Google Data Analytics Professional Certification Practice Test

Which R package would you use if you want to convert data into a tidy format?

1. readr

2. tidyr

3. ggplot2

4. forecast

The correct answer is: tidyr

The selection of the tidyr package for converting data into a tidy format is based on its primary function in the R programming language. Tidyr is specifically designed to help you create data frames that adhere to the principles of tidy data, where each variable forms a column, each observation forms a row, and each type of observational unit forms a table. This structuring is essential for effective data analysis and visualization. Tidyr provides functions such as pivot_longer() and pivot_wider(), which facilitate the reshaping of data between long and wide formats. It allows users to easily reorganize data to meet the requirements of different analytical tasks, making it a fundamental tool for any data analyst in R. In contrast, while the other packages mentioned are useful in their own right—readr is primarily for reading data into R, ggplot2 focuses on data visualization through graphics, and forecast is specialized for time series forecasting—they do not directly provide the functionality needed to convert data into a tidy format. Thus, tidyr stands out as the correct choice for this specific need.