R

Pratik Sachdeva, Ph.D.

Data/Research Scientist, Senior Consultant, and Senior Instructor

I am staff at the Social Sciences D-Lab. I received my Ph.D. in the Physics department at Berkeley. My research lies in the realm of theoretical/computational neuroscience, which aims to use mathematical and computational tools to better understand how neural systems operate and process information. My projects include using information-theoretic techniques to study how neural variability impacts information processing in neural circuits and investigating the statistical issues that impede the interpretation of parametric models of neural activity.

Beyond research, I'm...

Elijah Mercer

Consultant
School of Information

Elijah Mercer is a Master's student in the School of Information. He is particularly interested in using data to drive results for marginalized communities. His interests are in the field of criminal justice, policy and juvenile justice.

Chirag Manghani

Consultant
School of Information

Chirag is a 2nd year graduate at the I-School. Proficient in Python, Java, R, and SQL, he navigates software application development, machine learning and data science. His keen interest lies in data analysis and statistical methods, driving him to bridge theory and practice seamlessly. Chirag's dedication to excellence, adaptable mindset, and innate curiosity define him as a dynamic problem solver in the ever-evolving tech landscape.

Nicolas Nunez-Sahr

Consultant
Statistics

I lived in Santiago, Chile until I graduated from high school, and then moved to the US for undergrad at Stanford, where I obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the Statistics Department. I then worked as a Data Scientist in an NLP startup that was based in Bend, OR, which analyzed news articles. I love playing soccer, volleyball, table tennis, flute, guitar, latin music, and meeting new people. I want to get better at mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, chess and computer vision. I find nature astounding, and love finding sources of inspiration.

Introduction to Propensity Score Matching with MatchIt

April 1, 2024
Alex Ramiller
by Alex Ramiller. When working with observational (i.e. non-experimental) data, it is often challenging to establish the existence of causal relationships between interventions and outcomes. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) provides a powerful tool for causal inference with observational data, enabling the creation of comparable groups that allow us to directly measure the impact of an intervention. This blog post introduces MatchIt – a software package that provides all of the necessary tools for conducting Propensity Score Matching in R – and provides step-by-step instructions on how to conduct and evaluate matches.

R Fundamentals: Parts 1-4

April 29, 2024, 9:00am
This workshop is a four-part introductory series that will teach you R from scratch with clear introductions, concise examples, and support documents. You will learn how to download and install the open-sourced R Studio software, understand data and basic manipulations, import and subset data, explore and visualize data, and understand the basics of automation in the form of loops and functions. After completion of this workshop you will have a foundational understanding to create, organize, and utilize workflows for your personal research.

Design Your Observational Study with the Joint Variable Importance Plot

March 12, 2024
Lauren Liao
by Lauren Liao. When evaluating causal inference in observational studies, there often is a natural imbalance in the data. Luckily, variables are often measured alongside that can be helpful for adjustment. However, deciding which variables should be prioritized for adjustment is not trivial – since not all variables are equally important to the intervention or the outcome. I recommend using the joint variable importance plot during the observational study design phase to visualize which variables should be prioritized. This post provides a gentle guide on how to do so and why it is important.

A Basic Introduction to Hierarchical Linear Modeling

March 4, 2024
Mingfeng Xue
by Mingfeng Xue. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) is an extension of linear models, which offers an approach to analyzing data structures with nested levels. This blog elucidates HLM's significance over traditional linear regression models, particularly in handling clustered data and multilevel predictors. Illustrated with an example from educational research, the blog demonstrates model implementation and interpretation steps. It showcases how HLM accommodates both independent variables from different levels and hierarchical structure data, providing insights into their impacts on the outcome variable. Recommended resources further aid readers in mastering HLM techniques.

R Fundamentals: Parts 1-4 (Evening Workshop)

March 5, 2024, 4:00pm
This workshop is a four-part introductory series that will teach you R from scratch with clear introductions, concise examples, and support documents. You will learn how to download and install the open-sourced R Studio software, understand data and basic manipulations, import and subset data, explore and visualize data, and understand the basics of automation in the form of loops and functions. After completion of this workshop you will have a foundational understanding to create, organize, and utilize workflows for your personal research.

What Are Vowels Made Of? Graphing a Classic Dataset with R

February 13, 2024
Anna Björklund
by Anna Björklund. Vowels are all around us. Mainstream US English has around twelve unique vowels. How can our brains tell these sounds apart? This blog post will help you answer this question by plotting vowel data from a classic American English dataset by Peterson and Barney (1952).