# R Data Science

> R programming for data analysis, visualization, and statistical workflows. Use when working with R scripts (.R), Quarto documents (.qmd), RMarkdown (.Rmd), or R projects. Covers tidyverse workflows, ggplot2 visualizations, statistical analysis, epidemiological methods, and reproducible research practices.

- Skill: `majiayu000/r-data-science` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add majiayu000/r-data-science`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/majiayu000/r-data-science/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: majiayu000 (https://skillmd.com/u/majiayu000)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/majiayu000/r-data-science

---


# R Data Science

## Overview

Generate high-quality R code following tidyverse conventions and modern best practices. This skill covers data manipulation, visualization, statistical analysis, and reproducible research workflows commonly used in public health, epidemiology, and data science.

## Core Principles

1. **Tidyverse-first**: Use tidyverse packages (dplyr, tidyr, ggplot2, purrr, readr) as the default approach
2. **Pipe-forward**: Use the native pipe `|>` for chains (R 4.1+); fall back to `%>%` for older versions
3. **Reproducibility**: Structure all work for reproducibility using Quarto, renv, and clear documentation
4. **Defensive coding**: Validate inputs, handle missing data explicitly, and fail informatively

## Quick Reference: Common Patterns

### Data Import
```r
library(tidyverse)

# CSV (most common)
df <- read_csv("data/raw/dataset.csv")

# Excel
df <- readxl::read_excel("data/raw/dataset.xlsx", sheet = "Sheet1")

# Clean column names immediately
df <- df |> janitor::clean_names()
```

### Data Wrangling Pipeline
```r
analysis_data <- raw_data |>
  # Clean and filter
  filter(!is.na(key_variable)) |>
  
  # Transform variables
  mutate(
    date = as.Date(date_string, format = "%Y-%m-%d"),
    age_group = cut(age, breaks = c(0, 18, 45, 65, Inf),
                    labels = c("0-17", "18-44", "45-64", "65+"))
  ) |>
  
  # Summarize
  group_by(region, age_group) |>
  summarize(
    n = n(),
    mean_value = mean(outcome, na.rm = TRUE),
    .groups = "drop"
  )
```

### Basic ggplot2 Visualization
```r
ggplot(df, aes(x = date, y = count, color = category)) +
  geom_line(linewidth = 1) +
  scale_color_brewer(palette = "Set2") +
  labs(
    title = "Trend Over Time",
    subtitle = "By category",
    x = "Date",
    y = "Count",
    color = "Category",
    caption = "Source: Dataset Name"
  ) +
  theme_minimal(base_size = 12) +
  theme(
    legend.position = "bottom",
    plot.title = element_text(face = "bold")
  )
```

## Tidyverse Style Guide Essentials

### Naming Conventions
- **snake_case** for objects and functions: `case_counts`, `calculate_rate()`
- **Verbs for functions**: `filter_outliers()`, `compute_summary()`
- **Nouns for data**: `patient_data`, `surveillance_df`
- **Avoid**: dots in names (reserved for S3), single letters except in lambdas

### Code Formatting
- **Indentation**: 2 spaces (never tabs)
- **Line length**: 80 characters maximum
- **Operators**: Spaces around `<-`, `=`, `+`, `|>`, but not `:`, `::`, `$`
- **Commas**: Space after, never before
- **Pipes**: New line after each `|>`

```r
# Good
result <- data |>
  filter(year >= 2020) |>
  group_by(county) |>
  summarize(total = sum(cases))

# Bad
result<-data|>filter(year>=2020)|>group_by(county)|>summarize(total=sum(cases))
```

### Assignment
- Use `<-` for assignment, never `=` or `->`
- Use `=` only for function arguments

### Comments
```r
# Load and clean surveillance data ------------------------------------------

# Calculate age-adjusted rates
# Using direct standardization method per CDC guidelines
adjusted_rate <- calculate_adjusted_rate(df, standard_pop)
```

## Package Ecosystem

### Core Tidyverse (Always Load)
```r
library(tidyverse)  # Loads: ggplot2, dplyr, tidyr, readr, purrr, tibble, stringr, forcats
```

### Data Import/Export
| Task | Package | Key Functions |
|------|---------|---------------|
| CSV/TSV | readr | `read_csv()`, `write_csv()` |
| Excel | readxl, writexl | `read_excel()`, `write_xlsx()` |
| SAS/SPSS/Stata | haven | `read_sas()`, `read_spss()`, `read_stata()` |
| JSON | jsonlite | `read_json()`, `fromJSON()` |
| Databases | DBI, dbplyr | `dbConnect()`, `tbl()` |

### Data Manipulation
| Task | Package | Key Functions |
|------|---------|---------------|
| Column cleaning | janitor | `clean_names()`, `tabyl()` |
| Date handling | lubridate | `ymd()`, `mdy()`, `floor_date()` |
| String operations | stringr | `str_detect()`, `str_extract()` |
| Missing data | naniar | `vis_miss()`, `replace_with_na()` |

### Visualization
| Task | Package | Key Functions |
|------|---------|---------------|
| Core plotting | ggplot2 | `ggplot()`, `geom_*()` |
| Extensions | ggrepel, patchwork | `geom_text_repel()`, `+` operator |
| Interactive | plotly | `ggplotly()` |
| Tables | gt, kableExtra | `gt()`, `kable()` |

### Statistical Analysis
| Task | Package | Key Functions |
|------|---------|---------------|
| Model summaries | broom | `tidy()`, `glance()`, `augment()` |
| Regression | stats, lme4 | `lm()`, `glm()`, `lmer()` |
| Survival | survival | `Surv()`, `survfit()`, `coxph()` |
| Survey data | survey | `svydesign()`, `svymean()` |

### Epidemiology & Public Health
| Task | Package | Key Functions |
|------|---------|---------------|
| Epi calculations | epiR | `epi.2by2()`, `epi.conf()` |
| Outbreak tools | incidence2, epicontacts | `incidence()`, `make_epicontacts()` |
| Disease mapping | SpatialEpi | `expected()`, `EBlocal()` |
| Surveillance | surveillance | `sts()`, `farrington()` |
| Rate calculations | epitools | `riskratio()`, `oddsratio()`, `ageadjust.direct()` |

## Reproducibility Standards

### Project Structure
```
project/
├── project.Rproj
├── renv.lock
├── CLAUDE.md              # Claude Code configuration
├── README.md
├── data/
│   ├── raw/               # Never modify
│   └── processed/         # Analysis-ready
├── R/                     # Custom functions
├── scripts/               # Pipeline scripts
├── analysis/              # Quarto documents
└── output/
    ├── figures/
    └── tables/
```

### Quarto Document Header
```yaml
---
title: "Analysis Title"
author: "Your Name"
date: today
format:
  html:
    toc: true
    code-fold: true
    embed-resources: true
execute:
  warning: false
  message: false
---
```

### Package Management with renv
```r
# Initialize (once per project)
renv::init()

# Snapshot dependencies after installing packages
renv::snapshot()

# Restore environment (for collaborators)
renv::restore()
```

### Workflow Documentation
Always include at the top of scripts:
```r
# ============================================================================
# Title: Analysis of [Subject]
# Author: [Name]
# Date: [Date]
# Purpose: [One-sentence description]
# Input: data/processed/clean_data.csv
# Output: output/figures/trend_plot.png
# ============================================================================
```

## Common Analysis Patterns

### Descriptive Statistics Table
```r
df |>
  group_by(category) |>
  summarize(
    n = n(),
    mean = mean(value, na.rm = TRUE),
    sd = sd(value, na.rm = TRUE),
    median = median(value, na.rm = TRUE),
    q25 = quantile(value, 0.25, na.rm = TRUE),
    q75 = quantile(value, 0.75, na.rm = TRUE)
  ) |>
  gt::gt() |>
  gt::fmt_number(columns = where(is.numeric), decimals = 2)
```

### Regression with Tidy Output
```r
model <- glm(outcome ~ exposure + age + sex, data = df, family = binomial)

# Tidy coefficients
tidy_results <- broom::tidy(model, conf.int = TRUE, exponentiate = TRUE) |>
  select(term, estimate, conf.low, conf.high, p.value)

# Model diagnostics
glance_results <- broom::glance(model)
```

### Epi Curve (Epidemic Curve)
```r
library(incidence2)

# Create incidence object
inc <- incidence(
  df,
  date_index = "onset_date",
  interval = "week",
  groups = "outcome_category"
)

# Plot
plot(inc) +
  labs(
    title = "Epidemic Curve",
    x = "Week of Onset",
    y = "Number of Cases"
  ) +
  theme_minimal()
```

### Rate Calculation
```r
# Age-adjusted rates using direct standardization
library(epitools)

# Stratum-specific counts and populations
result <- ageadjust.direct(
  count = df$cases,
  pop = df$population,
  stdpop = standard_population$pop  # e.g., US 2000 standard
)
```

## Error Handling

### Defensive Data Checks
```r
# Validate data before analysis
stopifnot(
  "Data frame is empty" = nrow(df) > 0,
  "Missing required columns" = all(c("id", "date", "value") %in% names(df)),
  "Duplicate IDs found" = !any(duplicated(df$id))
)

# Informative warnings for data quality issues
if (sum(is.na(df$key_var)) > 0) {
  warning(sprintf("%d missing values in key_var (%.1f%%)",
                  sum(is.na(df$key_var)),
                  100 * mean(is.na(df$key_var))))
}
```

### Safe File Operations
```r
# Check file exists before reading
if (!file.exists(filepath)) {
  stop(sprintf("File not found: %s", filepath))
}

# Create directories if needed
dir.create("output/figures", recursive = TRUE, showWarnings = FALSE)
```

## Performance Tips

### For Large Datasets
```r
# Use data.table for >1M rows
library(data.table)
dt <- fread("large_file.csv")

# Or use arrow for very large/parquet files
library(arrow)
df <- read_parquet("data.parquet")

# Lazy evaluation with duckdb
library(duckdb)
con <- dbConnect(duckdb())
df_lazy <- tbl(con, "data.csv")
```

### Vectorization Over Loops
```r
# Good: vectorized
df$rate <- df$cases / df$population * 100000

# Avoid: row-by-row loop
for (i in 1:nrow(df)) {
  df$rate[i] <- df$cases[i] / df$population[i] * 100000
}
```

## Additional Resources

For detailed patterns, consult:
- **Tidyverse Style Guide**: https://style.tidyverse.org/
- **R for Data Science (2e)**: https://r4ds.hadley.nz/
- **The Epidemiologist R Handbook**: https://epirhandbook.com/
- **Quarto Documentation**: https://quarto.org/

## Version History

- v1.0.0 (2025-12-04): Initial release for PubHealthAI community