Skip to content
R for the Rest of Us Logo
R for the Rest of Us Logo

Tidy Data Rule #1: Every Column is a Variable

This lesson is locked

Get access to all lessons in this course.

If the video is not playing correctly, you can watch it in a new window

Transcript

Click on the transcript to go to that point in the video. Please note that transcripts are auto generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.

View code shown in video 
# Load Packages -----------------------------------------------------------

library(tidyverse)
library(fs)
library(readxl)
library(janitor)

# Create Directories ------------------------------------------------------

dir_create("data-raw")

# Download Data -----------------------------------------------------------

# https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Pages/Assessment-Group-Reports.aspx

# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Documents/TestResults2122/pagr_schools_math_tot_raceethnicity_2122.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_tot_raceethnicity_2122.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Documents/TestResults2122/TestResults2019/pagr_schools_math_tot_raceethnicity_1819.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_tot_raceethnicity_1819.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/TestResults2018/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1718.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1718.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/TestResults2017/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1617.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1617.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/TestResults2016/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1516.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_raceethnicity_1516.xlsx")


# Import Data -------------------------------------------------------------

math_scores_2021_2022 <-
  read_excel(path = "data-raw/pagr_schools_math_tot_raceethnicity_2122.xlsx") |> 
  clean_names()


# Tidy and Clean Data -----------------------------------------------------

third_grade_math_proficiency_2021_2022 <-
  math_scores_2021_2022 |> 
  filter(student_group == "Total Population (All Students)") |> 
  filter(grade_level == "Grade 3") |> 
  select(academic_year, school_id, contains("number_level")) |> 
  pivot_longer(cols = starts_with("number_level"),
               names_to = "proficiency_level",
               values_to = "number_of_students")

Your Turn

Do the following to create a new data frame called enrollment_by_race_ethnicity_2022_2023:

  1. Start with the enrollment_2022_2023 data frame.

  2. select() the district_institution_id and school_institution_id variables as well as those about number of students by race/ethnicity and get rid of all others.

  3. Use pivot_longer() to convert all of the race/ethnicity variables into one variable.

  4. Within pivot_longer(), use the names_to argument to call that variable race_ethnicity.

  5. Within pivot_longer(), use the values_to argument to call that variable number_of_students.

Start with the code below.

# Load Packages -----------------------------------------------------------

library(tidyverse)
library(fs)
library(readxl)
library(janitor)

# Create Directories ------------------------------------------------------

dir_create("data-raw")

# Download Data -----------------------------------------------------------

# https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Pages/Student-Enrollment-Reports.aspx

# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Documents/fallmembershipreport_20222023.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20222023.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Documents/fallmembershipreport_20212022.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20212022.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Documents/fallmembershipreport_20202021.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20202021.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Documents/fallmembershipreport_20192020.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20192020.xlsx")
# 
# download.file("https://www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/students/Documents/fallmembershipreport_20182019.xlsx",
#               mode = "wb",
#               destfile = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20182019.xlsx")

# Import Data -------------------------------------------------------------

enrollment_2022_2023 <- read_excel(path = "data-raw/fallmembershipreport_20222023.xlsx",
                                   sheet = "School 2022-23") |> 
  clean_names()

Learn More

There is also a pivot_wider() function that does the opposite of pivot_longer(). You'll learn about this in the Tables lesson.

R for the Rest of Us consultant Albert Rapp has written a couple blog posts on basic and advanced pivoting.

Below, I've embedded a website made by Hasse Walum that provides a visual representation of how the pivot_longer() function works.

There’s also a nice article by Gavin Simpson of University College, London about pivoting. That article includes the animations below, made by Garrick Aden-Buie and Mara Averick, that gave a visual demonstration of pivoting.

Posit has a nice primer on reshaping data, complex with a few exercises.

Finally, a heads up: if you ever see references to the functions gather() and spread(), these are the previous iterations of the pivot functions. They still work (as the tweet below from tidyverse developer Hadley Wickham indicates), but the pivot functions are, in my view (and the view of many others), much easier to use.

Have any questions? Put them below and we will help you out!

You need to be signed-in to comment on this post. Login.