Peter Dalgaard‘s Introductory Statistics with R is an accessible text full of examples to learn R. In the chapter on survival analysis (chapter 14), the book seems to have become outdated, and a small modification is needed to get the code run:
library(survival) # package for survival analysis
library(ISwR) # for the data in the example
attach(melanom)
s <- Surv(days, status==1) # creating Surv object
s.fit <- survfit(s~1) # note the ~1 formula
plot(s.fit) # Kaplan–Meier plot
According to the code in the book, the code s.fit <- survfit(s) would work; it doesn’t. We need to specify a formula even in the empty model (compare this to the univariate example on p.253).
It’s a trivial thing, but for the uninitiated R can be a bit daunting, especially when the cookbook at hand fails… and the online help isn’t consulted.
Dalgaard, Peter. 2008. Introductory Statistics with R. Springer.
Didier Ruedin 