Marc Dotson
@marcdotson.com
Causal Inference | Bayesian Statistics | Machine Learning // Husband, father, Latter-day Saint, assistant professor of data analytics, nerd.
Blog: occasionaldivergences.com | GitHub: github.com/marcdotson
Blog: occasionaldivergences.com | GitHub: github.com/marcdotson
Reposted by Marc Dotson
It was such a pleasure to speak today at #PositConf2025 about how BADLY 😱 it went when I tried to learn Python ~10 years ago, and how tooling in the ecosystem has changed (gotten better!) in the intervening decade.
You can check out my slides at:
juliasilge.github.io/get-unstuck-...
You can check out my slides at:
juliasilge.github.io/get-unstuck-...
How I got unstuck with Python
juliasilge.github.io
September 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
It was such a pleasure to speak today at #PositConf2025 about how BADLY 😱 it went when I tried to learn Python ~10 years ago, and how tooling in the ecosystem has changed (gotten better!) in the intervening decade.
You can check out my slides at:
juliasilge.github.io/get-unstuck-...
You can check out my slides at:
juliasilge.github.io/get-unstuck-...
It’s been a lot of fun working on this project and connecting marketing methodology with my political science roots.
Newly published at NVSQ with @sch-ir.bsky.social and @marcdotson.com! A neat conjoint experiment (analyzed w/fancy multinomial Bayesian models) measuring the effect of anti-NGO crackdown on donor behavior!
Prepreint+code: www.andrewheiss.com/research/art...
Official version: doi.org/10.1177/0899...
Prepreint+code: www.andrewheiss.com/research/art...
Official version: doi.org/10.1177/0899...
July 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
It’s been a lot of fun working on this project and connecting marketing methodology with my political science roots.
There are a lot of introductions to Python, but this one is mine. It includes a walkthrough of using uv for environment management, Polars for data wrangling, seaborn.objects for visualization, and scikit-learn for modeling. #rstats #python #pydata
An introduction to Python for R users – Occasional Divergences
This introduction to Python assumes you know R, which is used as an analogy to explain Python for data analysis.
occasionaldivergences.com
June 14, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Headed back home after a whirlwind visit! Logan is a gorgeous city and USU is doing really neat work with teaching data analytics
April 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Headed back home after a whirlwind visit! Logan is a gorgeous city and USU is doing really neat work with teaching data analytics
PyData Northern Utah is partnering with HackUSU for a special in-person meetup: An introduction to Python dashboards using polars, seaborn.objects, and Quarto: www.meetup.com/pydata-north...
February 21, 2025 at 1:56 AM
PyData Northern Utah is partnering with HackUSU for a special in-person meetup: An introduction to Python dashboards using polars, seaborn.objects, and Quarto: www.meetup.com/pydata-north...
For our first PyData Northern Utah meetup of 2025, we are continuing to look at a data wrangling tools with @healthandstats.bsky.social as guide. For anyone in and around Cache Valley, join our Northern Utah chapter at www.meetup.com/pydata-north...
January 27, 2025 at 5:14 PM
For our first PyData Northern Utah meetup of 2025, we are continuing to look at a data wrangling tools with @healthandstats.bsky.social as guide. For anyone in and around Cache Valley, join our Northern Utah chapter at www.meetup.com/pydata-north...
This may be Python ignorance on my part, but I'm wondering if there is something under the hood that makes Positron not play well with Jupyter notebooks? @coatless.bsky.social have you seen anything like this?
github.com/posit-dev/po...
github.com/posit-dev/po...
Does Positron not play well with Jupyter notebooks? · posit-dev positron · Discussion #5922
This may be more Python ignorance on my part (see #4588), but I'm wondering if there is something under the hood that makes Positron not play well with Jupyter notebooks? Jupyter notebooks are not ...
github.com
January 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
This may be Python ignorance on my part, but I'm wondering if there is something under the hood that makes Positron not play well with Jupyter notebooks? @coatless.bsky.social have you seen anything like this?
github.com/posit-dev/po...
github.com/posit-dev/po...
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Lots of folks are discovering the relevance of decision theory to the practical problem of analyzing an A/B. A quick🧵
January 2, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Lots of folks are discovering the relevance of decision theory to the practical problem of analyzing an A/B. A quick🧵
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Woohoo, our paper is live!
This haiku summarizes it best:
Raw model results?
Stop! Hard to understand! Use
{marginaleffects}
This haiku summarizes it best:
Raw model results?
Stop! Hard to understand! Use
{marginaleffects}
Our JSS article is out!
And now I get to focus on {marginaleffects} 1.0.0. Stay tuned.
www.jstatsoft.org/article/view...
And now I get to focus on {marginaleffects} 1.0.0. Stay tuned.
www.jstatsoft.org/article/view...
December 2, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Woohoo, our paper is live!
This haiku summarizes it best:
Raw model results?
Stop! Hard to understand! Use
{marginaleffects}
This haiku summarizes it best:
Raw model results?
Stop! Hard to understand! Use
{marginaleffects}
Reposted by Marc Dotson
No trick, all treats - posit::conf(2024) talks are now on YouTube! 🍬
Over a thousand people gathered in Seattle and online to dive into all things open-source data science. With 100+ talks, there's a lot to explore!
Check out the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#RStats #Python
Over a thousand people gathered in Seattle and online to dive into all things open-source data science. With 100+ talks, there's a lot to explore!
Check out the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#RStats #Python
October 31, 2024 at 2:00 PM
No trick, all treats - posit::conf(2024) talks are now on YouTube! 🍬
Over a thousand people gathered in Seattle and online to dive into all things open-source data science. With 100+ talks, there's a lot to explore!
Check out the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#RStats #Python
Over a thousand people gathered in Seattle and online to dive into all things open-source data science. With 100+ talks, there's a lot to explore!
Check out the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#RStats #Python
For anyone in and around Utah State University, come join a new chapter of PyData and learn about data wrangling with Polars next week! #python #databs
Data Wrangling with Polars, Wed, Nov 20, 2024, 6:00 PM | Meetup
Join our first PyData Northern Utah meetup to learn about data wrangling with Polars. This will be a hands-on workshop, so come prepared to learn and ask questions. We will
www.meetup.com
November 12, 2024 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Marc Dotson
This administrative attack on the nonprofit sector fits with a pattern of authoritarian restrictions on civil society that's been going on for the past decade+ @suparnac.bsky.social and I (and others) have done a bunch of research on this from an intl/comparative perspective #nonprofitsky #polisky 🧵
The House is set to vote Tuesday on a bill that would let the administration destroy nonprofits it claims support terrorism.
Congress Is About to Gift Trump Sweeping Powers to Crush His Political Enemies
A bill that would let Donald Trump unilaterally revoke tax-exempt status from nonprofits is being fast-tracked through Congress.
interc.pt
November 11, 2024 at 8:19 PM
This administrative attack on the nonprofit sector fits with a pattern of authoritarian restrictions on civil society that's been going on for the past decade+ @suparnac.bsky.social and I (and others) have done a bunch of research on this from an intl/comparative perspective #nonprofitsky #polisky 🧵
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Reposted by Marc Dotson
My first screencast in quite a while! Take a first look at how to use #Positron, the new data science IDE I have been working on, for data analysis with #rstats, using this week's #TidyTuesday dataset on orca encounters 🐳
youtu.be/5BojM5EciPs
youtu.be/5BojM5EciPs
First look at Positron, exploring orca encounters
YouTube video by Julia Silge
youtu.be
October 14, 2024 at 5:57 PM
My first screencast in quite a while! Take a first look at how to use #Positron, the new data science IDE I have been working on, for data analysis with #rstats, using this week's #TidyTuesday dataset on orca encounters 🐳
youtu.be/5BojM5EciPs
youtu.be/5BojM5EciPs
Reposted by Marc Dotson
We've got a brand new, baby website for Positron! Take a look if you are interested in getting started, and please let us know how it goes:
positron.posit.co
positron.posit.co
Positron
A next-generation data science IDE
positron.posit.co
October 28, 2024 at 4:40 PM
We've got a brand new, baby website for Positron! Take a look if you are interested in getting started, and please let us know how it goes:
positron.posit.co
positron.posit.co
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Just discovered the Causal Quartet by @lucystats.bsky.social, @travisgerke.bsky.social, and @malcolmbarrett.malco.io: four datasets that have the same unadjusted casaul relationship between treatment/outcome but different true effects. This is great for teaching DAG-based causal inference! #rstats
September 6, 2024 at 8:51 PM
Just discovered the Causal Quartet by @lucystats.bsky.social, @travisgerke.bsky.social, and @malcolmbarrett.malco.io: four datasets that have the same unadjusted casaul relationship between treatment/outcome but different true effects. This is great for teaching DAG-based causal inference! #rstats
Reposted by Marc Dotson
George Stagg just released a new #quarto extension that allows for an embedded full feature code editor inside of Quarto slide deck! It supports both #rstats via #webr and #python via #pyodide.
Announcement: mastodon.social/@gws@mstdn.s...
Extension:
github.com/r-wasm/quart...
Announcement: mastodon.social/@gws@mstdn.s...
Extension:
github.com/r-wasm/quart...
GitHub - r-wasm/quarto-drop: Drop down an interactive R or Python console, code editor, and plotting window from the top of your Quarto slides.
Drop down an interactive R or Python console, code editor, and plotting window from the top of your Quarto slides. - r-wasm/quarto-drop
github.com
July 23, 2024 at 5:37 PM
George Stagg just released a new #quarto extension that allows for an embedded full feature code editor inside of Quarto slide deck! It supports both #rstats via #webr and #python via #pyodide.
Announcement: mastodon.social/@gws@mstdn.s...
Extension:
github.com/r-wasm/quart...
Announcement: mastodon.social/@gws@mstdn.s...
Extension:
github.com/r-wasm/quart...
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Reposted by Marc Dotson
The International Society for Bayesian Analysis tells me Statistical Rethinking has won the 2024 DeGroot Prize for its contributions to "statistical inference, decision theory and statistical applications". This is huge honor especially given the previous winners who have influenced me so much.
July 16, 2024 at 11:54 AM
The International Society for Bayesian Analysis tells me Statistical Rethinking has won the 2024 DeGroot Prize for its contributions to "statistical inference, decision theory and statistical applications". This is huge honor especially given the previous winners who have influenced me so much.
Reposted by Marc Dotson
@tjmahr.com Did you see the new way to install {cmdstanr} and other Stan friends with {renv} now? No more custom repo entry is needed—it just uses R-Universe now discourse.mc-stan.org/t/announceme...
Announcement: Stan R Packages Repo Deprecated - Moving to R-Universe
Hello to the Stan R community! This post is to announce that we will be deprecating our custom R-packages repo ("https://mc-stan.org/r-packages/") and instead using R-Universe for building and distri...
discourse.mc-stan.org
July 8, 2024 at 4:21 PM
@tjmahr.com Did you see the new way to install {cmdstanr} and other Stan friends with {renv} now? No more custom repo entry is needed—it just uses R-Universe now discourse.mc-stan.org/t/announceme...
Reposted by Marc Dotson
New blog post! Read about Posit's new Positron editor, see some of the neat new features it has, and check out the settings and extensions I use. It includes a bonus workaround for connecting to a remote server with SSH! #rstats
Fun with Positron | Andrew Heiss
Combine the best of RStudio and Visual Studio Code in Posit’s new Positron IDE
www.andrewheiss.com
July 8, 2024 at 1:51 PM
New blog post! Read about Posit's new Positron editor, see some of the neat new features it has, and check out the settings and extensions I use. It includes a bonus workaround for connecting to a remote server with SSH! #rstats
Reposted by Marc Dotson
#positron IDE beta has been updated since last week! Two nice changes:
1. Quarto Extension (not the CLI) is now bundled; and,
2. Prelim support for #polars in data explorer
A full list of changes can be viewed using GitHub's compare url with tags.
github.com/posit-dev/po...
1. Quarto Extension (not the CLI) is now bundled; and,
2. Prelim support for #polars in data explorer
A full list of changes can be viewed using GitHub's compare url with tags.
github.com/posit-dev/po...
July 3, 2024 at 5:35 PM
#positron IDE beta has been updated since last week! Two nice changes:
1. Quarto Extension (not the CLI) is now bundled; and,
2. Prelim support for #polars in data explorer
A full list of changes can be viewed using GitHub's compare url with tags.
github.com/posit-dev/po...
1. Quarto Extension (not the CLI) is now bundled; and,
2. Prelim support for #polars in data explorer
A full list of changes can be viewed using GitHub's compare url with tags.
github.com/posit-dev/po...
Reposted by Marc Dotson
Some dueling long-haul (~30min+) videos exploring the #Positron IDE for data wrangling and visualization. Both videos look at the new data explorer, plotting capabilities, projects, and graph support.
#rstats: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jhT...
#Python: www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaZ...
#rstats: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jhT...
#Python: www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaZ...
Positron doing Data Analysis with R (Public Beta)
Timeline00:00 Intro00:25 Select R as the interpreter from the upper right corner.00:40 View the usual R startup message in the lower-left window.00:50 Discus...
www.youtube.com
July 2, 2024 at 6:44 PM
Some dueling long-haul (~30min+) videos exploring the #Positron IDE for data wrangling and visualization. Both videos look at the new data explorer, plotting capabilities, projects, and graph support.
#rstats: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jhT...
#Python: www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaZ...
#rstats: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jhT...
#Python: www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaZ...
Curious about Positron, @posit.co's new IDE? I try and summarize how it appears to bring together the best of RStudio and VS Code. #rstats #pydata #positron occasionaldivergences.com/posts/positr...
Coding in R and Python with Positron – Occasional Divergences
Positron is a “next-generation data science IDE.” If RStudio is too specific and VS Code is too general, is Positron just right?
occasionaldivergences.com
July 2, 2024 at 6:25 AM
Curious about Positron, @posit.co's new IDE? I try and summarize how it appears to bring together the best of RStudio and VS Code. #rstats #pydata #positron occasionaldivergences.com/posts/positr...
Reposted by Marc Dotson
~3 minute-long video looking at #positron's #rstats debugging capabilities.
In short: browser() and traceback() are supported with a nice explorer. Positron engages the debug mode with red outline. Care is needed when engaging debugger.
No script breakpoints yet (?)
youtu.be/p_4ZS-nnQ2Q
In short: browser() and traceback() are supported with a nice explorer. Positron engages the debug mode with red outline. Care is needed when engaging debugger.
No script breakpoints yet (?)
youtu.be/p_4ZS-nnQ2Q
Positron Debugger for R Demo with Nested Functions (Public Beta)
This is a quick demo video showing how the Positron R debugger works. In short, it primarily uses `browser()` and has support for `traceback()`. When the er...
youtu.be
June 28, 2024 at 9:19 AM
~3 minute-long video looking at #positron's #rstats debugging capabilities.
In short: browser() and traceback() are supported with a nice explorer. Positron engages the debug mode with red outline. Care is needed when engaging debugger.
No script breakpoints yet (?)
youtu.be/p_4ZS-nnQ2Q
In short: browser() and traceback() are supported with a nice explorer. Positron engages the debug mode with red outline. Care is needed when engaging debugger.
No script breakpoints yet (?)
youtu.be/p_4ZS-nnQ2Q