Data Science Lab - Introduction
Evangeline Reynolds
2026-06-26
Intro to Data Science Lab - practice for Intro to Data Science Lab - JSM talk - Posit Conf talk…
Why am I here?
2020: Stats instructor teaching “Introduction to Statistical Investigations”
loved,
–
but… missed coded workflow (there was some, but less that I’d have liked)
There’s something really grounding (and powerful?) about going back to a code narrative, being able to review the steps of what you did.
(quotes from Winston, Paul)
Some instructors may train students in using a specific software package, but mastery of advanced programming skills should not be allowed to crowd out data analysis skills or statistical thinking.
Could we have the best of both worlds?
Could we do what we were doing on chalkboards (love a chalk board!! analogue gold standard), but also do that w/ code, consistent w/ the touch of ggplot2 students were learning anyway, and code that would serve the concepts being learned instead of shoehorning functions around the statistical narrative.
Chalkboard (applet) version went like this…
library(tidyverse)
library(ggprop.test)
donor_data |>
ggplot() +
aes(x = decision) +
geom_stack() +
geom_stack_label() +
geom_support() +
geom_prop() +
geom_prop_label() +
stamp_prop(.5) +
geom_binomial_null() +
geom_normal_prop_null(color = "green")
Coded version might go like this…
And you guessed it, code now exists for you to write this narrative down!!
{ggprop.test}
So the motivation today, is to show you some ggplot2 extension moves - but also to think about how we can create new vocabulary to write down the statistical narratives that we are telling all the time - be it in the classroom or elsewhere - with greater precision and using new bespoke vocabulary (functions) if needed.
Isn’t this like a lot of effort to be able to ‘write down a statistical poem’ something down?
Why don’t we just have students use base ggplot2, and do the wrangling/calculations by hand?
Some instructors may train students in using a specific software package, but mastery of advanced programming skills should not be allowed to crowd out data analysis skills or statistical thinking.
Mastry of the minutia of ggplot2 and data manipulation and should not be allowed to crowd out statistical thinking.
Leland McInnes’ (UMAP dimentionality reduction technique) red star…
necessarily particular details of how any given technique works so that means I’m going to introduce a little bit of extra notation which is gonna be really useful repeatedly and that’s the red star. So sometimes technical details
really really matter but they’re not worth getting into because by the time you’ve explained all the technical details you have lost the point of what you are trying to explain in the first place so if I just want the big picture idea 1:22 and there are some technical details that make that statement not technically true but morally it’s the right thing
Huge audiences:
1000 cadets every year…
EAPOST
100000 AP stats high school students per year
–
deserve bespoke vocab that allows us to write down statistical narrative elegantly!
Easy geom recipes
6 years later..
Initiative type * Select the option that best describes your organizational structure. “Recurring meetup” refers to groups that meet consistently throughout the year, whereas “One-time event” is for conferences or workshops.
Community initiative name ggplot2 extenders meetup Brief community initiative summary Please include any relevant details about your community initiative. supporting grammar of graphics open source developers Community initiative website https://ggplot2-extenders.github.io/ggplot-extension-club/ https://github.com/ggplot2-extenders/ggplot-extension-club/discussions Community initiative location City, State/Country. If the event is virtual, please enter “Virtual”. Virtual Current number of members 250 Average attendance per meeting 15-30 Frequency of meetings Once or twice a month
Support request Support type request Select the items you need to make your initiative successful. Please note that physical swag support outside of North America may be limited due to shipping constraints. Monetary support Materials and/or swag Social media promotion Volunteers Other: Monetary support request If you are requesting monetary support, please provide an amount in USD. Feel free to specify a range. ?? Benefits of sponsorship List the specific ways you can recognize Posit’s contribution. Examples include logo placement on your website, social media shout-outs, post-event photos, or mentions in promotional emails. Happy to do all of this Posit employee contact If you have been coordinating with someone at Posit, let us know so we can sync with them internally. Hadley Has Posit previously sponsored your event or initiative? Knowing your history with Posit helps us understand the long-term impact of our community partnerships. Yes No I don’t know Will there be a recording? Yes No I don’t know
Alignment Does your event/community initiative focus on R and/or Python? Does your event or initiative involve Posit software? How is your group’s knowledge shared? * Successful applications often contribute back to the community. Detail how you will share resources, such as hosting code on public GitHub repositories or sharing recorded sessions. We know a form can’t capture everything. If there is anything else you’d like us to know, please share it here.
Intro Thoughts
Status Quo
library(tidyverse)