Before You Begin

Data Analytics for Social Sciences

By Kristina Becvar in DACSS UMass Amherst Data Analytics R

May 28, 2022

If you already are an expert in “R”, “RStudio”, and “GitHub”, you are likely not in the place I was when I began the DACSS program, and bless you! For me, it took a lot of remedial catch-up work to become even remotely fluent in these new languages.

A few different entry points to understand a little about data are in this list, though not exhaustive and definitely not the final words on the matter!

Background

Articles

Books

Videos

Understand the Elements of Your New Workflow

  • Complete these installation instructions.

  • Test your connection between GitHub and RStudio following these steps.

  • NOTE: Experts strongly recommend that if you are not already a fluent GitHub user you choose HTTPS over SSH.

  • Read through as much as possible on Happy Git With R to understand how Git, GitHub, R, and RStudio and how they all work together.

Installations

After installing Git/GitHub/R/RStudio, there are some packages you will use from the beginning, which you can install by connecting to the internet, opening RStudio, and running at the command line:

```r
> install.packages(c("usethis", "remotes", "distill", 
                   "postcards", "here", "tidyverse"))
```

Get Down with Markdown

Configure Your GitHub Profile

Customize Your Profile README

You can share information about yourself with the community on GitHub by creating a profile README. GitHub shows your profile README at the top of your profile page.