Data Carpentry: Spelman College

General Information

Data Carpentry workshops are for any researcher who has data they want to analyze, and no prior computational experience is required. This hands-on workshop teaches basic concepts, skills and tools for working more effectively with data.

We will cover Data organization in spreadsheets, Introduction to Python, Data refinement with OpenRefine and Data visualization in Python. Participants should bring their laptops and plan to participate actively. By the end of the workshop learners should be able to more effectively manage and analyze data and be able to apply the tools and approaches directly to their ongoing research.

Who: The course is aimed at research faculty.

Where: 350 Spelman Lane SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30314. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.

Requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating sytem (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below). They are also required to abide by Data Carpentry's Code of Conduct. If you do have a laptop a computer will be provided for you.

Contact: Please mail dgasmith@vt.edu for more information.

Preliminary Schedule

Surveys

Please be sure to complete these surveys before and after the workshop.

Pre-workshop Survey

Post-workshop Survey

Day 1

Morning	Data organization in spreadsheets
Afternoon	Introduction to Python

Day 2

Morning	Data refinement with OpenRefine
Afternoon	Data visualization in Python

Etherpad: http://pad.software-carpentry.org/2017-06-20-Spelman.
We will use this Etherpad for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.

Syllabus

Data Organization in Spreadsheets

Formatting Data Tables
Formatting Problems
Dates as Data
Quality Control
Exporting Data
Reference...

Open Refine Introduction

Filtering and Sorting with OpenRefine
Examining Numbers in OpenRefine
Scripts from OpenRefine
Exporting and Saving Data from OpenRefine
Reference...

Programming in Python

Introductory Programming in Python
Introductory to Python Pandas
Indexing, Slicing, and Subsetting DataFrames
Data Types and Formats
Combining DataFrames
Data workflows and automation
Plotting with ggplot
Matplotlib and Python Pandas
Reference...

Setup

If you are bringing a personal laptop please follow the instructions below. A computer with the requisite software will be provided for you if you do not elect to bring a personal computer. To participate in a Data Carpentry workshop, you will need working copies of the described software. Please make sure to install everything (or at least to download the installers) before the start of your workshop. Participants should bring and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop.

Please follow these for Speadsheets and OpenRefine: Setup Instructions.

You will also need Python:

Python

Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we recommend Anaconda, an all-in-one installer.

Regardless of how you choose to install it, please make sure you install Python version 3.x (e.g., 3.4 is fine).

We will teach Python using the IPython notebook, a programming environment that runs in a web browser. For this to work you will need a reasonably up-to-date browser. The current versions of the Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

Windows

Video Tutorial

Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
Download the Python 3 installer for Windows.
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Make Anaconda the default Python.

Mac OS X