General information on the course

This online tutorial will accompany the seminar “Text as Data Methods in R - Applications for Automated Analyses of News Content”. It is part of the M.A. “Internet & Society” (IKMZ, University of Zurich, HS2021).

At the moment, the course is expected to take place via in-person meetings every Tuesday 10:15-12 am in room BIN-1-D.25. Please note that this may change in light of new COVID-19 developments.

You will find all necessary information on the seminar’s structure, important dates and assessments/evaluations via OLAT. Please carefully consider the syllabus when deciding whether to participate in this seminar.

What do I need this tutorial for?

This tutorial will introduce you to two main aspects:

  1. how to use R and R studio to import, edit, and analyze data more generally
  2. how to use R and R studio to import, edit, and analyze textual data

You are expected to work through the content of these tutorials before each of our regular sessions so we can use in-person meetings to discuss questions/test your new knowledge via exercises.

Each tutorial includes

  • introduction to new functions/analysis methods in R, including corresponding R code
  • information on other tutorials/sources on how to learn these methods
  • exercises which will help you understand and apply your new knowledge

Errrm - what if I have questions about all of this?

First of all: great! Questions will be one of the most important element of this seminar. Since you’ll be learning a lot of new things, it’s perfectly normal to have a lot of questions most of the time.

If you did not understand something in a tutorial, have a question about the syllabus, or just want me to repeat something: Please do ask! The most important thing when learning R is to understand that it is completely normal to feel lost sometimes. Don’t worry - it’s highly likely that everyone else feels the same.

Therefore, it’s key that you ask questions. There are three channels through which you may pose question you have (preferably in this order):

  1. In-person meetings on Tuesdays: Tuesdays, 10:15-12:00 am in BIN-1-D.25.
  2. The OLAT forum: Outside of those sessions, please use the OLAT forum to ask any questions pertaining the seminar. This way, every participant will be able to see my answers and be provided with the same information. I recommend you turn on notifications about new entries in the forum to be informed about ongoing discussions.

Image: OLAT Forum

  1. Email: If you have specific questions about your own project etc. (or things you may not want to discuss with everyone in class), write me an email.

That’s it - we’ll start right away with the first tutorial: Tutorial 1: Installing & Understanding R/R Studio