In order to do statistics, even at an elementary level, it is almost always necessary to make use of specialized software. Many statistics packages are available, and you are free to use the software of your choice. However, most of you have probably not used statistical software before, so we provide here background on two packages which are available on the ACPUB clusters, and for which student versions are also available.
Minitab has the advantage of being very easy to learn. It was specifically designed for use in education, it is adequate for the purposes of this course, and it is recommended. The disadvantage of Minitab is that the graphics capabilities available on the ACPUB (unix) version are primitive.
An alternative is Splus. Splus is widely used by professional statisticians. It is very powerful and flexible, but it is much harder to learn than Minitab. You may want to experiment with the capabilities of this more elaborate package later in the semester, but you are certainly not required to do so.
Links to tutorial information for these two packages are provided below.