SLinRA2S: actively supporting regression analysis with R

There is no doubt that acquiring high quality information is crucial to achieving effective decision makings. In general the production of information for a particular decision scenario at hand involves a process of analyzing data collected from various sources, using some statistical methods. The proper application of the chosen statistical methods for analysis in turn relates, in a large portion, to the quality of the information computed for the decision scenario. To ensure a consistent and sound application of statistical methods for data analysis we followed the idea of active support and designed a tentative data analysis assistor, SLinRA2S, which can guide a data analyst through the process of applying simple linear regression analysis on data sets stored as external files or in databases. SLinRA2S is implemented in Java on an open platform and it invokes R for statistical functions. Outputs from SLinRA2S were verified against outputs from SPSS for correctness and validity. The assistor not only promises the relief of a data analyst from computation errands but also contributes to the correct application of statistical methods to a degree. In the end, the assistor could contribute to the production of high quality business analytics.