data transformation intro
Jorge
Following along the R for Data Science by Garrett Grolemund and Hadley Wickham https://r4ds.had.co.nz/transform.html
5.1.1 Prerequisites
Make sure you install these packages before loading them
library(nycflights13)
library(tidyverse)## ── Attaching packages ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse 1.3.0 ──## ✓ ggplot2 3.2.1 ✓ purrr 0.3.3
## ✓ tibble 2.1.3 ✓ dplyr 0.8.3
## ✓ tidyr 1.0.2 ✓ stringr 1.4.0
## ✓ readr 1.3.1 ✓ forcats 0.4.0## ── Conflicts ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse_conflicts() ──
## x dplyr::filter() masks stats::filter()
## x dplyr::lag() masks stats::lag()5.1.2 nycflights13
To explore the basic data manipulation verbs of dplyr, we’ll use nycflights13::flights. This data frame contains all 336,776 flights that departed from New York City in 2013. The data comes from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and is documented in ?flights.
help(flights)
flights## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1 517 515 2 830 819
## 2 2013 1 1 533 529 4 850 830
## 3 2013 1 1 542 540 2 923 850
## 4 2013 1 1 544 545 -1 1004 1022
## 5 2013 1 1 554 600 -6 812 837
## 6 2013 1 1 554 558 -4 740 728
## 7 2013 1 1 555 600 -5 913 854
## 8 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 709 723
## 9 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 838 846
## 10 2013 1 1 558 600 -2 753 745
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>,
## # carrier <chr>, flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>,
## # air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>5.1.3 dplyr basics
In this chapter you are going to learn the five key dplyr functions that allow you to solve the vast majority of your data manipulation challenges:
- Pick observations by their values (filter()).
- Reorder the rows (arrange()).
- Pick variables by their names (select()).
- Create new variables with functions of existing variables (mutate()).
- Collapse many values down to a single summary (summarise()).
These can all be used in conjunction with group_by() which changes the scope of each function from operating on the entire dataset to operating on it group-by-group. These six functions provide the verbs for a language of data manipulation.
All verbs work similarly: The first argument is a data frame.
The subsequent arguments describe what to do with the data frame, using the variable names (without quotes).
The result is a new data frame.
Together these properties make it easy to chain together multiple simple steps to achieve a complex result. Let’s dive in and see how these verbs work.
5.2 Filter rows with filter()
filter() allows you to subset observations based on their values. The first argument is the name of the data frame. The second and subsequent arguments are the expressions that filter the data frame. For example, we can select all flights on January 1st with:
filter(flights, month == 1, day == 1)## # A tibble: 842 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1 517 515 2 830 819
## 2 2013 1 1 533 529 4 850 830
## 3 2013 1 1 542 540 2 923 850
## 4 2013 1 1 544 545 -1 1004 1022
## 5 2013 1 1 554 600 -6 812 837
## 6 2013 1 1 554 558 -4 740 728
## 7 2013 1 1 555 600 -5 913 854
## 8 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 709 723
## 9 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 838 846
## 10 2013 1 1 558 600 -2 753 745
## # … with 832 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>, carrier <chr>,
## # flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>, air_time <dbl>,
## # distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>When you run that line of code, dplyr executes the filtering operation and returns a new data frame. dplyr functions never modify their inputs, so if you want to save the result, you’ll need to use the assignment operator, <-:
jan1 <- filter(flights, month == 1, day == 1)
jan1## # A tibble: 842 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1 517 515 2 830 819
## 2 2013 1 1 533 529 4 850 830
## 3 2013 1 1 542 540 2 923 850
## 4 2013 1 1 544 545 -1 1004 1022
## 5 2013 1 1 554 600 -6 812 837
## 6 2013 1 1 554 558 -4 740 728
## 7 2013 1 1 555 600 -5 913 854
## 8 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 709 723
## 9 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 838 846
## 10 2013 1 1 558 600 -2 753 745
## # … with 832 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>, carrier <chr>,
## # flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>, air_time <dbl>,
## # distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>5.2.1 Comparisons
Do this part on your own.
5.2.2 Logical operators
Do this part on your own.
5.2.3 Missing values
Do this part on your own.
5.3 Arrange rows with arrange()
arrange() works similarly to filter() except that instead of selecting rows, it changes their order. It takes a data frame and a set of column names (or more complicated expressions) to order by. If you provide more than one column name, each additional column will be used to break ties in the values of preceding columns:
arrange(flights, year, month, day)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1 517 515 2 830 819
## 2 2013 1 1 533 529 4 850 830
## 3 2013 1 1 542 540 2 923 850
## 4 2013 1 1 544 545 -1 1004 1022
## 5 2013 1 1 554 600 -6 812 837
## 6 2013 1 1 554 558 -4 740 728
## 7 2013 1 1 555 600 -5 913 854
## 8 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 709 723
## 9 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 838 846
## 10 2013 1 1 558 600 -2 753 745
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>,
## # carrier <chr>, flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>,
## # air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>Use desc() to re-order by a column in descending order:
arrange(flights, desc(dep_delay))## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 9 641 900 1301 1242 1530
## 2 2013 6 15 1432 1935 1137 1607 2120
## 3 2013 1 10 1121 1635 1126 1239 1810
## 4 2013 9 20 1139 1845 1014 1457 2210
## 5 2013 7 22 845 1600 1005 1044 1815
## 6 2013 4 10 1100 1900 960 1342 2211
## 7 2013 3 17 2321 810 911 135 1020
## 8 2013 6 27 959 1900 899 1236 2226
## 9 2013 7 22 2257 759 898 121 1026
## 10 2013 12 5 756 1700 896 1058 2020
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>,
## # carrier <chr>, flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>,
## # air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>arrange(flights, (dep_delay)) # ascending does not require an additional keyword!## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 12 7 2040 2123 -43 40 2352
## 2 2013 2 3 2022 2055 -33 2240 2338
## 3 2013 11 10 1408 1440 -32 1549 1559
## 4 2013 1 11 1900 1930 -30 2233 2243
## 5 2013 1 29 1703 1730 -27 1947 1957
## 6 2013 8 9 729 755 -26 1002 955
## 7 2013 10 23 1907 1932 -25 2143 2143
## 8 2013 3 30 2030 2055 -25 2213 2250
## 9 2013 3 2 1431 1455 -24 1601 1631
## 10 2013 5 5 934 958 -24 1225 1309
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>,
## # carrier <chr>, flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>,
## # air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>5.4 Select columns with select()
It’s not uncommon to get datasets with hundreds or even thousands of variables. In this case, the first challenge is often narrowing in on the variables you’re actually interested in. select() allows you to rapidly zoom in on a useful subset using operations based on the names of the variables.
select() is not terribly useful with the flights data because we only have 19 variables, but you can still get the general idea:
# Select columns by name
select(flights, year, month, day)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 3
## year month day
## <int> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1
## 2 2013 1 1
## 3 2013 1 1
## 4 2013 1 1
## 5 2013 1 1
## 6 2013 1 1
## 7 2013 1 1
## 8 2013 1 1
## 9 2013 1 1
## 10 2013 1 1
## # … with 336,766 more rows# Select all columns between year and day (inclusive)
select(flights, year:day)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 3
## year month day
## <int> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1
## 2 2013 1 1
## 3 2013 1 1
## 4 2013 1 1
## 5 2013 1 1
## 6 2013 1 1
## 7 2013 1 1
## 8 2013 1 1
## 9 2013 1 1
## 10 2013 1 1
## # … with 336,766 more rows# Select all columns except those from year to day (inclusive)
select(flights, -(year:day))## # A tibble: 336,776 x 16
## dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time arr_delay carrier
## <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 517 515 2 830 819 11 UA
## 2 533 529 4 850 830 20 UA
## 3 542 540 2 923 850 33 AA
## 4 544 545 -1 1004 1022 -18 B6
## 5 554 600 -6 812 837 -25 DL
## 6 554 558 -4 740 728 12 UA
## 7 555 600 -5 913 854 19 B6
## 8 557 600 -3 709 723 -14 EV
## 9 557 600 -3 838 846 -8 B6
## 10 558 600 -2 753 745 8 AA
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 9 more variables: flight <int>, tailnum <chr>,
## # origin <chr>, dest <chr>, air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>,
## # minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>There are a number of helper functions you can use within select():
starts_with(“abc”): matches names that begin with “abc”.
ends_with(“xyz”): matches names that end with “xyz”.
contains(“ijk”): matches names that contain “ijk”.
matches(“(.)\1”): selects variables that match a regular expression. This one matches any variables that contain repeated characters. You’ll learn more about regular expressions in strings.
num_range(“x”, 1:3): matches x1, x2 and x3.
See ?select for more details.
select() can be used to rename variables, but it’s rarely useful because it drops all of the variables not explicitly mentioned. Instead, use rename(), which is a variant of select() that keeps all the variables that aren’t explicitly mentioned:
rename(flights, tail_num = tailnum)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## year month day dep_time sched_dep_time dep_delay arr_time sched_arr_time
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <int> <int>
## 1 2013 1 1 517 515 2 830 819
## 2 2013 1 1 533 529 4 850 830
## 3 2013 1 1 542 540 2 923 850
## 4 2013 1 1 544 545 -1 1004 1022
## 5 2013 1 1 554 600 -6 812 837
## 6 2013 1 1 554 558 -4 740 728
## 7 2013 1 1 555 600 -5 913 854
## 8 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 709 723
## 9 2013 1 1 557 600 -3 838 846
## 10 2013 1 1 558 600 -2 753 745
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 11 more variables: arr_delay <dbl>,
## # carrier <chr>, flight <int>, tail_num <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>,
## # air_time <dbl>, distance <dbl>, hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>, time_hour <dttm>Another option is to use select() in conjunction with the everything() helper. This is useful if you have a handful of variables you’d like to move to the start of the data frame.
select(flights, time_hour, air_time, everything())## # A tibble: 336,776 x 19
## time_hour air_time year month day dep_time sched_dep_time
## <dttm> <dbl> <int> <int> <int> <int> <int>
## 1 2013-01-01 05:00:00 227 2013 1 1 517 515
## 2 2013-01-01 05:00:00 227 2013 1 1 533 529
## 3 2013-01-01 05:00:00 160 2013 1 1 542 540
## 4 2013-01-01 05:00:00 183 2013 1 1 544 545
## 5 2013-01-01 06:00:00 116 2013 1 1 554 600
## 6 2013-01-01 05:00:00 150 2013 1 1 554 558
## 7 2013-01-01 06:00:00 158 2013 1 1 555 600
## 8 2013-01-01 06:00:00 53 2013 1 1 557 600
## 9 2013-01-01 06:00:00 140 2013 1 1 557 600
## 10 2013-01-01 06:00:00 138 2013 1 1 558 600
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 12 more variables: dep_delay <dbl>,
## # arr_time <int>, sched_arr_time <int>, arr_delay <dbl>, carrier <chr>,
## # flight <int>, tailnum <chr>, origin <chr>, dest <chr>, distance <dbl>,
## # hour <dbl>, minute <dbl>5.5 Add new variables with mutate()
Besides selecting sets of existing columns, it’s often useful to add new columns that are functions of existing columns. That’s the job of mutate().
mutate() always adds new columns at the end of your dataset so we’ll start by creating a narrower dataset so we can see the new variables. Remember that when you’re in RStudio, the easiest way to see all the columns is View().
flights_sml <- select(flights,
year:day,
ends_with("delay"),
distance,
air_time
)
mutate(flights_sml,
gain = dep_delay - arr_delay,
speed = distance / air_time * 60
)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 9
## year month day dep_delay arr_delay distance air_time gain speed
## <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 2013 1 1 2 11 1400 227 -9 370.
## 2 2013 1 1 4 20 1416 227 -16 374.
## 3 2013 1 1 2 33 1089 160 -31 408.
## 4 2013 1 1 -1 -18 1576 183 17 517.
## 5 2013 1 1 -6 -25 762 116 19 394.
## 6 2013 1 1 -4 12 719 150 -16 288.
## 7 2013 1 1 -5 19 1065 158 -24 404.
## 8 2013 1 1 -3 -14 229 53 11 259.
## 9 2013 1 1 -3 -8 944 140 5 405.
## 10 2013 1 1 -2 8 733 138 -10 319.
## # … with 336,766 more rowsNote that you can refer to columns that you’ve just created:
mutate(flights_sml,
gain = dep_delay - arr_delay,
hours = air_time / 60,
gain_per_hour = gain / hours
)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 10
## year month day dep_delay arr_delay distance air_time gain hours
## <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 2013 1 1 2 11 1400 227 -9 3.78
## 2 2013 1 1 4 20 1416 227 -16 3.78
## 3 2013 1 1 2 33 1089 160 -31 2.67
## 4 2013 1 1 -1 -18 1576 183 17 3.05
## 5 2013 1 1 -6 -25 762 116 19 1.93
## 6 2013 1 1 -4 12 719 150 -16 2.5
## 7 2013 1 1 -5 19 1065 158 -24 2.63
## 8 2013 1 1 -3 -14 229 53 11 0.883
## 9 2013 1 1 -3 -8 944 140 5 2.33
## 10 2013 1 1 -2 8 733 138 -10 2.3
## # … with 336,766 more rows, and 1 more variable: gain_per_hour <dbl>If you only want to keep the new variables, use transmute():
transmute(flights,
gain = dep_delay - arr_delay,
hours = air_time / 60,
gain_per_hour = gain / hours
)## # A tibble: 336,776 x 3
## gain hours gain_per_hour
## <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 -9 3.78 -2.38
## 2 -16 3.78 -4.23
## 3 -31 2.67 -11.6
## 4 17 3.05 5.57
## 5 19 1.93 9.83
## 6 -16 2.5 -6.4
## 7 -24 2.63 -9.11
## 8 11 0.883 12.5
## 9 5 2.33 2.14
## 10 -10 2.3 -4.35
## # … with 336,766 more rows5.5.1 Useful creation functions
Do this one on your own
5.6 Grouped summaries with summarise()
The last key verb is summarise(). It collapses a data frame to a single row:
summarise(flights, delay = mean(dep_delay, na.rm = TRUE))## # A tibble: 1 x 1
## delay
## <dbl>
## 1 12.6(We’ll come back to what that na.rm = TRUE means very shortly.)
summarise() is not terribly useful unless we pair it with group_by(). This changes the unit of analysis from the complete dataset to individual groups. Then, when you use the dplyr verbs on a grouped data frame they’ll be automatically applied “by group”. For example, if we applied exactly the same code to a data frame grouped by date, we get the average delay per date:
by_day <- group_by(flights, year, month, day)
summarise(by_day, delay = mean(dep_delay, na.rm = TRUE))## # A tibble: 365 x 4
## # Groups: year, month [12]
## year month day delay
## <int> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 2013 1 1 11.5
## 2 2013 1 2 13.9
## 3 2013 1 3 11.0
## 4 2013 1 4 8.95
## 5 2013 1 5 5.73
## 6 2013 1 6 7.15
## 7 2013 1 7 5.42
## 8 2013 1 8 2.55
## 9 2013 1 9 2.28
## 10 2013 1 10 2.84
## # … with 355 more rowsTogether group_by() and summarise() provide one of the tools that you’ll use most commonly when working with dplyr: grouped summaries. But before we go any further with this, we need to introduce a powerful new idea: the pipe.
5.6.1 Combining multiple operations with the pipe
Imagine that we want to explore the relationship between the distance and average delay for each location. Using what you know about dplyr, you might write code like this:
by_dest <- group_by(flights, dest)
delay <- summarise(by_dest,
count = n(),
dist = mean(distance, na.rm = TRUE),
delay = mean(arr_delay, na.rm = TRUE)
)
delay <- filter(delay, count > 20, dest != "HNL")
# It looks like delays increase with distance up to ~750 miles
# and then decrease. Maybe as flights get longer there's more
# ability to make up delays in the air?
ggplot(data = delay, mapping = aes(x = dist, y = delay)) +
geom_point(aes(size = count), alpha = 1/3) +
geom_smooth(se = FALSE)## `geom_smooth()` using method = 'loess' and formula 'y ~ x'
#> `geom_smooth()` using method = 'loess' and formula 'y ~ x'There are three steps to prepare this data:
Group flights by destination.
Summarise to compute distance, average delay, and number of flights.
Filter to remove noisy points and Honolulu airport, which is almost twice as far away as the next closest airport.
This code is a little frustrating to write because we have to give each intermediate data frame a name, even though we don’t care about it. Naming things is hard, so this slows down our analysis.
There’s another way to tackle the same problem with the pipe, %>%:
delays <- flights %>%
group_by(dest) %>%
summarise(
count = n(),
dist = mean(distance, na.rm = TRUE),
delay = mean(arr_delay, na.rm = TRUE)
) %>%
filter(count > 20, dest != "HNL")
delays## # A tibble: 96 x 4
## dest count dist delay
## <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 ABQ 254 1826 4.38
## 2 ACK 265 199 4.85
## 3 ALB 439 143 14.4
## 4 ATL 17215 757. 11.3
## 5 AUS 2439 1514. 6.02
## 6 AVL 275 584. 8.00
## 7 BDL 443 116 7.05
## 8 BGR 375 378 8.03
## 9 BHM 297 866. 16.9
## 10 BNA 6333 758. 11.8
## # … with 86 more rowsThis focuses on the transformations, not what’s being transformed, which makes the code easier to read. You can read it as a series of imperative statements: group, then summarise, then filter. As suggested by this reading, a good way to pronounce %>% when reading code is “then”.
Behind the scenes, x %>% f(y) turns into f(x, y), and x %>% f(y) %>% g(z) turns into g(f(x, y), z) and so on. You can use the pipe to rewrite multiple operations in a way that you can read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. We’ll use piping frequently from now on because it considerably improves the readability of code, and we’ll come back to it in more detail in pipes.
Working with the pipe is one of the key criteria for belonging to the tidyverse. The only exception is ggplot2: it was written before the pipe was discovered. Unfortunately, the next iteration of ggplot2, ggvis, which does use the pipe, isn’t quite ready for prime time yet.
5.6.2 Missing values
Do this part on your own.
##5.6.3 Counts Do this part on your own.
5.6.4 Useful summary functions
Do this part on your own.
5.6.5 Grouping by multiple variables
Do this part on your own.
5.6.6 Ungrouping
Do this part on your own.
5.2.4 Exercises
- Find all flights that
- Had an arrival delay of two or more hours
- Flew to Houston (IAH or HOU)
- Were operated by United, American, or Delta
- Departed in summer (July, August, and September)
- Arrived more than two hours late, but didn’t leave late
- Were delayed by at least an hour, but made up over 30 minutes in flight
- Departed between midnight and 6am (inclusive)
5.3.1 Exercises
How could you use arrange() to sort all missing values to the start? (Hint: use is.na()).
Which flights travelled the farthest? Which travelled the shortest?
5.4.1 Exercises
What happens if you include the name of a variable multiple times in a select() call?
Does the result of running the following code surprise you? How do the select helpers deal with case by default? How can you change that default?
select(flights, contains("TIME"))## # A tibble: 336,776 x 6
## dep_time sched_dep_time arr_time sched_arr_time air_time time_hour
## <int> <int> <int> <int> <dbl> <dttm>
## 1 517 515 830 819 227 2013-01-01 05:00:00
## 2 533 529 850 830 227 2013-01-01 05:00:00
## 3 542 540 923 850 160 2013-01-01 05:00:00
## 4 544 545 1004 1022 183 2013-01-01 05:00:00
## 5 554 600 812 837 116 2013-01-01 06:00:00
## 6 554 558 740 728 150 2013-01-01 05:00:00
## 7 555 600 913 854 158 2013-01-01 06:00:00
## 8 557 600 709 723 53 2013-01-01 06:00:00
## 9 557 600 838 846 140 2013-01-01 06:00:00
## 10 558 600 753 745 138 2013-01-01 06:00:00
## # … with 336,766 more rows5.5.2 Exercises
- Currently dep_time and sched_dep_time are convenient to look at, but hard to compute with because they’re not really continuous numbers. Convert them to a more convenient representation of number of minutes since midnight.
- Compare air_time with arr_time - dep_time. What do you expect to see? What do you see? What do you need to do to fix it?
5.6.7 Exercises
- Brainstorm at least 5 different ways to assess the typical delay characteristics of a group of flights. Consider the following scenarios:
- A flight is 15 minutes early 50% of the time, and 15 minutes late 50% of the time.
- A flight is always 10 minutes late.
- A flight is 30 minutes early 50% of the time, and 30 minutes late 50% of the time.
- 99% of the time a flight is on time. 1% of the time it’s 2 hours late.
- Which is more important: arrival delay or departure delay?