[R] very basic series correlation question

[Robert Baer]

On 1/4/2014 7:42 PM, Peter Turner wrote:
> Hi, I hope the following question is appropriate for the list; reflects
> that I've yet to use R and have limited statistical sensibility.
>
> I've two metal ion concentration data sets, one each for two nearby
> watercourses recorded over the same period (2008 to 2012), for which the
> sampling dates differ across that period.
>
> Would R's cor (stats) function be suitable to obtain a correlation measure
> for the Y data sets?
Probably if it is paired on years. Start by plotting your data as 
scatter plot to check linearity. To read the help:
?plot
Then read ?cor and note the method argument.  By default cor() gives you 
Pearson correlation coefficients, but depending on the nature of your 
data, non-parametric Spearman or Kendall coefficients might be more 
appropriate.
> Is there a better or more appropriate option?
>
>
> Thanks, Peter
>
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