Barcelona Summer School of Demography | Module 1: An introduction to R

Course description

The Barcelona Summer School of Demography (BSSD) program is a comprehensive four-week course focusing exclusively on the R statistical language. It is structured into four distinct modules, with each module spanning a week (20hs), designed to provide an in-depth understanding of different aspects of the R language: statistical and demographic analysis, data visualization and spatial analysis. Applicants are invited to enrol in either the full four-week BSSD course or select individual modules that align with their specific learning needs and interests.

Module 1 offers an introduction to R and RStudio environments for which no previous knowledge is required.

In the application form, candidates are required to specify the mode of attendance for the course, either in-person or online. Participants will be selected on a competitive basis based on motivation and research interests. Priority will be given to early-career researchers (Master and PhD students), but applicants from more advanced stages are also welcome. Applicants will be informed about the results of the selection process by 25 March 2025. Students registered in two or more other Bcn4Seasons School courses will be automatically considered for the Barcelona Summer School of Demography, without going through any selection process.

For further information, please contact bssd@ced.uab.cat

Content

Day 1: Introduction to R and RStudio; using the editor, main characteristics of RStudio, packages; data handling: import/export data to/from R; tidy data; fundamentals of ggplot2.
Day 2: Tidy data wrangling, Data processing pipelines, worked examples.
Day 3: Function writing, modularity, using functions in pipelines.
Day 4: Conditional execution: the ‘if’ command, introduction to for-loops, combining `if` and for-loops, more complex functions.
Day 5: Join operations, group challenges, review of the module.

Learning Highlights

Participants will learn general ways to interact with R and RStudio and how to use the more general family functions of R.

Target audience

Master and PhD Students, Researchers, Data Journalists and people how work with population data in general.

Required training or equipment

Participants are expected to bring their own laptop, with R and RStudio installed.

Lecturer

Sergi Trias Llimós

Sergi is a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Demographic Studies (CED). His research focuses on lifestyle-related health outcomes, causes of death and inequalities in health and mortality. In 2022 he obtained the European Demographer Award.

Más información