Category: R

Introduction to Interpretable Machine Learning in R

Join our workshop on Introduction to Interpretable Machine Learning in R, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Introduction to Interpretable Machine Learning in R

Date: Thursday, October 10th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone) 

Speaker: Andreas Hofheinz, Andreas is a Data Analytics Consultant at Munich Re, holding a master’s degree in statistics from LMU Munich. In his role, he focuses on designing, implementing, and managing data analytics and AI use cases across the company, as well as delivering international Data & AI training sessions. Before joining Munich Re, Andreas worked in consulting, primarily on digital transformation projects across various industries. He has a keen interest in open source programming and is co-author of the leafdown and counterfactuals R packages.

Description: Interpretable machine learning (IML) methods are crucial for ensuring model trust, accountability, regulatory compliance, and enhancing model performance. This course provides an introduction to key concepts and methods in IML.

We start by exploring the differences between interpretable models, such as linear regression and decision trees, and black box models, like random forests and gradient boosting.

The focus then shifts to interpreting black box models using model-agnostic methods, which separate explanation from the model itself. You’ll learn about global model-agnostic methods like Partial Dependence Plots (PDP) and Permutation Feature Importance, which describe average model behavior, and local model-agnostic methods like Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) plots and Local Surrogate Models (LIME) for individual predictions. The hands-on, code-first approach ensures you gain practical experience with several IML methods using R.

It is recommended to have at least basic machine learning knowledge and some programming experience (ideally in R).


Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)

Please note that the registration confirmation email will be sent 1 day before the workshop.

How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).



You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!

DataCamp Free Access Week | Aug 26 – Sept 1

Access DataCamp’s entire platform for free, including all 500+ courses, for an entire week.


No catch, no credit card required—just unlimited learning across Python, R, SQL, Generative AI, and much more.


Sign up here.


What is Free Access Week and how do I get access?

Free Access Week is exactly that, a free week to explore all of DataCamp’s features for zero cost.

From August 26 (8 AM EST) – September 1 (11.59 PM EST), anyone can access DataCamp Premium features with a free DataCamp account.

All courses, products, and features are available in the browser, so you don’t need any additional software to access DataCamp.

Don’t have an account? Simply sign up here, and you’ll gain access on August 26.


What can you access during Free Week?


Short answer—everything DataCamp has to offer.

  • 500+ interactive data and AI courses: Including Introductions to R, ChatGPT, Python, SQL, and more. Alongside, advanced courses in MLOps, deep learning, image processing, and more.

  • Challenge yourself with skill and career tracks: Start from zero and work your way through tailored learning paths. Master some of the world’s most in-demand technologies and prepare yourself for a career in data and AI.

  • Access 150+ real-life projects: Apply your skills in real-world scenarios and build up your data portfolio.

  • Prove yourself with an industry-leading certification program: Starting by validating your fundamental data or AI skills, or prove your job-ready skills as a Data Scientist, Data Analyst, or Data Engineer.

Data science and AI learning for all levels

DataCamp is for everyone: whether you have no prior data skills or you’re proficient in multiple programming languages.

If you’re looking for a starting point, check out our interactive course list below to give you a glimpse into our 500+ course library:

Beginners courses:

Intermediate courses:

Advanced courses:

Premium projects to test skills in real-world scenarios and build your portfolio:


Beginner:


Intermediate:


Advanced:

Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy unlimited, world-class data and AI learning. 


Register now for access on August 26, 8 AM EST.

Creating R Functions workshop

Join our workshop on Creating R Functions, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Creating R Functions

Date: Thursday, September 26th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone) 

Speaker: Simisani Ndaba is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Botswana. Her research interests are in Data Science and Machine Learning.

She is the founder and co-organiser of R-Ladies Gaborone, an occasional blogger and enjoys creating data visualisation.


Description: This is a beginner friendly workshop on creating R functions, testing, error handling, and documenting them. Functions are written in order to make repetitive operations using a single command. In this lesson, we’ll learn how to write functions so that we can repeat several operations with a single command.


Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)

Please note that the registration confirmation email will be sent 1 day before the workshop.

How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).


You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!

Join DataCamp for a Month of Free Data & AI Literacy Events

Throughout September, DataCamp has brought together a selection of the world’s data and AI experts for a month of events, podcasts, articles, and more—all focused on driving data and AI literacy for individuals and businesses.


The lineup includes leaders from Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Colgate-Palmolive, Stanford University, DataBricks, and many more.


Plus, registration is completely free. Follow this link to browse the full lineup and save your seat.


Addressing the skills gap: Why data and AI literacy? 


Accelerated by generative AI adoption, building data and AI skills has never been more vital for a successful career.


For those looking to advance their careers, Microsoft found that 82% of employees will need new skills to keep up with the growth of AI.


An independent study from DataCamp uncovered how 62% of leaders believe their organization has an AI literacy skill gap, while 86% indicated data literacy to be vital for their teams’ daily tasks.


In other words, the time to upskill in data and AI is now.

What to expect this September


To tackle the skills gap, DataCamp is combining webinars, interactive sessions, podcasts, and more exploring how anyone can develop skills to thrive in the data and AI era—regardless of their starting point.


From working more effectively with ChatGPT to building data and AI skills across your organization, learn how the world’s top organizations are adapting their workforces today so they drive success with new technologies.


Plus, learn which data and AI skills leaders value most and learning resources to help you upskill. 

Browse events and pick your favorites


Whether you’re looking for an interactive webinar with a Technical Evangelist at Microsoft or the Field Chief Data Strategy Officer at Databricks, you’ll find specialist data and AI events that meet your career needs.


With sessions designed for complete beginners to advanced data practitioners or C-Suite leaders, simply head to DataCamp’s event page and start exploring.


Register now for all events for free. No catch, no hidden fees


From webinars and podcasts to cheat sheets and whitepapers, Data & AI Literacy Month is free for everyone.


Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the world’s data and AI literacy experts and build your skills for this new digital age.


Register Now

Advanced Panel Data Analysis in R workshop

Join our workshop on Advanced Panel Data Analysis in R, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Advanced Panel Data Analysis in R

Date: Thursday, September 19th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone)

Speaker: Tobias Rüttenauer is an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Social Science at University College London. His research focuses on the social aspects of climate change and environmental pollution, as well as quantitative research methods, particularly in spatial and panel data methods.

Description: This course provides a hands-on introduction to advanced panel data methods. It briefly covers the basic concepts of random effects (RE) and fixed effects (FE) estimators. Moving beyond the fundamentals, the workshop offers insights into recent developments and advances in panel data methods, such as the inclusion of individual or group-specific slopes and the identification of time-varying treatment effects via impact functions and novel Diff-in-Diff estimators.


Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)



How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).



You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!

Getting creative with ggplot2 workshop

Join our workshop on Getting creative with ggplot2, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Getting creative with ggplot2

Date: Thursday, September 12th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone) 

Speaker: Georgios Karamanis is a data visualization designer, psychiatrist and researcher, based in Uppsala, Sweden. With a strong background in visual arts and design, he uses almost exclusively R and ggplot2 to make elegant and creative data visualizations.

Description: Creative data visualizations stand out and can help get your message across more easily. But how do you achieve this? In this hands-on workshop, we will look at examples and explore ways to use ggplot2 and related packages to make your visualizations more eye-catching and personal.


Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)



How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).



You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!


Introduction to Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling in R workshop

Join our workshop on Introduction to Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling in R, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Introduction to Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling in R

Date:  Thursday, August 29th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone)

Speaker: Esteban Montenegro-Montenegro serves as a professor and researcher at California State University, Stanislaus. He holds a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Research, Methods, Statistics, and Evaluation from Texas Tech University. Currently, Dr. Montenegro devotes his time to teaching foundational topics in statistics using R. Moreover, he is actively engaged in learning and instructing advanced concepts in Bayesian inference and latent variable models.

Description: The workshop is designed to offer an introductory overview of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in R, followed by a simplified explanation of Bayesian inference through various examples. In the latter part of the workshop, participants will learn to estimate a Bayesian SEM model using the blavaan package in R. This workshop is ideal for those seeking a user-friendly introduction to SEM and Bayesian inference in R. Basic skills in R, such as opening datasets, understanding objects, functions, and loops, are assumed due to time constraints. Comprehensive materials and additional examples will be provided for further practice at home.

Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)



How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).



You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!

Introducing latent2likert v1.2.1: Converting Latent Variables into Likert Scale Responses

Introduction Package logo


In social sciences, variables of interest are often conceptualized as latent variables—hidden continuous variables measured through Likert scale questions, typically categorized as Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly agree. Researchers frequently aim to uncover these latent variables using various statistical techniques.

Accurate modeling of survey data is crucial for comparative analysis through simulation, especially when applying statistical techniques that require metric data. The latent2likert package addresses this need by providing an effective algorithm to simulate Likert response variables from hypothetical latent variables. This post introduces the features of the latent2likert package.

Simulating Likert Scale Responses

Using the rlikert function, you can generate random responses to Likert scale questions based on specified means and standard deviations of latent variables, with optional settings for skewness and correlations.

Reproducing Rating-Scale Data

From existing survey data, you can estimate the values of latent parameters using the estimate_params function. You can then generate new responses using the estimated parameters to create a new dataset with very similar properties.

Further Reading

For more detailed information and practical examples, please refer to the package website and vignette. The implemented algorithms are described in the function reference.

Related R Packages

To simulate Likert scale responses, the draw_likert function from the fabricatr package can recode a latent variable into a Likert response variable by specifying intervals that subdivide the continuous range. However, the latent2likert package offers an advantage by automatically calculating optimal intervals that minimize distortion between the latent variable and the Likert response variable for both normal and skew normal latent distributions, eliminating the need to manually specify the intervals.

There are also alternative approaches that do not rely on latent distributions. One method involves directly defining a discrete probability distribution and sampling from it using the sample function in R or the likert function from the wakefield package. Another approach is to specify the means, standard deviations, and correlations among Likert response variables. For this, you can use LikertMakeR or SimCorMultRes to generate correlated multinomial responses.

Additionally, you can define a data-generating process. For those familiar with item response theory, the mirt package allows users to specify discrimination and difficulty parameters for each response category.

Structural and Predictive Macro Analyses using the R Package bsvars workshop

Join our workshop on Structural and Predictive Macro Analyses using the R Package bsvars, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series! 

Here’s some more info: 

Title: Structural and Predictive Macro Analyses using the R Package bsvars

Date: Thursday, August 1st, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone) 

Speaker: Tomasz Wozniak, Tomasz is an econometrician who is developing new methods for empirical macroeconomic analyses. He codes these algorithms in C++ for R applications using Rcpp and authors the R package bsvars for Bayesian estimation of structural vector autoregressions. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne and co-organises the annual Melbourne Bayesian Econometrics Workshop.

Description: Quantifying the dynamic effects of well-isolated shocks on macro and financial aggregates is essential for governing institutions, academia, and business. This workshop presents a complete workflow for such analyses and focuses on various methods that facilitate interpretations and visualisations of data insights. It briefly introduces the necessary background on Bayesian Structural VARs. All this is complemented by a series of exercises, ensuring a hands-on learning experience. Please make sure to install the package following the instructions at https://bsvars.github.io/bsvars/#installation 

Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)



How can I register?



  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the registration form, attaching a screenshot of a donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after donation).

If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.


How can I sponsor a student?


  • Save your donation receipt (after the donation is processed, there is an option to enter your email address on the website to which the donation receipt is sent)

  • Fill in the sponsorship form, attaching the screenshot of the donation receipt (please attach the screenshot of the donation receipt that was emailed to you rather than the page you see after the donation). You can indicate whether you want to sponsor a particular student or we can allocate this spot ourselves to the students from the waiting list. You can also indicate whether you prefer us to prioritize students from developing countries when assigning place(s) that you sponsored.


If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).



You can also find more information about this workshop series,  a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.


Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!

Celebrating a Decade of EARL: Join us in Brighton, UK for EARL 2024!

See the full agenda and book your tickets today for EARL 2024 and key in RBTBZO at the checkout for a limited (while stocks last) 10% saving on your tickets as a special for R bloggers readers.


The Enterprise Applications of the R Language (EARL) Conference is a cross-sector tech conference focusing on the commercial use of the R programming language. Join us on 3rd – 5th September 2024 in Brighton for its 10th year as we hear from some of the world’s leading practitioners, consultants and industry experts in R, Python and data science.

Yes, you read that correctly! EARL has long been a cornerstone for professionals across industries who leverage R for real-world data challenges, but this year, we’re expanding our horizons by integrating Python. This convergence promises a more comprehensive view of modern data science, bridging statistical expertise with advanced computational capabilities.

New city, new languages – and new hosts too, with Brighton based data and analytics consultancy Datacove and Brighton’s tech sector hosts, Silicon Brighton taking over from the wonderful team at Ascent who have made EARL the event it is today.

As if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, our line-up of speakers includes the one and only Hadley Wickham! Joining him are Christel Swift from the BBC, Steph Locke from Microsoft, and renowned statistician and author Andy Field from the University of Sussex, each offering their unique insights on the industry today – and where we are headed tomorrow!

The conference agenda spans three days of workshops, keynotes, and talks featuring 40+ speakers from a diverse range of diverse and markets. It’s an unparalleled opportunity to learn, network, and engage with leading minds in both R and Python.

EARL 2024 wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of sponsors Posit, Ascent, and the R Consortium – and maybe you too! If you would like to showcase your brand in front of more than 200 of the world’s leading tech professionals, there are still sponsorship and advertising opportunities available. More details can be found on the EARL website, below.

We are excited to bring EARL 2024 to Brighton, a vibrant hub of culture, technology and innovation, and can’t wait to welcome you to what promises to be the most dynamic conference yet. Join us at The Grand Hotel, an elegant and historic venue located on the city’s picturesque seafront, blending classic charm with modern comforts. You’ll be treated to a delicious buffet lunch on both days of the conference, prepared by some of the city’s finest chefs – with tea and coffee also available throughout. Then cross the road for a memorable evening event at the British Airways i360, with stunning panoramic views of the city and coastline from the world’s tallest moving observation tower.

See the full agenda and book your tickets today for EARL 2024 and key in RBTBZO at the checkout for a limited (while stocks last) 10% saving on your tickets as a special for R bloggers readers.

See you in Brighton!