Asking for help

We all get stuck at some point and need some help. When Google is just not giving you answers and ChatGPT is throwing you the same code that does not work without changes, frustration can start to peak.

At this point, you might turn to your lecturer for help ☺️. I am always happy to assist with your issues, which will probably arise the most during the class practicals. In this case just come up to my desk or call me and I’ll come to you.

When you are not in class and run into issues, I won’t have all the data at hand and the whole script in front of me to assist. I will also not be running the same environment as you.

In this cases, you will need to put some extra effort into asking for help.

Option 1 - dump it all on the lecturer (not recommended):

You can send me all your data sources and scripts, explain very well where the error is located and I can try to reproduce your error and check how to help. This might take a while since I will need to go through all your files and data to be able to locate what is going on.

At the very least, besides including all your data and scripts, please also include your session information so I know which packages you have loaded and your operating system.

Here is how I get my session info:

sessioninfo::session_info()
─ Session info ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 setting  value
 version  R version 4.4.1 (2024-06-14 ucrt)
 os       Windows 10 x64 (build 19045)
 system   x86_64, mingw32
 ui       RTerm
 language ENG
 collate  English_Austria.utf8
 ctype    English_Austria.utf8
 tz       Europe/Vienna
 date     2025-04-10
 pandoc   3.2 @ C:/Program Files/RStudio/resources/app/bin/quarto/bin/tools/ (via rmarkdown)

─ Packages ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 package     * version date (UTC) lib source
 cli           3.6.3   2024-06-21 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.1)
 digest        0.6.35  2024-03-11 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.0)
 evaluate      1.0.3   2025-01-10 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.2)
 fastmap       1.1.1   2023-02-24 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
 htmltools     0.5.8.1 2024-04-04 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.0)
 htmlwidgets   1.6.4   2023-12-06 [1] CRAN (R 4.3.2)
 jsonlite      1.9.1   2025-03-03 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.3)
 knitr         1.50    2025-03-16 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.3)
 rlang         1.1.4   2024-06-04 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.1)
 rmarkdown     2.29    2024-11-04 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.3)
 rstudioapi    0.16.0  2024-03-24 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.0)
 sessioninfo   1.2.2   2021-12-06 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.0)
 xfun          0.51    2025-02-19 [1] CRAN (R 4.4.3)

 [1] C:/Users/b1066081/AppData/Local/R/win-library/4.4
 [2] C:/Program Files/R/R-4.4.1/library

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Option 2 - isolate your problem (recommended):

It is very likely that your problem comes from one single function that is giving you errors. In this case, you will need to create a reproducible example (reprex) of your code and share it. This option is not only going to help you ask for help in this course, but also on any open forum or issue tracker of open source software. Remember to always include your session info as shown above!

The main parts of a reprex include (source):

  1. background information - Describe what you are trying to do. What have you already done?
  2. complete set up - include any library() calls and data to reproduce your issue.
  3. data for a reprex Here’s a discussion on setting up data for a reprex
  4. make it run - include the minimal code required to reproduce your error on the data provided. People should be able to copy and paste your code chunk and get the same error. How do I format my text so it has nice code chunks?
  5. minimal - strip away everything that is not directly related to your problem. This usually involves creating a much smaller and simpler set of code and data compared to that which created your issue.

Use the reprex-package to Build Your Reproducible Example

Source: Allison Horst

Source: Allison Horst

When creating a reprex by hand, it’s easy to accidentally miss something that means your code can’t be run on someone else’s computer. Avoid this problem by using the reprex-package. The reprex package will save effort for you and others who want to help.

Further resources: