R can be used to summarize and visualize data in various ways. Descriptive statistics like mean, median, range can summarize a single variable. Correlation and regression can show relationships between two variables. Frequency tables and cross tabs show counts and proportions of variables. Graphs like bar plots, histograms, boxplots and more can visualize one or more variables. Pie charts, scatter plots and heat maps are other options. R has functions for each of these techniques to explore and communicate patterns in data.