A long-time ago, in the midst of a global pandemic, I launched the first online version of ‘R Programming for Policy Analysis’.

Although I’d run several workshops on applied policy analysis in the past, these sessions were usually for teams that worked exclusively on data analysis and modelling. But, the unexpected chord struck by a short listicle I wrote on R, indicated there was wider interest in an accessible introduction to the R programming for policy generalists, consultants and researchers. I therefore launched the first version of the course at the Microsoft Reactor Hub in Sydney, before delivering it as as an online webinar series so those from outside of Australia could participate too.

I won’t lie: although the first online version of the course was rated highly by participants, it was cobbled together with a combination of Zoom calls and duct-tape. Yet, I still receive messages from people asking to access course recordings or wanting to join future sessions. So I’ve been promising to develop the workshops into a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for a while.

Enter 2023: I’ve finally cleared enough time in my schedule to figure out how to make it possible. With enrollments now open at PolicyAnalysisLab.com (previously program4policy.com).

Note to the r-bloggers community: The course is designed to be an introduction to R for public policy professionals, rather than an introduction to public policy for programmers. Meaning that many of the topics covered will be familiar to experienced R users.

However, if you, your friends, colleagues or frenemies are interested in the course, I’ve issued a limited number of vouchers to reduce the price (with the price designed to cover the costs of hosting the course). The coupon code is “r-bloggers-23c6%”.

As this is the first ‘MOOC’ version of the course, feedback, comments or ideas are welcome. As always, if you’d like to get in touch about the course or anything else feel free to reach out to me here or via Linkedin.