The SAS Workbook

Rating:
Summary: The Workbook Without the Answers
Review: There are three versions of the SAS Workbook: The combined workbook and solutions set, the workbook only, and the solutions only. If you haven't bought one of the single volume books, it's best to order the combined. Instructors, however, may wish their students to learn without the temptation of the solutions book nearby.

I've found, for example, that when I can't solve one of Cody's ingenious problems (which may be harder or easier than they first appear), I'll go for the answer book using some rationale like, 'well, of course i know the answer, i'm just not getting it right now," or "i KNOW the answer, but i don't have time to work on this, so i'll just 'check' to see if I have the right idea." All this may be true, but it bypasses the kind of experience you need to really learn SAS, and you may wind up thinking you know more than you do.

Cody himself states that the "solution is obvious once you see it" and "the learning potential of the book is lost." He therefore "removed the temptation for students to flip to the back of the book." (Come now, aren't we more disciplined than that?). A more pragmatic argument is that "teachers may...feel more comfortable in assigning problems without the solutions too close at hand.

This single-volume book has some very challenging problems, probably most appropriate for the intermediate to intermediate-advanced SAS programmer. You can really discover what you know about SAS by trying your hand at these well-conceived problems; as most SAS users know, the best way to learn is by doing. The problems give you some experience before you encounter potentially hoarier problems at work or home. (You may also wish to examine the shorter but ceaper "test" book by Robert Virgile.)

The Workbook's four sections are "Data Step Programming," "Procedures," "SAS Programming Techniques," and "Statistics Problems." Each of these sections has several brief topics; for example, Data Step Programming includes combining data sets, using IF-THEN/ELSE and other logical operators, numerical functions, dates, arrays, and working with longitudinal data. The 243-page "Workbook" has appendices and a very useful index.