R for Assessment Specialists: Glossary

Key Points

Before we Start
  • Use RStudio to write and run R programs.

  • Use install.packages() to install packages (libraries).

Part 1: Introduction to R
  • Access individual values by location using [].

  • Access arbitrary sets of data using [c(...)].

  • Use logical operations and logical vectors to access subsets of data.

Part 1: Starting with Data
  • Use read_csv to read tabular data in R.

  • Use factors to represent categorical data in R.

Part 1: Introducing dplyr and tidyr
  • Use the dplyr package to manipulate dataframes.

  • Use select() to choose variables from a dataframe.

  • Use filter() to choose data based on values.

  • Use group_by() and summarize() to work with subsets of data.

  • Use mutate() to create new variables.

  • Use the tidyr package to change the layout of dataframes.

  • Use gather() to go from wide to long format.

  • Use spread() to go from long to wide format.

Part 1: Data visualisation with ggplot2
  • ggplot2 is a flexible and useful tool for creating plots in R.

  • The data set and coordinate system can be defined using the ggplot function.

  • Additional layers, including geoms, are added using the + operator.

  • Boxplots are useful for visualizing the distribution of a continuous variable.

  • Barplot are useful for visualizing categorical data.

  • Faceting allows you to generate multiple plots based on a categorical variable.

Part 2: CTT and CRT Test and Item Analysis
  • psych are two packages that facilitate classical test theory analysis.

  • rcrtan facilitates criterion-referenced test and item analyses.

  • dplyr and tidy can be used to analyze the output of psychometric analysis.

Part 3: Office Hours
  • Yes! You can apply this stuff to new data!

Part 4: Test Equating
  • equate can be used for small- and large-sample test equating.

Part 4: Item Respose Modeling
  • You can do item response modeling in R!

Part 4: Advanced Analyses
  • lavaan and semPlot are two useful packages for CFA.

Part 5: Reproducible Reporting
  • Rmarkdown provides a flexible framework for analysis and reporting.

  • R and RStudio can be used to carry out reproducible test analyses and reporting.

Part 6: Office Hours Part Two
  • You can apply stuff that you learned today!

Glossary

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