A Practical Introduction to Data Visualization with ggplot2 Workshop
1/27/20—1/28/20
9:00 AM-5:00 PM
2 Day Workshop
Kieran Healy
Professor
Duke University
This course will teach you how to think about good data visualization, and how to do it. We begin with some core principles about how we see graphs, what makes some of them better than others, and how to begin cultivating good judgment about visualization. Then, through a series of worked examples, you will learn how to use ggplot2 to make graphs piece by piece. The emphasis throughout is on acquiring a practical feel for and good judgment about the way ggplot2 can be used, from the simplest cases to sophisticated, customized data visualizations.
The effective use of graphs and charts is an important way to explore data for yourself and to communicate your ideas and results to others. Being able to produce effective plots from data is also the best way to develop an eye for reading and critically understanding visualizations made by others, whether presented in academia, business, policy, or the media. Learning how to visualize data effectively is more than just knowing how to write code that produces figures from data. This course will teach you how to do that. But it will also teach you how to think about the information you want to show, and how best to present it to your audience — including when the audience is yourself.
You should take this workshop if:
- You want to understand the basic principles behind effective data visualizations, and how they are implemented in R and ggplot2.
- You want to better develop your practical sense for why some graphs and figures work well while others do not.
- You want to feel more confident and fluent in ggplot2, in order to make, refine, and effectively present good data visualizations.