*Cue cheezy advertising voice* 

Do you work with surveys?  

Are you frustrated by having to do the same manual tasks for each one? 

Unsure if you’ve made mistakes? 

Well this is the workshop for you! 

Description: This workshop will focus on developing practical skills in data management that are broadly applicable to working with survey data. Using the R coding language, this day-long session is meant for those that have little to no experience with coding, with a goal to build comfort and confidence in using a coding language to make your survey workflows more efficient and reproducible.

Intended Audience: Those that work with surveys in any capacity (research, registration forms, user experience testing, etc.).

Prerequisites: Download R and RStudio 

If you have any issues downloading R/RStudio, please reach out to nrochlin@uvic.ca by Thursday, December 4th.

Morning coffee and lunch will be provided to all attendees. 

Because there are limited spots for this session, please only register if you can commit to attending the workshop. 

The day will be broken into four parts: 

 Part 1: Introduction to the R Coding Language 

This first session will provide an introduction to the R coding language, and will cover foundational literacies for those that have never used a coding language before. This is designed as a slow and encouraging session for those that might be intimidated by the idea of coding, and will give plenty of time for questions and activities. 

Part 2: Collecting and Cleaning Survey Data 

This session will begin by introducing a mock research question, and attendees will complete a brief survey to get a sense of the data collection. We will then look at a mock dataset extracted by the survey tool, and will examine each column to see what needs to be cleaned up. Building on the skills learned in Part 1, we will explore the data in R, and go through some of the most common cleaning tasks for survey data. In addition to covering cleaning techniques, this session will also address best practices in data management, including file naming, versioning, and documentation. 

Part 3: Making Sense of Survey Data 

After cleaning up the data in Part 2, this session will focus on asking questions of the data and generating summaries. This will include comparing various presentations of the data that were created in Part 2, and using them to generate subsets of the data based on selected criteria, summary tables, and visualizations.  

Part 4: BYOS (Bring Your Own Survey) 

The final session of the workshop will be an opportunity for attendees to apply the techniques learned in Parts 1-3 to apply to their own surveys with support from an instructor. The goal of this session will be to build the skills and confidence to apply what you’ve learned in your surveys going forward. If you don't have a survey to bring, there will be opportunities to work through additional exercises.