#### Ways to deal with missing data in R ####
#### 1. using base R ####
# say we have a vector with missing data:
nums <- c(1, 4, NA, 2, 8, NA)
# I can find which indices are NA:
is.na(nums)
## [1] FALSE FALSE TRUE FALSE FALSE TRUE
# it returns a vector of logical values (TRUEs and FALSEs) that specifies where the NAs are.
# In R, we can index vectors by using square brackets.
# For example, if I want to find the second number in the vector:
nums[2]
## [1] 4
# and if I want to index a range:
nums[2:4]
## [1] 4 NA 2
# I can also pick and choose which ones I want, in whatever order, and even with repeats, by using a vector of indices:
nums[c(1,5,4,4)]
## [1] 1 8 2 2
# And I can even use a vector of logical values of same length to do the same thing. For example, this logical indexing only returns the 3rd and 5th elements (using "T" for "TRUE" and "F" for "FALSE" for brevity):
nums[c(F, F, T, F, T, F)]
## [1] NA 8
# So this means we can use the is.na() function to create a vector of logical values, and use that vector to index. For example, to only keep the missing values:
nums[is.na(nums)]
## [1] NA NA
# ... it return the two missing values. What about doing the opposite?
nums[!is.na(nums)]
## [1] 1 4 2 8
# The exlamation point inverts the logical vector (turning TRUEs into FALSEs and vice-versa), and therefore we are only indexing the non-missing values.
# Another thing about R is that you can assign indexed data to modify the original object.
# For example, I can replace the second element in my vector with a new value:
nums[2] <- 50
# see how the object nums now has the value 50 in second position?
# We can use this to replace missing values! For example, replace all missing values with a 0:
nums[is.na(nums)] <- 0
# This method also works on dataframes, or dataframe columns.
# All of the above is done with some of the most basic building blocks of R, but there are other options.
#### 2. Using Base R's replace() function ####
# let's bring back the original vector:
nums <- c(1, 4, NA, 2, 8, NA)
# we can do the same as above, but using a function instead of square-bracket indexing. The replace() function can take an object, indices, and the value to replace with:
replace(nums, is.na(nums), 0)
## [1] 1 4 0 2 8 0
# note that this only shows you the result in the console.
# You could assign to a new object:
nums_no_na <- replace(nums, is.na(nums), 0)
# ...or update the original object:
nums <- replace(nums, is.na(nums), 0)
# This method also works on dataframes / dataframe columns.
#### 3. Using tidyr's replace_na() ####
# the tidyr package has a replace_na() function which can be used similarly to replace():
nums <- c(1, 4, NA, 2, 8, NA)
library(tidyr)
replace_na(nums, 0)
## [1] 1 4 0 2 8 0
# ... but it can also be used on dataframes.
# For example, this dataframe has missing data in the two first columns:
airquality
## Ozone Solar.R Wind Temp Month Day
## 1 41 190 7.4 67 5 1
## 2 36 118 8.0 72 5 2
## 3 12 149 12.6 74 5 3
## 4 18 313 11.5 62 5 4
## 5 NA NA 14.3 56 5 5
## 6 28 NA 14.9 66 5 6
## 7 23 299 8.6 65 5 7
## 8 19 99 13.8 59 5 8
## 9 8 19 20.1 61 5 9
## 10 NA 194 8.6 69 5 10
## 11 7 NA 6.9 74 5 11
## 12 16 256 9.7 69 5 12
## 13 11 290 9.2 66 5 13
## 14 14 274 10.9 68 5 14
## 15 18 65 13.2 58 5 15
## 16 14 334 11.5 64 5 16
## 17 34 307 12.0 66 5 17
## 18 6 78 18.4 57 5 18
## 19 30 322 11.5 68 5 19
## 20 11 44 9.7 62 5 20
## 21 1 8 9.7 59 5 21
## 22 11 320 16.6 73 5 22
## 23 4 25 9.7 61 5 23
## 24 32 92 12.0 61 5 24
## 25 NA 66 16.6 57 5 25
## 26 NA 266 14.9 58 5 26
## 27 NA NA 8.0 57 5 27
## 28 23 13 12.0 67 5 28
## 29 45 252 14.9 81 5 29
## 30 115 223 5.7 79 5 30
## 31 37 279 7.4 76 5 31
## 32 NA 286 8.6 78 6 1
## 33 NA 287 9.7 74 6 2
## 34 NA 242 16.1 67 6 3
## 35 NA 186 9.2 84 6 4
## 36 NA 220 8.6 85 6 5
## 37 NA 264 14.3 79 6 6
## 38 29 127 9.7 82 6 7
## 39 NA 273 6.9 87 6 8
## 40 71 291 13.8 90 6 9
## 41 39 323 11.5 87 6 10
## 42 NA 259 10.9 93 6 11
## 43 NA 250 9.2 92 6 12
## 44 23 148 8.0 82 6 13
## 45 NA 332 13.8 80 6 14
## 46 NA 322 11.5 79 6 15
## 47 21 191 14.9 77 6 16
## 48 37 284 20.7 72 6 17
## 49 20 37 9.2 65 6 18
## 50 12 120 11.5 73 6 19
## 51 13 137 10.3 76 6 20
## 52 NA 150 6.3 77 6 21
## 53 NA 59 1.7 76 6 22
## 54 NA 91 4.6 76 6 23
## 55 NA 250 6.3 76 6 24
## 56 NA 135 8.0 75 6 25
## 57 NA 127 8.0 78 6 26
## 58 NA 47 10.3 73 6 27
## 59 NA 98 11.5 80 6 28
## 60 NA 31 14.9 77 6 29
## 61 NA 138 8.0 83 6 30
## 62 135 269 4.1 84 7 1
## 63 49 248 9.2 85 7 2
## 64 32 236 9.2 81 7 3
## 65 NA 101 10.9 84 7 4
## 66 64 175 4.6 83 7 5
## 67 40 314 10.9 83 7 6
## 68 77 276 5.1 88 7 7
## 69 97 267 6.3 92 7 8
## 70 97 272 5.7 92 7 9
## 71 85 175 7.4 89 7 10
## 72 NA 139 8.6 82 7 11
## 73 10 264 14.3 73 7 12
## 74 27 175 14.9 81 7 13
## 75 NA 291 14.9 91 7 14
## 76 7 48 14.3 80 7 15
## 77 48 260 6.9 81 7 16
## 78 35 274 10.3 82 7 17
## 79 61 285 6.3 84 7 18
## 80 79 187 5.1 87 7 19
## 81 63 220 11.5 85 7 20
## 82 16 7 6.9 74 7 21
## 83 NA 258 9.7 81 7 22
## 84 NA 295 11.5 82 7 23
## 85 80 294 8.6 86 7 24
## 86 108 223 8.0 85 7 25
## 87 20 81 8.6 82 7 26
## 88 52 82 12.0 86 7 27
## 89 82 213 7.4 88 7 28
## 90 50 275 7.4 86 7 29
## 91 64 253 7.4 83 7 30
## 92 59 254 9.2 81 7 31
## 93 39 83 6.9 81 8 1
## 94 9 24 13.8 81 8 2
## 95 16 77 7.4 82 8 3
## 96 78 NA 6.9 86 8 4
## 97 35 NA 7.4 85 8 5
## 98 66 NA 4.6 87 8 6
## 99 122 255 4.0 89 8 7
## 100 89 229 10.3 90 8 8
## 101 110 207 8.0 90 8 9
## 102 NA 222 8.6 92 8 10
## 103 NA 137 11.5 86 8 11
## 104 44 192 11.5 86 8 12
## 105 28 273 11.5 82 8 13
## 106 65 157 9.7 80 8 14
## 107 NA 64 11.5 79 8 15
## 108 22 71 10.3 77 8 16
## 109 59 51 6.3 79 8 17
## 110 23 115 7.4 76 8 18
## 111 31 244 10.9 78 8 19
## 112 44 190 10.3 78 8 20
## 113 21 259 15.5 77 8 21
## 114 9 36 14.3 72 8 22
## 115 NA 255 12.6 75 8 23
## 116 45 212 9.7 79 8 24
## 117 168 238 3.4 81 8 25
## 118 73 215 8.0 86 8 26
## 119 NA 153 5.7 88 8 27
## 120 76 203 9.7 97 8 28
## 121 118 225 2.3 94 8 29
## 122 84 237 6.3 96 8 30
## 123 85 188 6.3 94 8 31
## 124 96 167 6.9 91 9 1
## 125 78 197 5.1 92 9 2
## 126 73 183 2.8 93 9 3
## 127 91 189 4.6 93 9 4
## 128 47 95 7.4 87 9 5
## 129 32 92 15.5 84 9 6
## 130 20 252 10.9 80 9 7
## 131 23 220 10.3 78 9 8
## 132 21 230 10.9 75 9 9
## 133 24 259 9.7 73 9 10
## 134 44 236 14.9 81 9 11
## 135 21 259 15.5 76 9 12
## 136 28 238 6.3 77 9 13
## 137 9 24 10.9 71 9 14
## 138 13 112 11.5 71 9 15
## 139 46 237 6.9 78 9 16
## 140 18 224 13.8 67 9 17
## 141 13 27 10.3 76 9 18
## 142 24 238 10.3 68 9 19
## 143 16 201 8.0 82 9 20
## 144 13 238 12.6 64 9 21
## 145 23 14 9.2 71 9 22
## 146 36 139 10.3 81 9 23
## 147 7 49 10.3 69 9 24
## 148 14 20 16.6 63 9 25
## 149 30 193 6.9 70 9 26
## 150 NA 145 13.2 77 9 27
## 151 14 191 14.3 75 9 28
## 152 18 131 8.0 76 9 29
## 153 20 223 11.5 68 9 30
# We can specify different replacement values for different columns:
library(tidyr)
replace_na(airquality, list(Ozone = 20, Solar.R = 200))
## Ozone Solar.R Wind Temp Month Day
## 1 41 190 7.4 67 5 1
## 2 36 118 8.0 72 5 2
## 3 12 149 12.6 74 5 3
## 4 18 313 11.5 62 5 4
## 5 20 200 14.3 56 5 5
## 6 28 200 14.9 66 5 6
## 7 23 299 8.6 65 5 7
## 8 19 99 13.8 59 5 8
## 9 8 19 20.1 61 5 9
## 10 20 194 8.6 69 5 10
## 11 7 200 6.9 74 5 11
## 12 16 256 9.7 69 5 12
## 13 11 290 9.2 66 5 13
## 14 14 274 10.9 68 5 14
## 15 18 65 13.2 58 5 15
## 16 14 334 11.5 64 5 16
## 17 34 307 12.0 66 5 17
## 18 6 78 18.4 57 5 18
## 19 30 322 11.5 68 5 19
## 20 11 44 9.7 62 5 20
## 21 1 8 9.7 59 5 21
## 22 11 320 16.6 73 5 22
## 23 4 25 9.7 61 5 23
## 24 32 92 12.0 61 5 24
## 25 20 66 16.6 57 5 25
## 26 20 266 14.9 58 5 26
## 27 20 200 8.0 57 5 27
## 28 23 13 12.0 67 5 28
## 29 45 252 14.9 81 5 29
## 30 115 223 5.7 79 5 30
## 31 37 279 7.4 76 5 31
## 32 20 286 8.6 78 6 1
## 33 20 287 9.7 74 6 2
## 34 20 242 16.1 67 6 3
## 35 20 186 9.2 84 6 4
## 36 20 220 8.6 85 6 5
## 37 20 264 14.3 79 6 6
## 38 29 127 9.7 82 6 7
## 39 20 273 6.9 87 6 8
## 40 71 291 13.8 90 6 9
## 41 39 323 11.5 87 6 10
## 42 20 259 10.9 93 6 11
## 43 20 250 9.2 92 6 12
## 44 23 148 8.0 82 6 13
## 45 20 332 13.8 80 6 14
## 46 20 322 11.5 79 6 15
## 47 21 191 14.9 77 6 16
## 48 37 284 20.7 72 6 17
## 49 20 37 9.2 65 6 18
## 50 12 120 11.5 73 6 19
## 51 13 137 10.3 76 6 20
## 52 20 150 6.3 77 6 21
## 53 20 59 1.7 76 6 22
## 54 20 91 4.6 76 6 23
## 55 20 250 6.3 76 6 24
## 56 20 135 8.0 75 6 25
## 57 20 127 8.0 78 6 26
## 58 20 47 10.3 73 6 27
## 59 20 98 11.5 80 6 28
## 60 20 31 14.9 77 6 29
## 61 20 138 8.0 83 6 30
## 62 135 269 4.1 84 7 1
## 63 49 248 9.2 85 7 2
## 64 32 236 9.2 81 7 3
## 65 20 101 10.9 84 7 4
## 66 64 175 4.6 83 7 5
## 67 40 314 10.9 83 7 6
## 68 77 276 5.1 88 7 7
## 69 97 267 6.3 92 7 8
## 70 97 272 5.7 92 7 9
## 71 85 175 7.4 89 7 10
## 72 20 139 8.6 82 7 11
## 73 10 264 14.3 73 7 12
## 74 27 175 14.9 81 7 13
## 75 20 291 14.9 91 7 14
## 76 7 48 14.3 80 7 15
## 77 48 260 6.9 81 7 16
## 78 35 274 10.3 82 7 17
## 79 61 285 6.3 84 7 18
## 80 79 187 5.1 87 7 19
## 81 63 220 11.5 85 7 20
## 82 16 7 6.9 74 7 21
## 83 20 258 9.7 81 7 22
## 84 20 295 11.5 82 7 23
## 85 80 294 8.6 86 7 24
## 86 108 223 8.0 85 7 25
## 87 20 81 8.6 82 7 26
## 88 52 82 12.0 86 7 27
## 89 82 213 7.4 88 7 28
## 90 50 275 7.4 86 7 29
## 91 64 253 7.4 83 7 30
## 92 59 254 9.2 81 7 31
## 93 39 83 6.9 81 8 1
## 94 9 24 13.8 81 8 2
## 95 16 77 7.4 82 8 3
## 96 78 200 6.9 86 8 4
## 97 35 200 7.4 85 8 5
## 98 66 200 4.6 87 8 6
## 99 122 255 4.0 89 8 7
## 100 89 229 10.3 90 8 8
## 101 110 207 8.0 90 8 9
## 102 20 222 8.6 92 8 10
## 103 20 137 11.5 86 8 11
## 104 44 192 11.5 86 8 12
## 105 28 273 11.5 82 8 13
## 106 65 157 9.7 80 8 14
## 107 20 64 11.5 79 8 15
## 108 22 71 10.3 77 8 16
## 109 59 51 6.3 79 8 17
## 110 23 115 7.4 76 8 18
## 111 31 244 10.9 78 8 19
## 112 44 190 10.3 78 8 20
## 113 21 259 15.5 77 8 21
## 114 9 36 14.3 72 8 22
## 115 20 255 12.6 75 8 23
## 116 45 212 9.7 79 8 24
## 117 168 238 3.4 81 8 25
## 118 73 215 8.0 86 8 26
## 119 20 153 5.7 88 8 27
## 120 76 203 9.7 97 8 28
## 121 118 225 2.3 94 8 29
## 122 84 237 6.3 96 8 30
## 123 85 188 6.3 94 8 31
## 124 96 167 6.9 91 9 1
## 125 78 197 5.1 92 9 2
## 126 73 183 2.8 93 9 3
## 127 91 189 4.6 93 9 4
## 128 47 95 7.4 87 9 5
## 129 32 92 15.5 84 9 6
## 130 20 252 10.9 80 9 7
## 131 23 220 10.3 78 9 8
## 132 21 230 10.9 75 9 9
## 133 24 259 9.7 73 9 10
## 134 44 236 14.9 81 9 11
## 135 21 259 15.5 76 9 12
## 136 28 238 6.3 77 9 13
## 137 9 24 10.9 71 9 14
## 138 13 112 11.5 71 9 15
## 139 46 237 6.9 78 9 16
## 140 18 224 13.8 67 9 17
## 141 13 27 10.3 76 9 18
## 142 24 238 10.3 68 9 19
## 143 16 201 8.0 82 9 20
## 144 13 238 12.6 64 9 21
## 145 23 14 9.2 71 9 22
## 146 36 139 10.3 81 9 23
## 147 7 49 10.3 69 9 24
## 148 14 20 16.6 63 9 25
## 149 30 193 6.9 70 9 26
## 150 20 145 13.2 77 9 27
## 151 14 191 14.3 75 9 28
## 152 18 131 8.0 76 9 29
## 153 20 223 11.5 68 9 30
# that replaced NAs with 20 for the Ozone column, and with 200 for the Solar.R column.
# If you want to explore more options, and more in-depth examples, there are many tutorials online.
# For example: https://www.r-bloggers.com/2025/08/handling-missing-data-in-r-a-comprehensive-guide/