During this session we take a quick tour of R Studio and cover the basic R syntax for loading, exploring, and cleaning data. We will also introduce R packages and discuss how to export results to other programs (e.g. MS Excel). Finally, we will situate R in the computational demographer’s tool belt and discuss connections with other useful software and services. (No previous experience or knowledge of R is needed.)
At the end of the session: participants will leave with all the tools below on their devices and develop an understanding of available tools.
- Introduction to GitHub, Setting up Git-hub extension for R for collaborative projects.
- Introduction to R, and R Markdown.
- Transitioning from STATA to R, Uploading/ Reading data into R (as csv of Stata file)
- Introduction to Google Colab
- Essential Packages will be provided
- Example code from existing projects will be demonstrated
Optional Reading (only skim through the section titles):
Kashyap et.al (2023). "Chapter 3: Digital and computational demography". In Research Handbook on Digital Sociology. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved Sep 12, 2025.
