Recipes

00. Literate Programming

An introduction to Quarto

In this recipe, we will introduce the concept of Literate Programming and describe how to implement this concept through Quarto. I will provide a demonstration of some of the features of Quarto and describe the main structural characteristics of a Quarto document to help you get off and running writing your own documents that combine code and prose.

01. Academic writing with Quarto

Key Quarto features for academic writing

The implementation of literate programming we are using in this course is Quarto with R. As we have seen in previously, Quarto provides the ability to combine prose and code in a single document. This is a powerful strategy for creating reproducible documents that can be easily updated and shared.

02. Reading, inspecting, and writing datasets

Basics of working with datasets in R

This Recipe guides you through the process of reading, inspecting, and writing datasets using R packages and functions in a Quarto environment. You’ll learn how to effectively combine code and narrative to create a reproducible document that can be shared with others.

03. Descriptive assessment of datasets

Summarizing data with statistics, tables, and plots

In this Recipe we will explore appropriate methods for summarizing variables in datasets given the number and informational values of the variable(s). We will build on our understanding of how to summarize data using statistics, tables, and plots.

04. Understanding the computing environment

Identify layers of computing environments and preview Git and GitHub workflows

In this recipe, we will learn how to scaffold a research project and how to use the tools and resources available to us to manage research projects. We will build on our understanding of the computing environment and the structure of reproducible projects and introduce new features of Git and GitHub.

05. Collecting and documenting data

Acquiring datasets with the Project Gutenberg API

At this point, we now have a strong undertanding of the foundations of programming in R and the data science workflow. Previous lessons, recipes, and labs focused on developing these skills while the chapters aimed to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the steps in the data science workflow. We now turn to applying our conceptual knowledge and our technical skills to accomplish the tasks of the data science workflow, starting with data acquisition.

06. Organizing and documenting data

Curating semi-structured data

After acquiring data, the next step in process is to organize data that is not tabular into a curated dataset. A curated dataset is a tidy dataset that reflects the data without major modifications. This dataset serves as a more general starting point for further data transformation. In this recipe, we will focus on curating data from a semi-structured format.

07. Transforming and documenting data

Prepare and enrich datasets for analysis

The curated dataset reflects a tidy version of the original data. This data is relatively project-neutral. A such, project-specific changes are often made to bring the data more in line with the research goals. This may include modifying the unit of observation and/ or adding additional attributes to the data. This process may generate one or more new datasets that are used for analysis. In this recipe, we will explore a practical example of transforming data.

08. Employing exploratory methods

Descriptive analysis and unsupervised machine learning

Exploratory analysis is a wide-ranging term that encompasses many different methods. In this recipe, we will focus on the methods that are most commonly used in the analysis of textual data. These include frequency and distributional analysis, clustering, and word embedding models.

09. Building predictive models

Supervised machine learning

This recipe will cover the process of building a predictive model to classify text into one of three Spanish dialects: Argentinian, Mexican, or Spanish. We will take a step-by-step approach that includes data preparation, model training and evaluation, and result interpretation. We will see practical examples of how to apply the {tidymodels} framework to build and evaluate a predictive model.

10. Building inference models

Simulation-based Null Hypothesis Testing

In this recipe, we will explore statistical modeling and data analysis with using a practical research hypothesis in the area of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. We’ll use {infer} to understand inference-based models. You’ll learn how to work with key variables, examine data distributions, and employ statistical methods to test hypotheses about their relationships. Our discussion will also involve improving our computing skills through practical exercises in data manipulation, visualization, and statistical analysis. This will provide you with the necessary tools to prepare, conduct, and interpret complex datasets and analyses.

11. Sharing research

Communicating research findings

In this recipe, I cover the tools and strategies for sharing research findings with the public and peers. We will begin assuming we are using Quarto websites as the primary tool for sharing research findings in both forums. From there, we will enter into some of the details of articles, presentations, and publishing research code and data.