Offering key information on how to work with research data, this title presents ideas and techniques for performing critical, behind-the-scenes tasks that take up so much time and effort yet typically receive little attention in formal education.

Unique and much requested, this reference provides scientists with a mandatory tutorial on dealing with scientific data as captured by various programming languages, such as HTML, XML, SQL, and PHP. Written by Paul Murrell, the principle developer of the R Project, and based on a university course he teaches, this book presents each of the key technologies and then gives guidance on data handling and processing with each. In addition to chapters containing detailed and historical information, illustrative examples and case studies, Murrell includes entirely separate bare bones chapters for quick reference.

Paul Murrell, best known for his R Graphics book, has delivered a second masterpiece for people who have the difficult task to clean and prepare raw data for further use in common statistical software packages. ? provides the perfect basis for a course on data literacy ? Moreover, the book also is an excellent basis for advanced M.S. and Ph.D. students as well as practitioners in academia and industry who are confronted with the task to clean and preprocess their own or their colleagues' data.-Jürgen Symanzik, Technometrics, May 2011 Introduction to Data Technologies introduces various computer-related topics, including markup languages, statistical computing languages, coding, storage, and querying, in a systematic manner. ? the book may serve as an introduction to readers with general interest who plan to supplement their knowledge in specific computer-related topics, in addition to R programming.-Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 105, No. 492, December 2010 This is a very gentle book. It enables students and statisticians, particularly those just entering the profession, to begin to familiarize themselves with important concepts and tools from the world of databases ? it is encouraging that such topics are finding their way into statistics courses at all. ? I found the style of the book very engaging ? . It has the Paul Murrell light touch, first evident to me in his eminently readable and comprehensive book on R graphics. Like that one, the present book has interesting, occasionally slightly unusual examples and an easy and elegant writing style. The book does not hesitate to offer plain, direct advice in contexts in which other authors might simply let readers exercise their personal preferences. For students, particularly, I think this is a good thing. ?-Bill Venables, CSIRO, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics, 2010