Data visualization and storytelling

Materials for the "Data visualization and storytelling" PhD course, Fall 2023, University of Copenhagen

Teachers: Kaustubh Chakradeo, Jacob Curran-Sebastian, Neil Scheidwasser, Samir Bhatt

Setup

Install R:

• Download:
  • Windows: https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/R-4.3.1-win.exe
  • Mac (arm64; M1/M2 Macs): https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/R-4.3.1-arm64.pkg
  • Mac (x86): https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-x86_64/base/R-4.3.1-x86_64.pkg
  • Linux (Ubuntu): follow the instrcctions at https://cran.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu/
• Follow the steps after running the executable file to install
• Check: open a terminal (in Windows, Command Prompt) and type R --> it should open an R console

Install RStudio:

• Go to the RStudio website: https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/
• Scroll down and download the appropriate version depending on your OS.
• Check: open RStudio, and check that the R version is the same as the one you installed

Install R Markdown:

• We will use Rmarkdown to generate formated documents where text and code can be combined
• Installation:

install.packages('rmarkdown')

• Optional: use tinytex to generate PDFs using LaTeX

install.packages('tinytex')
tinytex::install_tinytex()

Data analysis and visualization packages:

A basic setup with a comprehensive set of packages for scientific computing and data visualisation can be installed via the tidyverse package:

install.packages('tidyverse')

If you prefer to have a minimal setup, you can install the following packages that we will use in this course: Basic data analysis:

install.packages('dplyr')
install.packages('Hmisc')

For static visualisation:

install.packages('ggplot2')
install.packages('ggmap') # Maps
install.packages('daggity') # Networks
install.packages('pheatmap') # Heatmaps
install.packages('gridExtra') # Subplots
install.packages('RColorBrewer') # More colours

For interactive visualisation:

install.packages('plotly')
install.packages('shiny')