About the series

This is the final workshop of a seven-part series, A Slower Introduction to R. The series is designed for UCSF researchers who intend to begin using R in their research. The series is intended to be a (relatively) slow-paced introduction to R. It does not assume any prior exposure to R or computer programming. The series has been designed to help learners approach common data-related tasks, and will draw on data examples from the health sciences (including public health and medicine). 

Each session (scheduled for 1.5 hours, but we may finish earlier on occasion) will involve short mini lectures, interspersed with hands-on exercises.

Registration for each session requires UCSF MyAccess credentials.

We plan to host intermediate-level workshops on R in Spring 2025 (dates and details pending).

About the session

Each session is titled in the form of a "How can I..." question. This second session is titled "How can I create new categorical variables?" and will cover: 

• factors
• categorizing continuous variables
• introduction to indices
• renaming groups
• collapsing categorical variables 

Participants are strongly encouraged to attend the prior session or familiarze themselves with that session's content (slides and exercises).

About the instructor

The instructor, Yea-Hung Chen, PhD, MS, has 10 years of experience teaching R to the UCSF community. He designed and taught UCSF's first-ever R course (Biostat 213) and taught the introductory biostatistics course for UCSF's MS in Global Health program (GHS 207). 

Accessibility statement

Slides will be available on the Course Learning Environment at least 24 hours prior to each session. Learners are welcome to use recording or closed-captioning features embedded in the Zoom platform. To request reasonable accommodation for this session, please email the instructor (yea-hung.chen@ucsf.edu) as soon as possible.