want all the rows, and similarly for the columns.
Input:m <- matrix(1:12, 3, 4) #Create a 3x4 matrix filled with numbers 1 to 12
m #Display it!
m*2 #Arithmetic, just like with vectors
m[2,3] #Pick out a single element (2nd row, 3rd column)
m[1:2, 2:4] #Or a range (rows 1 and 2, columns 2, 3, and 4.)
m[,1] #If the row index is missing, assume all rows
m[1,] #Same for columns
m[,2] <- 99 #You can assign values to one or more elements
m #See!
###Some real data, stored as "arrays"
HairEyeColor #A 3D array
HairEyeColor[,,1] #Select only the males to make it a 2D matrix
Titanic #A 4D array
Titanic[1:3,"Male","Adult",] #A matrix of only the adult male passengers
Result:> m <- matrix(1:12, 3, 4) #Create a 3x4 matrix filled with numbers 1 to 12
> m #Display it!
[,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
[1,] 1 4 7 10
[2,] 2 5 8 11
[3,] 3 6 9 12
> m*2 #Arithmetic, just like with vectors
[,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
[1,] 2 8 14 20
[2,] 4 10 16 22
[3,] 6 12 18 24
> m[2,3] #Pick out a single element (2nd row, 3rd column)
[1] 8
> m[1:2, 2:4] #Or a range (rows 1 and 2, columns 2, 3, and 4.)
[,1] [,2] [,3]
[1,] 4 7 10
[2,] 5 8 11
> m[,1] #If the row index is missing, assume all rows
[1] 1 2 3
> m[1,] #Same for columns
[1] 1 4 7 10
> m[,2] <- 99 #You can assign values to one or more elements
> m #See!
[,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
[1,] 1 99 7 10
[2,] 2 99 8 11
[3,] 3 99 9 12
> ###Some real data, stored as "arrays"
> HairEyeColor #A 3D array
, , Sex = Male
Eye
Hair Brown Blue Hazel Green
Black 32 11 10 3
Brown 53 50 25 15
Red 10 10 7 7
Blond 3 30 5 8
, , Sex = Female
Eye
Hair Brown Blue Hazel Green
Black 36 9 5 2
Brown 66 34 29 14
Red 16 7 7 7
Blond 4 64 5 8
> HairEyeColor[,,1] #Select only the males to make it a 2D matrix
Eye
Hair Brown Blue Hazel Green
Black 32 11 10 3
Brown 53 50 25 15
Red 10 10 7 7
Blond 3 30 5 8
> Titanic #A 4D array
, , Age = Child, Survived = No
Sex
Class Male Female
1st 0 0
2nd 0 0
3rd 35 17
Crew 0 0
, , Age = Adult, Survived = No
Sex
Class Male Female
1st 118 4
2nd 154 13
3rd 387 89
Crew 670 3
, , Age = Child, Survived = Yes
Sex
Class Male Female
1st 5 1
2nd 11 13
3rd 13 14
Crew 0 0
, , Age = Adult, Survived = Yes
Sex
Class Male Female
1st 57 140
2nd 14 80
3rd 75 76
Crew 192 20
> Titanic[1:3,"Male","Adult",] #A matrix of only the adult male passengers
Survived
Class No Yes
1st 118 57
2nd 154 14
3rd 387 75