Using Stata for Research

Stata is a statistical software package that is widely used for ‘data analysis, data management, and graphics’ (StataCorp 2023; OnlineSPSS 2018). It provides a list of tools that researchers from any discipline can use to analyse and interpret data.

For example, in Stata, you can use your own data to do statistical modelling, regression analysis, hypothesis testing, meta-analysis and much more. From your data, you can also generate graphs and visuals of publication quality.

However, there are pros and cons to using Stata for data analysis. Here are some of the main ones you might want to consider:

PROS	CONS
Easy-to-use interface: Stata’s interface is more accessible for beginners	Cost: Stata can be expensive, particularly the more advanced versions
Comprehensive statistical capabilities: Stata is useful for research and data management tasks	Limited data visualisation: If you want to further edit your graphics, it may require extra programming knowledge
Multiple versions: There are different versions of Stata available depending on your system and data requirements	Steep learning curve for advanced features: While some Stata tools are beginner friendly, advanced tools may be difficult to learn

PROS

CONS

Easy-to-use interface:

Stata’s interface is more accessible for beginners

Cost:

Stata can be expensive, particularly the more advanced versions

Comprehensive statistical capabilities:

Stata is useful for research and data management tasks

Limited data visualisation:

If you want to further edit your graphics, it may require extra programming knowledge

Multiple versions:

There are different versions of Stata available depending on your system and data requirements

Steep learning curve for advanced features:

While some Stata tools are beginner friendly, advanced tools may be difficult to learn

To learn more about Stata and how to use it, please see the resources below.

(Author: Julia Mathews)

What is it?

Manuals & Guides:

User’s guide – Stata: Release 18 by StataCorp (2023)

This is Stata’s official user’s guide. In chapter 2, called ‘A brief description of Stata’, the guide introduces you to Stata and some of its tools.

(Academic reference: StataCorp. (2023). Stata: Release 18. Statistical Software. College Station, TX: StataCorp LLC. https://www.stata.com/manuals/u.pdf)

Websites:

Stata: Software for Statistics and Data Science – Why Stata? by Timberlake Consultants (2023)

This website gives you an overview of Stata. You can click on different tabs, such as ‘Products’, ‘Features’, and ‘System Requirements’ to see what Stata has to offer and if it is the right software for you.

(Academic reference: Timberlake Consultants. (2023). Stata: Software for statistics and data science why Stata?. https://www.stata-uk.com/software/stata.html)

How is it done?

Videos:

edX week 1: Introduction to Stata by Data Learner (2014)

This is a video playlist from an online course on how to use Stata. It consists of 6 short videos. The playlist can help you get started with the software, understand its interface and create variables and graphs.

(Academic reference: Data Learner. (2014, June 24). edX week 1: Introduction to Stata. [Video playlist]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6p7gIm6aWd-Y1htnfC9QN57fACk8PiCo)

Manuals & Guidelines:

Stata resources and support by StataCorp (2023)

This is Stata’s official set of resources to help you learn how to use their software. It has links to videos, webinars, short courses, books, an installation guide and more.

(Academic reference: StataCorp. (2023). Stata resources and support. Stata. https://www.stata.com/support/)

Stata cheat sheets by Tim Essam and Laura Hughes (2021)

This is a collection of Stata ‘cheat sheets’. The sheets tell you all the main tools in Stata you might use. They cover a range of topics, including data analysis, programming, processing, transformation and visualisation.

(Academic reference: Essam, T. & Hughes, L. (2021). Stata cheat sheets. Stata. https://www.stata.com/bookstore/stata-cheat-sheets/)

Stata by UCLA: Statistical Consulting Group (2021)

This is a collection of resources on Stata. It includes FAQs, learning modules, a quick-reference guide, annotated output, textbook examples and more. This resource is also highly recommended by many other Stata guides.

(Academic reference: UCLA Statistical Consulting Group. (2021). Stata. https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/stata/)

A practical introduction to Stata by Mark E. McGovern (2012)

This guide gives you an in-depth introduction to Stata. It covers topics such as data management, graphing, regression analysis, binary outcomes, ordered and multinomial regression, time series and panel data.

(Academic reference: McGovern, M. E. (2012). A practical introduction to Stata. Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Geary Institute and School of Economics, University College Dublin. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgovern/files/practical_introduction_to_stata.pdf)

Statistical modelling in Stata by Mark Lunt (2020)

This is a collection of lecture notes, slides and data files for a course on statistical inference. For each week of the course, there is a Stata exercise handout, practical and solution.

(Academic reference: Lunt, M. (2020). Statistical modelling with Stata. University of Manchester. https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/mark.lunt/stats_course.html)

OpenIntro labs in Stata by Andrew Bray, Jenna Krall, Ben Baumer, Cetinkaya Rundel, Albert Y. Kim, John Muschelli, and Chester Ismay (2022)

This guide links statistics and Stata with exercises you can do. It covers topics such as the normal distribution, probability, sampling distributions, confidence intervals and linear regression.

(Academic reference: Bray, A., Krall, J., Baumer, B., Rundel, C., Kim, A. Y., Muschelli, J., & Ismay, C. (2022). OpenIntro labs in Stata. OpenIntroStat. https://openintrostat.github.io/oilabs-stata/)

Getting started series: Stata by Oscar Torres-Reyna (n.d.)

This guide is useful for teaching you how to do specific topics in Stata. It has many examples and covers data manipulation, regression analysis, factor analysis, times series and more. If you are new to Stata, it is recommended you start at the beginning of the series. If you have more experience, you can click to a certain topic you want to learn about.

(Academic reference: Torres-Reyna, O. (n.d.). Getting started series: Stata. Princeton University Department of Economics, Economics Statistics Services. https://www.princeton.edu/~otorres/Stata/)

Stata coding guide by Julian Reif (n.d.)

This is an advanced coding guide to Stata. It teaches you how to use Stata more accurately, make tables and graphs automatically, and combine Stata with R.

(Academic reference: Reif, J. (n.d.). Stata coding guide. Julian Reif. https://julianreif.com/guide/)

Method in action

Articles:

Impact of viral epidemic outbreaks on mental health of healthcare workers: a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis by Maria J. Serrano-Ripoll, Jose F. Meneses-Echavez, Ignacio Ricci-Cabello, David Fraile-Navarro, Maria A. Fiol-deRoque, Guadalupe Pastor-Moreno, Adoración Castro, Isabel Ruiz-Pérez, Rocío Zamanillo Campos and Daniela C. Gonçalves-Bradley (2020)

This article uses Stata for a rapid systematic review. The researchers wanted to find out how disease outbreaks impact healthcare workers’ mental health. The article uses Stata to do subgroup analyses and statistical tests. It also explains its use of Stata’s ‘metaprop’ command.

(Academic reference: Serrano-Ripoll, M. J., Meneses-Echavez, J. F., Ricci-Cabello, I., Fraile-Navarro, D., Fiol-deRoque, M. A., Pastor-Moreno, G., Castro, A., Ruiz-Pérez, I., Campos, R. Z., & Gonçalves-Bradley, D. C. (2020). Impact of viral epidemic outbreaks on mental health of healthcare workers: A rapid systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.034)