Ask questions

Where do I go when I need to get unblocked? Where do I go when I want to learn how to unblock myself? Here are some resources. Most examples are with R, but the principles of how and where to ask questions apply broadly.

How to get help in R

How to get help in R, a presentation for R-Ladies Coventry, by Ella Kaye, 2021.

In the session, Ella will talk us through different ways to get help when you get stuck on a problem in R. We’ll cover how and where to look for answers and how to ask and post good questions that make it easy for others to help you, including a demo of the excellent reprex and datapasta packages. So whether you’re an R novice or more experienced R user, hopefully there’ll be some useful tips for you!

How to ask questions so they get answered! Possibly by yourself!

How to ask questions so they get answered! Possibly by yourself! 2017, an rOpenSci Community Call with Jenny Bryan, JD Long, Scott Chamberlain.

Where to get help with your R question?

Where to get help with your R question?, Maëlle Salmon blog post 2018 (good general approach)

The reprex R package

The reprex R package. What is a reprex? It’s a reproducible example. This package helps you prepare reprexes for posting to GitHub issues, StackOverflow, in Slack messages or snippets, or even to paste into PowerPoint or Keynote slides.

Teach me how to Google

Teach me how to Google by Sam Csik of the National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis and RLadies Santa Barbara.

  • Original talk developed for the Master of Environmental Data Science Program (MEDS) at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.