In past days of our lives, those who wanted to learn a stats package, would attend courses, and bail up/bake cakes for statisticians, but would mainly raise the drawbridge, lock the computer lab door and settle down with the VT100 terminal or Apple II or IBM PC and a copy of the brown or update blue SPSS Manual, or whatever.
Nowadays, folks tend to look things up on the web, something of a mixed blessing, and so maybe software consultants will now say LIUOTFW (‘Look It Up On The Flipping Web’) rather than the late, great RYFM (‘Read Your Flipping Manual’).
And yes, there are some great websites, and great online documentation supplied by the software venders, but there are also some great books, available in electronic and print form. A list of three of the many wonderful texts available for each package (IBM SPSS, SAS, Stata, R and Minitab) can be downloaded from the Downloadables section on this site.
IBM SPSS (in particular), R (ever growing), and to a slightly lesser extent SAS, seem to have the best range of primers and introductory texts.
IMHO though, Stata could do with a new colourful, fun primer (not necessarily a Dummies Guide, although there’s Roberto Pedace’s Econometrics for Dummies (Wiley, New York, 2013) which features Stata), perhaps one by Andy Field, who has already done superb books on SPSS, R and SAS.
While up on the soapbox, I reckon Minitab could do with a new primer for Psychologists / Social Scientists, much like that early ripsnorter by Ray Watson, Pip Pattison and Sue Finch, Beginning Statistics for Psychology (Prentice Hall, Sydney, 1993).
Anyway, in memories of days gone by, brew a pot of coffee or tea, unplug email, turn off the phone and the mobile/cell, and settle in for an initial night’s journey, on a set or two of real and interesting data, with a good stats package book, or two!
*(The title of this post riffs off the improbably boring and stereotyped 1950’s early readers still used in Victorian primary (grade) schools in the 1960’s
http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-vn4738114 (think Dick and Jane, or Alice and Jerry), as well as the far more entertaining and recent John and Betty’s Journey into Complex Numbers by Matt Bower http://www.slideshare.net/aus_autarch/john-and-betty )
Synergistic Statistical Consulting, Analysis, Arboronics 