Quantlab Coordinator; Prof. Will Lowe

Description: “Visualizing Data" (POL 245) is a precept-based course in which students work together to consider ways to illustrate compelling stories hidden in a blizzard of data. Equal parts art, programming, and statistical reasoning, data visualization is a critical tool for anyone doing analysis. This course introduces students to the powerful R programming language and the basics of creating data-analytic graphics in R. Students use real datasets to explore topics ranging from network data (like social interactions on Facebook or trade between countries) to geographical data (like county-level election returns in the US or the spatial distribution of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan).