Reusable R notebooks, scripts, and tools for applied data work and evaluation.
Built for use in the field — across health, gender, climate, and education programs in South Asia.
FieldStack is a collection of R notebooks, scripts, and sample data for applied research and evaluation work. It covers regression analysis, cost-effectiveness, qualitative coding, data visualisation, and reporting — all grounded in real South Asian fieldwork needs.
This is the applied research layer of OpenStacks for Change — an open ecosystem of tools for public interest research and evaluation.
| Directory | What It Does | Status |
|---|---|---|
scripts/ |
Index functions: health access, climate vulnerability, education outcomes, MEL reshaping | Ready |
notebooks/ |
4 Quarto notebooks: education summary, public health index, climate risk, MEL dashboard | Ready |
regression/ |
Logistic models, interaction terms, multicollinearity checks (VIF) | Ready |
evaluation/ |
SROI calculators, cost-effectiveness, qual-to-quant conversion, evaluation summaries | Ready |
custom_viz/ |
Waterfall charts, bullet charts, sf map visualisation | Ready |
visualisation/ |
ggplot2 dashboard bars, faceted plots | Ready |
qualitative/ |
Qualitative coding with quanteda (corpus, tokens, DFM) | Ready |
| Directory | What It Contains |
|---|---|
sample_data/ |
4 realistic datasets: climate exposure (150 rows), health services (200), education outcomes (200), MEL indicators (100) |
codebook_templates/ |
Variable metadata for health surveys and programme monitoring |
tests/ |
9 testthat unit tests covering all core functions |
| Script | What It Does |
|---|---|
survey_tools/sample_size_calculator.R |
Simple, stratified, and cluster sampling calculations with design effect |
survey_tools/sampling_weights.R |
Base weight calculation, trimming, weighted summary statistics |
survey_tools/survey_summary.R |
Survey design objects, weighted descriptives, proportions using the survey package |
| File | What It Does |
|---|---|
automated_reporting/render_reports.R |
Batch Quarto/RMarkdown rendering with logging |
automated_reporting/monthly_summary.qmd |
Quarto template for monthly indicator summary with inline plots |
| Directory | What It Contains |
|---|---|
python_integration/ |
R-Python interop via reticulate |
- R 4.0+ with RStudio or VS Code
- Key packages: tidyverse, haven, survey, ggplot2, quarto, testthat
- Optional: reticulate (for Python integration), sf (for mapping)
# Clone and explore
git clone https://github.com/Varnasr/FieldStack.git
cd FieldStack
# Open any notebook in RStudio
# Start with notebooks/ for guided analysis examples
# Use sample_data/ to test before using your own data
# Run the test suite
source("tests/run_all_tests.R")- Pick a notebook from
notebooks/that matches your analysis need - Load sample data from
sample_data/to test the workflow - Replace with your own data and adapt the analysis
- Use
custom_viz/for publication-ready charts - Generate reports with
automated_reporting/
FieldStack is one of several stacks in the OpenStacks ecosystem:
| Stack | Focus |
|---|---|
| InsightStack | MEL tools, calculators, documentation |
| FieldStack (this repo) | R notebooks for fieldwork and evaluation |
| EquityStack | Python workflows for development data |
| SignalStack | Research Rundown newsletter archive |
Use FieldStack when you need R-based analysis tools. Use EquityStack for Python/Jupyter equivalents. Use InsightStack for Stata tools and MEL calculators.
Contributions welcome — especially from field researchers and evaluators. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
High-impact areas:
- Survey design — sample size calculators, PSU allocation, sampling frameworks
- Simulation — Monte Carlo scripts for evaluation design
- Visualisation — heatmaps, treemaps, time series templates
- R notebooks from your own evaluation work (anonymised)
@software{fieldstack,
author = {Sri Raman, Varna},
title = {FieldStack: R Tools for Applied Development Research},
url = {https://github.com/Varnasr/FieldStack},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15250764}
}MIT — free to use, modify, and share. See LICENSE.
Part of OpenStacks for Change. Created by Varna Sri Raman.