SAS

1. Introduction

SAS is the acronym for Statistical Analysis System is a statistical software suite developed by
SAS Institute for data management, advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence,
criminal investigation and predictive analytics.

SAS was developed at North Carolina State University from 1966 until 1976, when SAS
Institute was incorporated. SAS was further in the 1980s and 1990s with the addition of new
statistical procedures, additional components and the introduction of JMP. A point-and-click
interface was added in version 9 in 2004. A social media analytics product was added in 2010.

Plus, SAS is a software that can mine, alter, manage and retrieve data from variety of sources
and perform statistical analysis on it. SAS provides a graphical point-and-click user UI for non-
technical users and more through the SAS language.

Moreover, SAS Risk Management is specifically designed for financial institutions. This
solution has been designed as a comprehensive and integrated suite of quantitative risk
management application for numerous functionalities and capabilities.

Furthermore, SAS also offers Free University Edition which can be downloaded by anyone for
non-commercial user. The first announcement regarding this Free University Edition seems to have
appeared in newspapers on 28 May 2014. With this University students and educators alike can
explore the realm of data analytics without having to pay for the software.

2. Dissection

Figure 1

Briefly, according to Figure 1, provided by the SAS EMEA Strategy, Mika Hakuni, SAS Risk
Management agenda is that it’ll perform ‘Collect’, ‘Analyze’ and ‘Report’ functions.

Firstly, for the ‘Collect’ function, the software needs to gain access to DBMS systems and
other data sources such DB2, Sybase, Oracle, Informix, MS Excel, Ingress. Namely, this function is
called DATA steps, which is retrieves and manipulate data. The DATA step has executable statements
that result in the software taking an action, and declarative statements that provide instructions to
read a data set or alter the data’s appearance. The DATA steps has two phases : compilation and
execution. In the compilation phase, declarative statements are processed and syntax errors are
identified. Afterwards, the execution phase processes each executable statement sequentially. Data
sets are organized into tables with rows called “observations” and columns called “variables”.
Additionally, each piece of data has a descriptor and a value.

Secondly, for the ‘Analyze’ function, the system will deploy tools/features such as Risk
Engine in which it has Sensitive Analysis, Scenario Analysis and Stress testing, Delta-Normal VaR,
Historical Simulation VaR, Monte Carlo VaR and exposure calculations. SAS also use modelling sub-
system such as time series modeling, estimation and forecasting. In addition, this software also
displays exploratory graphics such as interactive histograms, scatter plots and rotating 3-D plots.
Namely, this function is under the broader term of PROC steps. PROC steps consists of PROC
statements that call upon named procedures. Procedures perform analysis and reporting on data
sets to produce statistics, analyses and graphics There are more than 300 named procedures and
each one contains a substantial body of programming and statistical work. PROC statements can also
display results, sort data or perform other operations.

3. Previews

3.1 Main Features

SAS/STAT provides a multitude of statistical methods and techniques including :

a) Analysis of Variance
b) Bayesian Analysis
c) Categorical Data Analysis
d) Cluster Analysis
e) Descriptive Statistics
f) Discriminant Analysis
g) Distribution Analysis
h) Exact Methods
i) Group Sequential Design and Analysis
j) Market Research Missing Value Imputation
k) Mixed Models
l) Multivariate Analysis
m) Nonparametric Statistics
n) Power and Sample Size
o) Psychometric Analysis
p) Regression and Spatial Analysis

Meanwhile, SAS/IML provides matrix programming language for more specialized analyses and data
exploration including :

a) Interactive Matrix Programming Language

b) Control Statements
c) Matrix Functions
d) Linear Algebra and Statistical Functions
e) Time Series Functions
f) Numerical Analysis Functions
g) Extensive Set of Dynamic Mathematical and Matrix Operators
h) Interactive Data Analysis

3.2 Required Installation Specification

1. Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10

2. 64-bit hardware 1GB RAM
3. Installed either :
a) Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, 10 or 11
b) Mozilla Firefox 21 or later
c) Google Chrome 27 or later
4. Already installed Oracle VirtualBox for Windows.
5. Created a folder for your SAS files.
6. Already signed to SAS Profile.

3.3 Screenshots