Overview: Why use Stata?

Stata is a complete, integrated statistical package that provides everything you need for data analysis, data management, and graphics. Stata 9 adds many new features such as linear mixed models, balanced repeated replications, and multinomial probit.

Fast, accurate, and easy to use

With a point-and-click interface, an intuitive command syntax, and online help, Stata is easy to use, fast, and accurate. All analyses can be reproduced and documented for publication and review.

Broad suite of statistical capabilities

Stata puts hundreds of statistical tools at your fingertips, from advanced techniques, such as survival models with frailty, dynamic panel data (DPD) regressions, generalized estimating equations (GEE), models with sample selection, ARCH, and estimation with complex survey samples; to linear and generalized linear models (GLM), regressions with count or binary outcomes, ANOVA/MANOVA, ARIMA, cluster analysis, standardization of rates, and case–control analysis; to basic tabulations and summary statistics.

Complete data-management facilities

Stata’s data-management commands give you complete control of all types of data: you can combine and reshape datasets, manage variables, and collect statistics across groups or replicates. You can work with byte, integer, long, float, double, and string variables. Stata also has advanced tools for managing specialized data such as survival/duration data, time-series data, panel/longitudinal data, categorical data, and survey data.

Publication-quality graphics

With no special graphics modes or separate modules, Stata makes it easy to generate publication-quality, distinctly styled graphs, including regression fit graphs, distributional plots, time-series graphs, and survival plots.

You can choose between existing graph styles or create your own.

Responsive and extensible

Stata is so programmable that developers and users add new features every day to respond to the growing demands of today's researchers. With Stata’s Internet capabilities, new features and official updates can be installed over the Internet with a single click. Many new features and informative articles are published quarterly in the refereed Stata Journal. Another great resource is Statalist, an independent listserver where more than 2,800 Stata users exchange over 1,000 postings and 50 programs each month.

Matrix programming—Mata

Though you don’t need to program to use Stata, it is comforting to know that a fast and complete matrix programming language is an integral part of Stata. Mata is both an interactive environment for manipulating matrices and a full development environment that can produce compiled and optimized code. It includes special features for processing panel data, performs operations on real or complex matrices, and is fully integrated with every aspect of Stata. Learn more about Mata.

Cross-platform compatible

Stata is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Unix computers (including Linux). Stata datasets, programs, and other data can be shared across platforms without translation.

You can also quickly and easily import datasets from other statistical packages, spreadsheets, and databases.

Complete documentation and other publications

Stata comes with a complete set of documentation, including a Base Reference Manual with more than 1,600 pages of information that includes calculation formulas, detailed examples, and references to the statistics literature. Our web site is a great resource for information about Stata, including answers to frequently asked questions.

You can read informative articles about statistics and new Stata features in the quarterly Stata Journal. The Stata News is a quarterly publication containing announcements of new releases and updates, NetCourse schedules, new books, Users Group meetings, new products, and other announcements of interest to Stata users. Stata Press also publishes books about using Stata and about statistics topics for professional researchers of all disciplines.

Technical support and learning resources

Excellent technical support is free to registered users of Stata. See what our customers are saying about our technical support.

Stata provides online training through NetCourses. You can learn about Stata at your office, home, or schools; working at your own pace; and at a reasonable cost. Courses topics range from getting started to advanced usage, programming, and statistics. See what participants say about our NetCourses.

You can also participate in short courses sponsored by Stata or third parties in various locations. Users Group meetings, held in many places around the world, provide opportunities to meet other users and learn from the experts, including the developers of Stata.

Widely used

Stata is distributed in more than 150 countries and is used by professionals in many fields of research.

Affordable

Stata offers several purchase options to fit your budget. Contact a sales representative to find out more about our affordable options.

You can download the STATA 9 brochure here