Week 2

Visualizing spatial data with {ggplot2}

Summary

Learn to make plots and maps using the {ggplot} package. Visualization is a key method in learning how to explore, tidy, and interpret data.

Overview

This week is all about making plots and maps using the {ggplot} package. Learning to visualize data is a great place for start learning how to exploring data analytically and understanding the value of tidy data when working with R.

Key Objectives

• Introduce the concept of a “pipe” (%>% or |>) and how and when to use it
• Introduce the concept of the “grammar of graphics”
• Practice plotting and mapping data with {ggplot2}
• Practice mapping data with {mapview}

Key Skills

• Using keyboard shortcuts in RStudio
• Creating plots using ggplot(), aes(), and geom_() functions
• Creating static maps using geom_sf() and coord_sf()
• Creating interactive maps using mapview()
• Using theme_ functions to customize the appearance of a plot
• Using labs() to add labels to a plot

Prepare

Required readings

• Ch. 2 Data visualization in Hadley Wickham, Garrett Grolemund, and Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel R for Data Science: Import, Tidy, Transform, Visualize, and Model Data, 2nd edition. (Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, 2023), https://r4ds.hadley.nz/.
• Ch. 6 Workflow: scripts and projects in Wickham, Grolemund, and Çetinkaya-Rundel R for Data Science.
• Ch. 6 Maps in Hadley Wickham, Danielle Navarro, and Thomas Lin Pedersen Ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis, 3rd (WIP)., Use R! (Springer, 2023), https://ggplot2-book.org/index.html.

Optional readings

• Elliot Bentley “The Web as Medium for Data Visualization,” in The Data Journalism Handbook: Towards A Critical Data Practice, ed. Liliana Bounegru and Jonathan Gray, 2nd ed. (Amsterdam University Press, 2021), 138–142, doi:10.2307/j.ctv1qr6smr.29.
• ggplot2 workshop part 1 and part 2 with Thomas Lin Pedersen, 2020
• Ch. 9 Mapping in Robin Lovelace, Jakub Nowosad, and Jannes Muenchow Geocomputation with R, 2nd ed. (CRC Press, 2025), https://r.geocompx.org.

Participate

🖥️ Visualizing spatial data with {ggplot2}

Practice

🛠️️ Exercise 02