Also:
The very best introduction to programming, that I always suggest to novices, is the following book:
http://web.mit.edu/alexmv/6.S184/sicp.pdf
On YT you can also find a complete sequence of the related MIT lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY
Take your time, spend a few months going through this material and you will probably learn enough about programming computeres to assist you in your research.
In my opinion, it is way better to go through these material instead of just starting from Excel or Access that curiously appear to be so popular here in PA
[YT="2Op3QLzMgSY"]2Op3QLzMgSY[/YT]
