Graphing and Data Analysis software?

[Haborix]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering what software you all find useful for analyzing data. What I'm looking for needs to have extensive curve fitting abilities as well as error analysis tools, i.e., error bars and what not. I hope this isn't totally vague and you all have a piece of software in mind.

I should mention this is for one of the upper division physics labs at my university. We are pretty much left to our own devices in writing up a manuscript and presenting data.

Many Thanks,
Eric

P.S. I think we have Kaleidograph on the computers in the physics computer lab. Any thoughts on that one?

 

[David Dell]

We use R & excel in our company. Now many Big companies have started using tools like Tablueu & Visualcue for analyzing data.These tools provide brilliant, real-time dashboards to your key decision-makers. And do it all in a single, intuitive platform.Now R which is an dominating free software can be integrated with tools like Visualcue & other data analysis tools.

 

[gsal]

I am sure the physics lab is already familiar with python and its famous three-some numpy/scipy/matplotlib.

Then, there is newcomer julia

 

[FactChecker]

If you scan through this web site, notice that MATLAB is very popular. It is for heavy-duty engineering analysis and is expensive. I also see Mathematica mentioned here a lot. For heavy-duty data analysis, SAS is a leader in the field of statistical packages. It is also expensive. I have heard good things about R and was pleased with what I saw when I briefly looked at it. It is free. There is a learning curve for all of these. The company I work at uses MATLAB extensively. If your needs are not for heavy-duty analysis, there is a lot to be said for EXCEL because it is so universally available on Windows systems and many people already know how to use it.

 

[alphy]

Hello Eric,

Thank you for reaching out to the scientific community for software recommendations for data analysis. I have used various software for graphing and data analysis and have found some to be more useful than others.

Based on your requirements of extensive curve fitting abilities and error analysis tools, I would recommend considering OriginPro or SigmaPlot. Both of these software have robust curve fitting capabilities and offer various error analysis tools such as error bars, confidence intervals, and standard deviation calculations. They also have a user-friendly interface and offer a wide range of graphing options.

I am not familiar with Kaleidograph, but from my research, it seems to have limited curve fitting options and may not meet your needs for error analysis. However, if it is already available on your university's computers, it could be worth exploring its features and seeing if it meets your requirements.

In addition to these suggestions, I would also recommend checking with your university's library or IT department for any software subscriptions that may be available for students. This could potentially provide you with access to other software that may be useful for your data analysis needs.

I hope this helps and wish you all the best in your data analysis endeavors.

Best,