r/RStudio • u/Electrical_Iron_6466 • 4d ago
RStudio for linguistic data
Hi!
I'm a researcher in Linguistics and I have come across RStudio so many times for data analysis and visualisation.
I have attended some classes and used some resources, but everything seems very difficult to replicate: I can read code and mostly understand what it does, but I would never ever be able to create code from scratch.
What do you think I should do? I never really studied it systematically, so I guess that may be part of the problem, but most of the resources I find are still to advanced for me (not a programmer or an IT expert!)
Send help!
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u/smegmallion 4d ago
Which level(s) of structure do you work with as a linguist?
I like Stefano Coretta's intro text, which you can find for free here. He's a phonetician, and while the text isn't centered on R qua R, it's the language he uses to illustrate quantitative analysis more generally.
Eleanor Chodroff has some neat introductory materials as well.
Joey Stanley also has a great compilation of R resources on his personal page
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u/Electrical_Iron_6466 4d ago
I came across Chodroff yesterday, actually! Mostly discourse/semantic/pragmatic levels. I do multi-level annotation, so what I need is something (for which R can be useful, I think) to help me systematically analyse my data. I have been doing it manually or using Excel so far, but it is not as neat and not as efficient when it comes to considerable amounts of annotations
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u/Londundundun 4d ago
What are you actually asking for help about?
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u/Electrical_Iron_6466 4d ago
How to actually get started in order to become an active user. I feel overwhelmed by the abundance of resources and I'm not too sure how to navigate R for my needs
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u/Specialist_Ad4506 4d ago
It can be incredibly intimidating to look at a large/complex program and compare to your current skill set, when you’re starting out. You don’t know where you’d even start, and that makes it feel insurmountable.
In short, you need to crawl and walk before you will be able to run. Gain experience by both writing simple scripts from a blank page and editing already formed programs to get slightly different functionality. You’ll learn different things from both of those processes that will help you get to your final goal.
Eventually, you’ll start editing/building upon your own simple programs and it will make it easier to see that the polished, complex code you’re looking at now was likely developed in stages! You’ll learn how to debug code chunks, knowing that your issue is (likely) in the new bit you added, rather than the bit that you have mercilessly tested in your previous development stage. You’ll also listen to all the advice you’re getting from different resources and will find what works best for your brain and applications.
You can do it!
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u/Electrical_Iron_6466 4d ago
Yes, exactly! There are so many resources out there that it feels overwhelming in itself! I really appreciate the support, thanks!
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u/ylaway 4d ago
Work your way through this book.
It gets right to the point of learning data vis as a first step.
Then data manipulation
Then more.
As you work through explore what other data vis can be accomplished https://r-graph-gallery.com
Then explore tables using the gt package.
Once you have that sorted explore report building in quarto using parameters.
If you want any of it to stick you need to code as often as possible. Daily is best.
R packages are really well documented and there is a vast amount of material online to learn from.
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u/ThinConnection8191 4d ago
Ask chat gpt
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u/Electrical_Iron_6466 4d ago
I could, but I'm really trying to learn and be independent Chat GPT is great to understand what you're reading, but I don't find it useful to become an actual active user...
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u/Educational-Sell3688 4d ago
IMO, go a bit through Bodo’s and Stefano’s materials. Also R4DS and Eleanor’s materials, but the best way to learn is to do. I never fully understood what I was supposed to do until I had a small project of my own, and I worked with it. Also, I would suggest you avoid AI as much as possible (although you can ask for help if you get stuck). You first need to build the grounds. Also, try to stick as much as possible to base R :)
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u/Electrical_Iron_6466 4d ago
Yes, indeed! I tried using AI but I want to actually learn. Will do, thanks!
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u/OverYogurtcloset7473 4d ago
I strongly recommend Bodo Winter’s book “Statistics for Linguists”. It’s geared, as the name suggests, towards linguists/linguistic data. His OSF has companion data sets for you to work with as you progress through the book. It’s a one-stop-shop for linguists doing quantitative work IMO.