Nobel Prize API Analysis

Author
Affiliation

Muhammad Ali

CUNY School of Professional Studies

Published

November 5, 2026

Approach

Background & Information

This assignment extends practice with JSON and API data with the Nobel Prize API.

Terminology

  • API: Application Programming Interface. Set of rules that allows two softwares to communicate, follow rules, and to share data with each other. In this case, requesting data from a website.

  • API Key: A string of text that acts as a secure passcode for an application to ask a server for the data it is requesting. This is not to be shared with anyone!

  • Endpoint: A specific digital location or web address where a software application can access the digital resources it needs. Like a library book located in a certain section and we the user want to access and use that book.

  • Request: The user asking the server if they can extract information without changing anything on the server end.

  • Response: An answer in the form of status codes (200, 400, etc.) from the server to the user. For this definition, getting a response code of 200 means we are permitted to send a request to the server.

Plan Outline

  • Create an account on the Nobel Prize Developer Size and request an API Key

  • Create requests to the server to extract data

  • Parse from JSON format to use in R tibble

  • Conduct analysis

    • Creating 4 data-driven questions

    • Presenting plots or tables to present answers

    • Interpret the plots and table

Codebase

Install Packages

Show code 
# Install packages once if they are missing.
# install.packages(c("httr2", "tidyverse", "jsonlite", "ggplot2", "scales"))

Import Packages

Show code 
library(tidyverse)
library(httr2)
library(jsonlite)
library(ggplot2)
library(scales)

API Request

Request Parameters

  • Base URL: https://api.nobelprize.org

  • Endpoint: /2.1/laureates

With the Nobel Prize API, an API Key is not required so we can simply request data without abusing server requests.

Show code 
url <- "https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates"

req <- request(url) |>
  req_headers(
    `Accept` = "application/json",
    `User-Agent` = "DATA607-week10b-homework"
  )

req
<httr2_request>
GET https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates
Headers:
* Accept    : "application/json"
* User-Agent: "DATA607-week10b-homework"
Body: empty

Request Inspection

Show code 
req_dry_run(req)
GET /2.1/laureates HTTP/1.1
accept: application/json
accept-encoding: deflate, gzip
host: api.nobelprize.org
user-agent: DATA607-week10b-homework

Performing & Confirming Request

Show code 
resp <- req |>
  req_perform()

# Confirm that the server accepted the request.
resp_status(resp)
[1] 200
Show code 
resp_status_desc(resp)
[1] "OK"
Show code 
resp_content_type(resp)
[1] "application/json"

Read Sample JSON Body

Show code 
nobel_prize_JSON <- resp |>
  resp_body_json(simplifyVector = TRUE)
 
names(nobel_prize_JSON) 
[1] "laureates" "meta"      "links"
Show code 
# we want to investigate laureates

names(nobel_prize_JSON$laureates)
 [1] "id"          "knownName"   "givenName"   "familyName"  "fullName"   
 [6] "fileName"    "gender"      "birth"       "wikipedia"   "wikidata"   
[11] "sameAs"      "links"       "nobelPrizes" "death"

This part is where we need to decide what columns we want to keep for our data that we want to analyze, I have selected:

  • id

  • fullName

  • gender

  • birth

  • nobelPrizes

Note: nobelPrizes also contains data inside the variable itself, so we need to further investigate to see what columns we would also want to extract

Investigating nobelPrize List

Given that we need to unnest nobelPrizes, we need to decide which columns in this new table we have created to keep and to unflatten.

Show code 
laureates <- nobel_prize_JSON$laureates

prizes <- laureates |>
  select(id, fullName, gender, birth, nobelPrizes) |>
  unnest(nobelPrizes, names_sep = "_")

glimpse(prizes)
Rows: 25
Columns: 17
$ id                              <chr> "745", "102", "779", "259", "1004", "1…
$ fullName                        <df[,2]> <data.frame[25 x 2]>
$ gender                          <chr> "male", "male", "male", "male", "ma…
$ birth                           <df[,3]> <data.frame[25 x 3]>
$ nobelPrizes_awardYear           <chr> "2001", "1975", "2004", "1982", "2021"…
$ nobelPrizes_category            <df[,3]> <data.frame[25 x 3]>
$ nobelPrizes_categoryFullName    <df[,3]> <data.frame[25 x 3]>
$ nobelPrizes_sortOrder           <chr> "2", "1", "1", "1", "1", "2", "1", …
$ nobelPrizes_portion             <chr> "1/3", "1/3", "1/3", "1", "1", "1/3", …
$ nobelPrizes_dateAwarded         <chr> "2001-10-10", "1975-10-17", "2004-1…
$ nobelPrizes_prizeStatus         <chr> "received", "received", "received",…
$ nobelPrizes_motivation          <df[,3]> <data.frame[25 x 3]>
$ nobelPrizes_prizeAmount         <int> 10000000, 630000, 10000000, 1150000, 1…
$ nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted <int> 15547541, 4304697, 14874529, 3923237, …
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations        <list> [<data.frame[1 x 8]>], [<data.frame[1 …
$ nobelPrizes_links               <list> [<data.frame[3 x 6]>], [<data.frame[3 …
$ nobelPrizes_residences          <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <NU…
Show code 
prizes_flat <- prizes |>
  as.data.frame() |>
  flatten()

names(prizes_flat)
 [1] "id"                               "gender"                          
 [3] "nobelPrizes_awardYear"            "nobelPrizes_sortOrder"           
 [5] "nobelPrizes_portion"              "nobelPrizes_dateAwarded"         
 [7] "nobelPrizes_prizeStatus"          "nobelPrizes_prizeAmount"         
 [9] "nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted"  "nobelPrizes_affiliations"        
[11] "nobelPrizes_links"                "nobelPrizes_residences"          
[13] "fullName.en"                      "fullName.se"                     
[15] "birth.date"                       "birth.year"                      
[17] "birth.place.city.en"              "birth.place.city.no"             
[19] "birth.place.city.se"              "birth.place.country.en"          
[21] "birth.place.country.no"           "birth.place.country.se"          
[23] "birth.place.cityNow.en"           "birth.place.cityNow.no"          
[25] "birth.place.cityNow.se"           "birth.place.cityNow.sameAs"      
[27] "birth.place.cityNow.latitude"     "birth.place.cityNow.longitude"   
[29] "birth.place.countryNow.en"        "birth.place.countryNow.no"       
[31] "birth.place.countryNow.se"        "birth.place.countryNow.sameAs"   
[33] "birth.place.countryNow.latitude"  "birth.place.countryNow.longitude"
[35] "birth.place.continent.en"         "birth.place.continent.no"        
[37] "birth.place.continent.se"         "birth.place.locationString.en"   
[39] "birth.place.locationString.no"    "birth.place.locationString.se"   
[41] "nobelPrizes_category.en"          "nobelPrizes_category.no"         
[43] "nobelPrizes_category.se"          "nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.en" 
[45] "nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.no"  "nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.se" 
[47] "nobelPrizes_motivation.en"        "nobelPrizes_motivation.se"       
[49] "nobelPrizes_motivation.no"
Show code 
head(prizes_flat, 3)
id gender nobelPrizes_awardYear nobelPrizes_sortOrder nobelPrizes_portion nobelPrizes_dateAwarded nobelPrizes_prizeStatus nobelPrizes_prizeAmount nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted nobelPrizes_affiliations nobelPrizes_links nobelPrizes_residences fullName.en fullName.se birth.date birth.year birth.place.city.en birth.place.city.no birth.place.city.se birth.place.country.en birth.place.country.no birth.place.country.se birth.place.cityNow.en birth.place.cityNow.no birth.place.cityNow.se birth.place.cityNow.sameAs birth.place.cityNow.latitude birth.place.cityNow.longitude birth.place.countryNow.en birth.place.countryNow.no birth.place.countryNow.se birth.place.countryNow.sameAs birth.place.countryNow.latitude birth.place.countryNow.longitude birth.place.continent.en birth.place.continent.no birth.place.continent.se birth.place.locationString.en birth.place.locationString.no birth.place.locationString.se nobelPrizes_category.en nobelPrizes_category.no nobelPrizes_category.se nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.en nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.no nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.se nobelPrizes_motivation.en nobelPrizes_motivation.se nobelPrizes_motivation.no
745 male 2001 2 1/3 2001-10-10 received 1.0e+07 15547541 Stanford University , Stanford University , Stanford University , Stanford University , Stanford, CA , Stanford, CA , Stanford, CA , USA , USA , USA , Stanford, CA , Stanford, CA , Stanford, CA , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173813 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford,_California, 37.424734 , -122.163858 , USA , USA , USA , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 , 39.828175 , -98.579500 , North America , Stanford, CA, USA , Stanford, CA, USA , Stanford, CA, USA nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/eco/2001 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/ , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , A. Michael Spence - Facts , The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2001, laureate facts , prize summary NULL A. Michael Spence A. Michael Spence 1943-11-07 1943 Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ USA USA USA Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q678437 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montclair,_New_Jersey 40.825930 -74.209030 USA USA USA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 39.828175 -98.579500 North America Nord-Amerika Nordamerika Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Economic Sciences Økonomi Ekonomi The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i økonomisk vitenskap til minne om Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information för deras analys av marknader med assymetrisk informations NA
102 male 1975 1 1/3 1975-10-17 received 6.3e+05 4304697 Niels Bohr Institute , Niels Bohr Institute , Niels Bohr Institute , Niels Bohr Institute , Copenhagen , København , Köpenhamn , Denmark , Danmark , Danmark , Copenhagen , København , Köpenhamn , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen, 55.678127 , 12.572532 , Denmark , Danmark , Danmark , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 , 56.000000 , 10.000000 , Europe , Copenhagen, Denmark , København, Danmark , Köpenhamn, Danmark nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/phy/1975 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/bohr/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aage N. Bohr - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Physics 1975 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aage Niels Bohr Aage Niels Bohr 1922-06-19 1922 Copenhagen København Köpenhamn Denmark Danmark Danmark Copenhagen København Köpenhamn https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen 55.678127 12.572532 Denmark Danmark Danmark https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 56.000000 10.000000 Europe Europa Europa Copenhagen, Denmark København, Danmark Köpenhamn, Danmark Physics Fysikk Fysik The Nobel Prize in Physics Nobelprisen i fysikk Nobelpriset i fysik for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection för upptäckten av sambandet mellan kollektiva rörelser och partikelrörelser i atomkärnor, samt den därpå baserade utvecklingen av teorien för atomkärnans struktur NA
779 male 2004 1 1/3 2004-10-06 received 1.0e+07 14874529 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa , Haifa , Haifa , Israel , Israel , Israel , Haifa , Haifa , Haifa , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41621 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa , 32.794421 , 34.990340 , Israel , Israel , Israel , https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q801 , 31.000000 , 35.000000 , Asia , Haifa, Israel , Haifa, Israel , Haifa, Israel nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/che/2004 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2004/ciechanover/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2004/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aaron Ciechanover - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aaron Ciechanover Aaron Ciechanover 1947-10-01 1947 Haifa Haifa Haifa British Protectorate of Palestine British i Palestina British Protectorate of Palestine Haifa Haifa Haifa https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41621, https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa 32.794421 34.990340 Israel Israel Israel https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q801 31.000000 35.000000 Asia Asia Asien Haifa, British Protectorate of Palestine (now Israel) Haifa, British i Palestina (nå Israel) Haifa, British Protectorate of Palestine (nu Israel) Chemistry Kjemi Kemi The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Nobelprisen i kjemi Nobelpriset i kemi for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation för upptäckten av ubiquitinmedierad proteinnedbrytning NA

As we can see we have unflattened the nobelPrizes data so now we can see what else is being stored in it more clearly.

As a precaution, we will further unnest the data if needed.

Further Unnesting

Show code 
prizes_aff <- prizes_flat |>
  as_tibble() |>
  unnest(nobelPrizes_affiliations, keep_empty = TRUE, names_sep = "_") |>
  as.data.frame() |>
  jsonlite::flatten() |>
  as_tibble()

glimpse(prizes_aff)
Rows: 30
Columns: 74
$ id                                            <chr> "745", "102", "779", "25…
$ gender                                        <chr> "male", "male", "male", …
$ nobelPrizes_awardYear                         <chr> "2001", "1975", "2004", …
$ nobelPrizes_sortOrder                         <chr> "2", "1", "1", "1", "1",…
$ nobelPrizes_portion                           <chr> "1/3", "1/3", "1/3", "1"…
$ nobelPrizes_dateAwarded                       <chr> "2001-10-10", "1975-10-1…
$ nobelPrizes_prizeStatus                       <chr> "received", "received", …
$ nobelPrizes_prizeAmount                       <int> 10000000, 630000, 100000…
$ nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted               <int> 15547541, 4304697, 14874…
$ nobelPrizes_links                             <list> [<data.frame[3 x 6]>], …
$ nobelPrizes_residences                        <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>,…
$ fullName.en                                   <chr> "A. Michael Spence", "Aa…
$ fullName.se                                   <chr> "A. Michael Spence", "Aa…
$ birth.date                                    <chr> "1943-11-07", "1922-06-1…
$ birth.year                                    <chr> "1943", "1922", "1947", …
$ birth.place.city.en                           <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Copenh…
$ birth.place.city.no                           <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Københ…
$ birth.place.city.se                           <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Köpenh…
$ birth.place.country.en                        <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "Briti…
$ birth.place.country.no                        <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Briti…
$ birth.place.country.se                        <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Briti…
$ birth.place.cityNow.en                        <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Copenh…
$ birth.place.cityNow.no                        <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Københ…
$ birth.place.cityNow.se                        <chr> "Montclair, NJ", "Köpenh…
$ birth.place.cityNow.sameAs                    <list> <"https://www.wikidata.…
$ birth.place.cityNow.latitude                  <chr> "40.825930", "55.678127"…
$ birth.place.cityNow.longitude                 <chr> "-74.209030", "12.572532…
$ birth.place.countryNow.en                     <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "Israe…
$ birth.place.countryNow.no                     <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ birth.place.countryNow.se                     <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ birth.place.countryNow.sameAs                 <list> "https://www.wikidata.o…
$ birth.place.countryNow.latitude               <chr> "39.828175", "56.000000"…
$ birth.place.countryNow.longitude              <chr> "-98.579500", "10.000000…
$ birth.place.continent.en                      <chr> "North America", "Europe…
$ birth.place.continent.no                      <chr> "Nord-Amerika", "Europa"…
$ birth.place.continent.se                      <chr> "Nordamerika", "Europa",…
$ birth.place.locationString.en                 <chr> "Montclair, NJ, USA", "C…
$ birth.place.locationString.no                 <chr> "Montclair, NJ, USA", "K…
$ birth.place.locationString.se                 <chr> "Montclair, NJ, USA", "K…
$ nobelPrizes_category.en                       <chr> "Economic Sciences", "Ph…
$ nobelPrizes_category.no                       <chr> "Økonomi", "Fysikk", "Kj…
$ nobelPrizes_category.se                       <chr> "Ekonomi", "Fysik", "Kem…
$ nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.en               <chr> "The Sveriges Riksbank P…
$ nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.no               <chr> "Sveriges Riksbanks pris…
$ nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.se               <chr> "Sveriges Riksbanks pris…
$ nobelPrizes_motivation.en                     <chr> "for their analyses of m…
$ nobelPrizes_motivation.se                     <chr> "för deras analys av mar…
$ nobelPrizes_motivation.no                     <chr> NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, …
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.en              <chr> "Stanford University", "…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.no              <chr> "Stanford University", "…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.se              <chr> "Stanford University", "…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_nameNow.en           <chr> "Stanford University", "…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.en              <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Copenha…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.no              <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Københa…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.se              <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Köpenha…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.en           <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.no           <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.se           <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.en           <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Copenha…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.no           <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Københa…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.se           <chr> "Stanford, CA", "Köpenha…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.sameAs       <list> <"https://www.wikidata.…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.latitude     <chr> "37.424734", "55.678127"…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.longitude    <chr> "-122.163858", "12.57253…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.en        <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.no        <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.se        <chr> "USA", "Danmark", "Israe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.sameAs    <list> "https://www.wikidata.o…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.latitude  <chr> "39.828175", "56.000000"…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.longitude <chr> "-98.579500", "10.000000…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_continent.en         <chr> "North America", "Europe…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.en    <chr> "Stanford, CA, USA", "Co…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.no    <chr> "Stanford, CA, USA", "Kø…
$ nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.se    <chr> "Stanford, CA, USA", "Kö…
Show code 
head(prizes_aff)
id gender nobelPrizes_awardYear nobelPrizes_sortOrder nobelPrizes_portion nobelPrizes_dateAwarded nobelPrizes_prizeStatus nobelPrizes_prizeAmount nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted nobelPrizes_links nobelPrizes_residences fullName.en fullName.se birth.date birth.year birth.place.city.en birth.place.city.no birth.place.city.se birth.place.country.en birth.place.country.no birth.place.country.se birth.place.cityNow.en birth.place.cityNow.no birth.place.cityNow.se birth.place.cityNow.sameAs birth.place.cityNow.latitude birth.place.cityNow.longitude birth.place.countryNow.en birth.place.countryNow.no birth.place.countryNow.se birth.place.countryNow.sameAs birth.place.countryNow.latitude birth.place.countryNow.longitude birth.place.continent.en birth.place.continent.no birth.place.continent.se birth.place.locationString.en birth.place.locationString.no birth.place.locationString.se nobelPrizes_category.en nobelPrizes_category.no nobelPrizes_category.se nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.en nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.no nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.se nobelPrizes_motivation.en nobelPrizes_motivation.se nobelPrizes_motivation.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_nameNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.sameAs nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.latitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.longitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.sameAs nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.latitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.longitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_continent.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.se
745 male 2001 2 1/3 2001-10-10 received 10000000 15547541 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/eco/2001 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/ , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , A. Michael Spence - Facts , The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2001, laureate facts , prize summary NULL A. Michael Spence A. Michael Spence 1943-11-07 1943 Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ USA USA USA Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q678437 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montclair,_New_Jersey 40.825930 -74.209030 USA USA USA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 39.828175 -98.579500 North America Nord-Amerika Nordamerika Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Economic Sciences Økonomi Ekonomi The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i økonomisk vitenskap til minne om Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information för deras analys av marknader med assymetrisk informations NA Stanford University Stanford University Stanford University Stanford University Stanford, CA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA USA USA USA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173813 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford,_California 37.424734 -122.163858 USA USA USA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 39.828175 -98.579500 North America Stanford, CA, USA Stanford, CA, USA Stanford, CA, USA
102 male 1975 1 1/3 1975-10-17 received 630000 4304697 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/phy/1975 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/bohr/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aage N. Bohr - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Physics 1975 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aage Niels Bohr Aage Niels Bohr 1922-06-19 1922 Copenhagen København Köpenhamn Denmark Danmark Danmark Copenhagen København Köpenhamn https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen 55.678127 12.572532 Denmark Danmark Danmark https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 56.000000 10.000000 Europe Europa Europa Copenhagen, Denmark København, Danmark Köpenhamn, Danmark Physics Fysikk Fysik The Nobel Prize in Physics Nobelprisen i fysikk Nobelpriset i fysik for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection för upptäckten av sambandet mellan kollektiva rörelser och partikelrörelser i atomkärnor, samt den därpå baserade utvecklingen av teorien för atomkärnans struktur NA Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen København Köpenhamn Denmark Danmark Danmark Copenhagen København Köpenhamn https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen 55.678127 12.572532 Denmark Danmark Danmark https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 56.000000 10.000000 Europe Copenhagen, Denmark København, Danmark Köpenhamn, Danmark
779 male 2004 1 1/3 2004-10-06 received 10000000 14874529 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/che/2004 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2004/ciechanover/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2004/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aaron Ciechanover - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aaron Ciechanover Aaron Ciechanover 1947-10-01 1947 Haifa Haifa Haifa British Protectorate of Palestine British i Palestina British Protectorate of Palestine Haifa Haifa Haifa https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41621, https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa 32.794421 34.990340 Israel Israel Israel https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q801 31.000000 35.000000 Asia Asia Asien Haifa, British Protectorate of Palestine (now Israel) Haifa, British i Palestina (nå Israel) Haifa, British Protectorate of Palestine (nu Israel) Chemistry Kjemi Kemi The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Nobelprisen i kjemi Nobelpriset i kemi for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation för upptäckten av ubiquitinmedierad proteinnedbrytning NA Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa Haifa Haifa Israel Israel Israel Haifa Haifa Haifa https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41621, https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa 32.794421 34.990340 Israel Israel Israel https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q801 31.000000 35.000000 Asia Haifa, Israel Haifa, Israel Haifa, Israel
259 male 1982 1 1 1982-10-18 received 1150000 3923237 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/che/1982 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1982/klug/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1982/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aaron Klug - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1982 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aaron Klug Aaron Klug 1926-08-11 1926 Zelvas Zelvas Zelvas Lithuania Litauen Litauen Zelvas Zelvas Zelvas https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q691679 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelva 53.148256 24.816515 Lithuania Litauen Litauen https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37 55.200000 24.000000 Europe Europa Europa Zelvas, Lithuania Zelvas, Litauen Zelvas, Litauen Chemistry Kjemi Kemi The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Nobelprisen i kjemi Nobelpriset i kemi for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes för hans utveckling av kristallografisk elektronmikroskopi och hans klarläggande av strukturen hos biologiskt viktiga nukleinsyra-proteinkomplex NA MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge United Kingdom Storbritannia Storbritannien Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q350 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge 52.194605 0.135092 United Kingdom Storbritannia Storbritannien https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q145 54.600000 -2.000000 Europe Cambridge, United Kingdom Cambridge, Storbritannia Cambridge, Storbritannien
1004 male 2021 1 1 2021-10-07 received 10000000 12096939 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/lit/2021 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2021/gurnah/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2021/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Abdulrazak Gurnah - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Abdulrazak Gurnah Abdulrazak Gurnah 1948-00-00 1948 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NULL NA NA NA NA NA NULL NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Literature Litteratur Litteratur The Nobel Prize in Literature Nobelprisen i litteratur Nobelpriset i litteratur for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NULL NA NA NA NA NA NULL NA NA NA NA NA NA
114 male 1979 2 1/3 1979-10-15 received 800000 3778486 nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/phy/1979 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1979/salam/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1979/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Abdus Salam - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Abdus Salam Abdus Salam 1926-01-29 1926 Jhang Maghiāna Jhang Maghiāna Jhang Maghiāna India India Indien Jhang Maghiāna Jhang Maghiāna Jhang Maghiāna https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1026616, https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhang 31.268056 72.318056 Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q843 30.000000 71.000000 Asia Asia Asien Jhang Maghiāna, India (now Pakistan) Jhang Maghiāna, India (nå Pakistan) Jhang Maghiāna, Indien (nu Pakistan) Physics Fysikk Fysik The Nobel Prize in Physics Nobelprisen i fysikk Nobelpriset i fysik for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current för deras insatser inom teorin för förenad svag och elektromagnetisk växelverkan mellan elementar partiklar, innefattande bl.a. förutsägelsen av den svaga neutrala strömmen NA International Centre for Theoretical Physics International Centre for Theoretical Physics International Centre for Theoretical Physics International Centre for Theoretical Physics Trieste Trieste Trieste Italy Italia Italien Trieste Trieste Trieste https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste 45.649433 13.776623 Italy Italia Italien https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38 42.500000 12.500000 Europe Trieste, Italy Trieste, Italia Trieste, Italien

Now we have a data table with clear information of the columns and what we want to extract. Given that this is not the full list of the API data, we will need to start requesting for the full list without abusing the server request.

Show code 
nobel_prize_JSON$meta$offset
[1] 0
Show code 
nobel_prize_JSON$meta$limit
[1] 25
Show code 
nobel_prize_JSON$meta$count
[1] 1028
Show code 
# limit of 25
# Offset of 0, meaning the list starts at that very first item
# count of 1028, the total number of items in the dataset

Start Full Data Request

Show code 
total <- nobel_prize_JSON$meta$count 

offsets <- seq(0, total, by = 100) # loop over the offset by 100

pages <- map(offsets, \(off) {
  request("https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates") |>
    req_url_query(limit = 100, offset = off) |>
    req_perform() |>
    resp_body_json(simplifyVector = TRUE)
})

laureates <- map(pages, "laureates") |> bind_rows()
nrow(laureates)
[1] 1028

laureates is our full data that we extracted from the API, now we need to create the table and overwrite our existing prize_aff.

Show code 
prizes_aff <- laureates |>
  select(id, fullName, gender, birth, nobelPrizes) |>
  unnest(nobelPrizes, names_sep = "_") |>
  as.data.frame() |>
  jsonlite::flatten() |>
  as_tibble() |>
  unnest(nobelPrizes_affiliations, keep_empty = TRUE, names_sep = "_") |>
  as.data.frame() |>
  jsonlite::flatten() |>
  as_tibble()

nrow(prizes_aff)
[1] 1126
Show code 
head(prizes_aff, 2)
id gender nobelPrizes_awardYear nobelPrizes_sortOrder nobelPrizes_portion nobelPrizes_dateAwarded nobelPrizes_prizeStatus nobelPrizes_prizeAmount nobelPrizes_prizeAmountAdjusted nobelPrizes_affiliations_nativeName nobelPrizes_links nobelPrizes_residences fullName.en fullName.se fullName.no birth.date birth.year birth.place.city.en birth.place.city.no birth.place.city.se birth.place.country.en birth.place.country.no birth.place.country.se birth.place.cityNow.en birth.place.cityNow.no birth.place.cityNow.se birth.place.cityNow.sameAs birth.place.cityNow.latitude birth.place.cityNow.longitude birth.place.countryNow.en birth.place.countryNow.no birth.place.countryNow.se birth.place.countryNow.sameAs birth.place.countryNow.latitude birth.place.countryNow.longitude birth.place.continent.en birth.place.continent.no birth.place.continent.se birth.place.locationString.en birth.place.locationString.no birth.place.locationString.se nobelPrizes_category.en nobelPrizes_category.no nobelPrizes_category.se nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.en nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.no nobelPrizes_categoryFullName.se nobelPrizes_motivation.en nobelPrizes_motivation.se nobelPrizes_motivation.no nobelPrizes_topMotivation.en nobelPrizes_topMotivation.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_name.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_nameNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_city.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_country.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.sameAs nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.latitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_cityNow.longitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.se nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.sameAs nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.latitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_countryNow.longitude nobelPrizes_affiliations_continent.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.en nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.no nobelPrizes_affiliations_locationString.se
745 male 2001 2 1/3 2001-10-10 received 1.0e+07 15547541 NA nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/eco/2001 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/ , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , A. Michael Spence - Facts , The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2001, laureate facts , prize summary NULL A. Michael Spence A. Michael Spence NA 1943-11-07 1943 Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ USA USA USA Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ Montclair, NJ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q678437 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montclair,_New_Jersey 40.825930 -74.209030 USA USA USA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 39.828175 -98.579500 North America Nord-Amerika Nordamerika Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Montclair, NJ, USA Economic Sciences Økonomi Ekonomi The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i økonomisk vitenskap til minne om Alfred Nobel Sveriges Riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information för deras analys av marknader med assymetrisk informations NA NA NA Stanford University Stanford University Stanford University Stanford University Stanford, CA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA USA USA USA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA Stanford, CA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173813 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford,_California 37.424734 -122.163858 USA USA USA https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30 39.828175 -98.579500 North America Stanford, CA, USA Stanford, CA, USA Stanford, CA, USA
102 male 1975 1 1/3 1975-10-17 received 6.3e+05 4304697 NA nobelPrize , external , external , https://api.nobelprize.org/2/nobelPrize/phy/1975 , https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/bohr/facts/, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1975/summary/ , GET , GET , GET , application/json , text/html , text/html , NA , Aage N. Bohr - Facts , The Nobel Prize in Physics 1975 , laureate facts , prize summary NULL Aage Niels Bohr Aage Niels Bohr NA 1922-06-19 1922 Copenhagen København Köpenhamn Denmark Danmark Danmark Copenhagen København Köpenhamn https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen 55.678127 12.572532 Denmark Danmark Danmark https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 56.000000 10.000000 Europe Europa Europa Copenhagen, Denmark København, Danmark Köpenhamn, Danmark Physics Fysikk Fysik The Nobel Prize in Physics Nobelprisen i fysikk Nobelpriset i fysik for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection för upptäckten av sambandet mellan kollektiva rörelser och partikelrörelser i atomkärnor, samt den därpå baserade utvecklingen av teorien för atomkärnans struktur NA NA NA Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen København Köpenhamn Denmark Danmark Danmark Copenhagen København Köpenhamn https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1748 , https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen 55.678127 12.572532 Denmark Danmark Danmark https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35 56.000000 10.000000 Europe Copenhagen, Denmark København, Danmark Köpenhamn, Danmark

Creating the Table

Show code 
nobel_table <- prizes_aff |>
  select(id,
         gender,
         birth_year = birth.year,
         full_name = fullName.en,
         award_year = nobelPrizes_awardYear,
         prize_amt = nobelPrizes_prizeAmount,
         birth_country = birth.place.country.en,
         birth_continent = birth.place.continent.en,
         prize_category = nobelPrizes_category.en
         ) |>
  mutate(
    birth_year = as.integer(birth_year),
    award_year = as.integer(award_year)
  )

glimpse(nobel_table)
Rows: 1,126
Columns: 9
$ id              <chr> "745", "102", "779", "259", "1004", "114", "114", "982…
$ gender          <chr> "male", "male", "male", "male", "male", "male", "male"…
$ birth_year      <int> 1943, 1922, 1947, 1926, 1948, 1926, 1926, 1961, 1976, …
$ full_name       <chr> "A. Michael Spence", "Aage Niels Bohr", "Aaron Ciechan…
$ award_year      <int> 2001, 1975, 2004, 1982, 2021, 1979, 1979, 2019, 2019, …
$ prize_amt       <int> 10000000, 630000, 10000000, 1150000, 10000000, 800000,…
$ birth_country   <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "British Protectorate of Palestine",…
$ birth_continent <chr> "North America", "Europe", "Asia", "Europe", NA, "Asia…
$ prize_category  <chr> "Economic Sciences", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Chemistr…
Show code 
head(nobel_table, 3)
id gender birth_year full_name award_year prize_amt birth_country birth_continent prize_category
745 male 1943 A. Michael Spence 2001 1.0e+07 USA North America Economic Sciences
102 male 1922 Aage Niels Bohr 1975 6.3e+05 Denmark Europe Physics
779 male 1947 Aaron Ciechanover 2004 1.0e+07 British Protectorate of Palestine Asia Chemistry

Duplicate Values

Show code 
nobel_prizes <- nobel_table |> distinct()
nrow(nobel_prizes) # There were duplicates
[1] 1036

Missing Values

Show code 
colSums(is.na(nobel_prizes))
             id          gender      birth_year       full_name      award_year 
              0              31              31              31               0 
      prize_amt   birth_country birth_continent  prize_category 
              0              34              34               0

There are around 31-34 missing values, but we can filter it out easily when conducting analysis.

Reproducibility Metadata

Show code 
retrieved_at <- format(Sys.time(), tz = "UTC", usetz = TRUE)

matches_snapshot <- nobel_prizes |>
  mutate(
    retrieved_at = retrieved_at,
    request_url = url,
    .before = 1
  )

head(matches_snapshot,3)
retrieved_at request_url id gender birth_year full_name award_year prize_amt birth_country birth_continent prize_category
2026-11-05 18:16:31 UTC https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates 745 male 1943 A. Michael Spence 2001 1.0e+07 USA North America Economic Sciences
2026-11-05 18:16:31 UTC https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates 102 male 1922 Aage Niels Bohr 1975 6.3e+05 Denmark Europe Physics
2026-11-05 18:16:31 UTC https://api.nobelprize.org/2.1/laureates 779 male 1947 Aaron Ciechanover 2004 1.0e+07 British Protectorate of Palestine Asia Chemistry

Save to CSV

We want to save this to a CSV file so we can do some offline work with this data.

Show code 
write.csv(matches_snapshot, "nobel_table_data_api.csv", row.names = FALSE)

Read in Data CSV

Show code 
data <- read.csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HaiderrX/CUNY-SPS-MSDS/refs/heads/main/DATA607/Week%2010%20-%20Natural%20Language%20Processing/nobel_table_data_api.csv")
Show code 
# Creating a new dataframe where it drops the request information
clean_data <- data |>
  select(-retrieved_at, -request_url)

glimpse(clean_data)
Rows: 1,036
Columns: 9
$ id              <int> 745, 102, 779, 259, 1004, 114, 982, 981, 843, 866, 199…
$ gender          <chr> "male", "male", "male", "male", "male", "male", "male"…
$ birth_year      <int> 1943, 1922, 1947, 1926, 1948, 1926, 1961, 1976, 1939, …
$ full_name       <chr> "A. Michael Spence", "Aage Niels Bohr", "Aaron Ciechan…
$ award_year      <int> 2001, 1975, 2004, 1982, 2021, 1979, 2019, 2019, 2009, …
$ prize_amt       <int> 10000000, 630000, 10000000, 1150000, 10000000, 800000,…
$ birth_country   <chr> "USA", "Denmark", "British Protectorate of Palestine",…
$ birth_continent <chr> "North America", "Europe", "Asia", "Europe", NA, "Asia…
$ prize_category  <chr> "Economic Sciences", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Chemistr…
Show code 
head(clean_data, 3)
id gender birth_year full_name award_year prize_amt birth_country birth_continent prize_category
745 male 1943 A. Michael Spence 2001 1.0e+07 USA North America Economic Sciences
102 male 1922 Aage Niels Bohr 1975 6.3e+05 Denmark Europe Physics
779 male 1947 Aaron Ciechanover 2004 1.0e+07 British Protectorate of Palestine Asia Chemistry

Data Dictionary

Data Dictionary
Variable Definition
id Laureate’s identifier number
gender Laureate is either male or female
birth_year Birth year of the laureate
full_name Laureate’s full name
award_year The year the laureate won the award
prize_amt The amount of money laureate gained for the prize
birth_country Laureate’s country of birth
birth_continent Laureate’s continent of birth
prize_category What field/subject the award belonged to

Analysis

For our analysis, we mentioned we want to ask 4 data-driven questions from this dataset.

Upon examining the subset of the data we collected, I would like to inquire the following:

  • Question 1: What is the top country that has won the most Nobel Prizes, and which gender has a higher proportion of that category?

  • Question 2: Per category, what is the average prize amount?

  • Question 3: Per country, are there more males or females winning the Nobel prize?

  • Question 4: Per category, what year had the most winners?

Question 1

What categories have won the most Nobel prize, and if possible what is the percentage of the top country and gender that each category contains?

To answer this question, it may be easier to break it up to segments to build up our answer.

Show code 
most_won_categories <- clean_data |>
  count(prize_category, sort = TRUE, name = "total_wins") |>
  mutate(pct_of_all_prizes = round((total_wins / sum(total_wins) * 100), 2))

most_won_categories
prize_category total_wins pct_of_all_prizes
Physiology or Medicine 235 22.68
Physics 231 22.30
Chemistry 202 19.50
Peace 144 13.90
Literature 123 11.87
Economic Sciences 101 9.75
Show code 
most_won_categories_country <- clean_data |>
  filter(!is.na(birth_country)) |>
  group_by(prize_category) |>
  count(prize_category, birth_country, sort = TRUE, name = "total_wins") |>
    group_by(birth_country) |>
  mutate(pct_of_country = round((total_wins / sum(total_wins) * 100), 2))

most_won_categories_country
Show code 
most_won_categories_country_and_gender <- clean_data |>
  filter(!is.na(birth_country), !is.na(gender)) |>
  count(prize_category, birth_country, gender, name = "total_wins") |>
  group_by(prize_category) |>
  mutate(
    category_total = sum(total_wins),
    pct_of_category = round((total_wins / category_total) * 100, 2)
  ) |>
  arrange(desc(total_wins))

most_won_categories_country_and_gender

With the initial build idea, we got 277 rows, so we could shorten to top country for each field and compare from there.

Show code 
most_won_categories_country_and_gender <- clean_data |>
  filter(!is.na(birth_country), !is.na(gender)) |>
  count(prize_category, birth_country, gender, name = "total_wins") |>
  group_by(prize_category) |>
  mutate(
    category_total = sum(total_wins),
    pct_of_category = round((total_wins / category_total) * 100, 2)
  ) |>
  top_n(1, total_wins) |> 
  arrange(desc(category_total))

most_won_categories_country_and_gender
prize_category birth_country gender total_wins category_total pct_of_category
Physiology or Medicine USA male 79 235 33.62
Physics USA male 71 230 30.87
Chemistry USA male 57 202 28.22
Literature France male 11 122 9.02
Peace USA male 16 113 14.16
Economic Sciences USA male 54 100 54.00

With our data, we can see almost all of the categories are won by people from the USA and Literature being won by France. The dominant gender is male for all of the categories.

In regard to our data with 277 rows, it was also a male dominant winner in the dataset. Similarly, the USA had the most winners in the categories listed above, but interestingly, the United Kingdom and Germany had he 2nd and 3rd most winners in every category except for Peace and Literature.

Question 2

Per category, what is the average prize amount?

Show code 
avg_prize_amt <- clean_data |>
  group_by(prize_category) |>
  summarize(
    total_winner_counts = n(),
    avg_prize = round(mean(prize_amt, na.rm=TRUE), 2)) |>
  arrange(desc(avg_prize))

avg_prize_amt
prize_category total_winner_counts avg_prize
Economic Sciences 101 6870208
Chemistry 202 4261324
Physics 231 3964896
Peace 144 3637040
Physiology or Medicine 235 3599919
Literature 123 2961643

Plot

With the provided table and plot, we can see that Economic Sciences laureates earn the most after being awarded a Nobel Prize, with Literature being the least.

Show code 
ggplot(avg_prize_amt, aes(x = reorder(prize_category, total_winner_counts), y = total_winner_counts, fill = prize_category)) + 
  geom_col() + 
  coord_flip() + 
  labs(
    title = "Winner Counts Per Category", 
    x = "Category", 
    y = "Counts", 
    fill = "Category"
  ) + 
  theme_minimal()

Even though Economic Sciences laureates get more prize amounts, there are less winners versus a category like medicine or physics.

Question 3

Per continent, are there more males or females winning the Nobel prize?

Show code 
most_per_continent <- clean_data |>
  filter(!is.na(birth_continent), !is.na(gender)) |>
  count(birth_continent, gender, name = "total_wins") |>
  group_by(birth_continent) |>
  mutate(
    continent_total = sum(total_wins),
    pct_of_continent = round((total_wins / continent_total) * 100, 1)
  ) |>
  arrange(desc(continent_total), desc(total_wins))

most_per_continent
birth_continent gender total_wins continent_total pct_of_continent
Europe male 501 529 94.7
Europe female 28 529 5.3
North America male 313 335 93.4
North America female 22 335 6.6
Asia male 71 82 86.6
Asia female 11 82 13.4
Africa male 23 29 79.3
Africa female 6 29 20.7
Oceania male 14 15 93.3
Oceania female 1 15 6.7
South America male 10 12 83.3
South America female 2 12 16.7

Plot

Show code 
ggplot(most_per_continent, aes(x = reorder(birth_continent, continent_total), y = total_wins, fill = gender)) +
  geom_bar(stat = "identity", position = "dodge", width = 0.7) +
  coord_flip() +
  labs(
    title = "Nobel Prize Gender Breakdown by Birth Continent",
    x = "Birth Continent",
    y = "Total Individual Wins",
    fill = "Gender"
  ) +
  theme_minimal() +
   scale_fill_manual(values = c("female" = "lightcoral", "male" = "royalblue4"))

To refer back to our question 1 for a moment, Europe has more winners than the other continents, but country-wise, the USA has had the most winners.

But in regard to gender, it seems like this is a male dominant data pull where there are less female than male laureates.

Question 4

Per category, what year had the most winners?

Show code 
years_most_winner <- clean_data |>
  count(prize_category, award_year, name = "winner_count") |>
  group_by(prize_category) |>
  slice_max(order_by = winner_count, n = 1, with_ties = FALSE) |>
  ungroup()

years_most_winner
prize_category award_year winner_count
Chemistry 1946 3
Economic Sciences 1990 3
Literature 1904 2
Peace 1994 3
Physics 1903 3
Physiology or Medicine 1934 3

It seems that all of the winners for each category is within the 20th century.

Conclusion

Working with APIs can be difficult as it is a hassle to get the exact data that we want and going through the long data lists to extract it. Luckily with the Nobel Prize API, it did not need an API key so a bit of the struggle was taken off.

Then after analyzing the data, it was fascinating to me that there was a higher prize in one category than the other. Initially I had thought medicine or physics would be the top category but it had shocked me it was Economic Sciences. Similarly shocking that there are more male than females winning Nobel prizes, but also surprising that Europe has the most winners but in North America, the USA has more winners in 5/6 of the categories. Lastly, it is astonishing that there are not a lot of 21st century winners per category.

References

“Developer Zone.” NobelPrize.Org, https://www.nobelprize.org/about/developer-zone-2/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.