Taxonomy of Data

Concept Acquisition

  1. R is a calculator that can save objects; but with functions and objects that are far richer than a normal calculator
  2. R scripts or Qmd files as final draft of code; the console as the sandbox
  3. Functions generally have input, optional args, and output. Some operate by collapsing a vector into a scalar; others operate on each element of a vector separately.
  4. Help files are a good way to learn how to use a function.
  5. Data types are encoded in R’s classes.
  6. The vector is a data structure used for storing values that share the same type (linked to the notion of a variable).
  7. The data frame is a data structure that binds together vectors of the same length and is a direct implementation of the general notion of data frame.

Tool Acquisition

  1. +, -, *, /, ^
  2. <-
  3. ?
  4. library()
  5. c()
  6. class()
  7. sum()
  8. log()
  9. mean()
  10. tibble()

Concept Application

  1. Identify the unit of observation in a written description of a study or in a given data frame.
  2. Identify the variables recorded on the observations based on a written description of a study or in a given data frame. Classify each one according to the taxonomy of data.
  3. Distinguish between a (tidy) data frame and other tabular displays.