What is the output of the statement SUBSTR('Statistics',1,4)?

The output of the statement SUBSTR('Statistics', 1, 4) is "Stat" because the SUBSTR function in SAS extracts a substring from a given string starting at a specified position for a certain length. Here, the function begins at position 1, which is the first character of the string 'Statistics', and extracts the next 4 characters.

Consequently, when it starts from the first position, it retrieves:

1. 'S' (1st position)

2. 't' (2nd position)

3. 'a' (3rd position)

4. 't' (4th position)

This gives the result "Stat", which is the first four characters of the original string. Understanding how the SUBSTR function works in terms of character indexing and length allows for correct manipulation and extraction of string data in SAS, making it a valuable function for programming tasks involving string operations.