IMPRS course 'Data visualisation with R'
- Start: Jun 6, 2024
- End: Jun 7, 2024
1. General information
Date: June 6-7, 2024
Time: 9.00 AM - 4 PM
Place: B0.002, MPI for Biogeochemistry
Lecturer: Guido Schulz
Category: Transferable skills
Credit points: 0.4
2. Course description
In this two day course, participants will learn how to create their own data visualizations using the statistical software R while following common best practices of data visualization. The course starts off with some theory on what makes a good data visualization and what pitfalls should be avoided. Then, we will dive into the grammar of graphics and its corresponding R package “ggplot2”. We’ll spend quite some time working on exercises using “ggplot2” and extend our plots with new features step by step - slowly approaching real life applications. We’ll also cover approaches for interactive visualizations. Furthermore, depending on the preferences of the participants, we will either cover map making (static as well as interactive) or dynamic reporting with “quarto”.
3. Learning Goals
At the end of the course participants will be able to
- take well informed decisions on how to visualize their data,
- create basic, reproducible, insightful visualizations using R and
- efficiently search online for solutions to their specific visualization problems.
4. Syllabus
- Visualization theory - the what and the why
- Common pitfalls and best practices in data visualization
- Visual vocabulary - how to pick the right viz
- The grammar of graphics in R: ggplot2 (theory, practice, exercise)
- Extending ggplot2 (theming, labeling, highlighting, exercise)
- Interactive Visualizations (plotly, exercise)
- One of the following - depending on the preferences of participants:
a) Maps in R (Short Intro to sf, static maps, interactive maps, exercise),
b) Dynamic Reporting (using quarto)
- Bonus topic (if there is enough time): Animations with gganimate
5. Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge of R and RStudio IDE
- Participants bring their own laptop with a working, recent installation of R (version should be >= 4.3.0) and RStudio IDE (version should be >= v2023.06). Please update R and RStudio at home if necessary before the course.
- Installation of various visualization related R packages (about a week before the course an R script that installs the necessary R packages will be sent to participants)
If you have any questions in advance, don’t hesitate to contact the tutor of the course Guido Schulz (training@inwt-statistics.de).
6. Registration
The registration opens on May 16th. IMPRS members will be notified via email.