Methods

In iheiddown: For Writing Geneva Graduate Institute Documents

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Methods {#methods}

Your methods section will discuss the approach you will take for your dissertation.

Writing up math

\TeX\ is the best way to typeset mathematics. Donald Knuth designed \TeX\ when he got frustrated at how long it was taking the typesetters to finish his book, which contained a lot of mathematics.
One nice feature of RMarkdown is its ability to read LaTeX code directly.

If you are writing a thesis that includes equations, then this section will be useful. If not, you can just skip over or delete this section (you can always come back to it later by creating a new templated folder or looking at this chapter on the GitHub account online.)

In-line expressions

First, we can include short equations into our normal text by enclosing \LaTeX\ equations in dollar signs. So $\sum_{i=1}^N i$ will read $\sum_{i=1}^N i$.

Displayed expressions

\LaTeX\ also includes the option to present mathematical expressions on one or more separate lines:

$$ \pi(\theta|X_1< y_1,\dots,X_n<y_n) \varpropto \pi(\theta) \prod_{i=1}^n\int_{-\infty}^{y_i} \exp\left(-\frac{(x-\theta)^2}{2\sigma^2}\right)\ dx $$

$$ \sum_{j=1}^n (\delta\theta_j)^2 \leq \frac{\beta_i^2}{\delta_i^2 + \rho_i^2} \left[ 2\rho_i^2 + \frac{\delta_i^2\beta_i^2}{\delta_i^2 + \rho_i^2} \right] \equiv \omega_i^2 $$

Another equation:

$$\det\left|\,\begin{matrix}% c_0&c_1\hfill&c_2\hfill&\ldots&c_n\hfill\cr c_1&c_2\hfill&c_3\hfill&\ldots&c_{n+1}\hfill\cr c_2&c_3\hfill&c_4\hfill&\ldots&c_{n+2}\hfill\cr \,\vdots\hfill&\,\vdots\hfill& \,\vdots\hfill&&\,\vdots\hfill\cr c_n&c_{n+1}\hfill&c_{n+2}\hfill&\ldots&c_{2n}\hfill\cr \end{matrix}\right|>0$$

Model equations

One hassle is writing \LaTeX\ equations for the models you run in your analysis. Fortunately, there is an app (sic: package) for that! {Equatiomatic} takes some of the pain out of that chore. More details can be found here.

Symbols

Many of the symbols you will need can be found on the Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol Guide.

\noindent Exponent or Superscript: $\mathrm{O^-}$

\noindent Subscript: $\mathrm{CH_4}$

To stack numbers or letters as in $\mathrm{Fe_2^{2+}}$, the subscript is defined first, and then the superscript is defined.

\noindent Delta: $\Delta$

You can get around math mode's automatic italicizing in \LaTeX\ by using the argument $\mathrm{formula here}$, with your formula inside the curly brackets.
(Notice the use of the backticks here which enclose text that acts as code.)

So, $\mathrm{Fe_2^{2+}Cr_2O_4}$ is written $\mathrm{Fe_2^{2+}Cr_2O_4}$.

Inline code

If you'd like to put the results of your analysis directly into your discussion, add inline code like this:

The cos of $2 \pi$ is r cos(2*pi).

Another example would be the direct calculation of the standard deviation:

The standard deviation of speed in cars is r sd(cars$speed).

One last neat feature is the use of the ifelse conditional statement which can be used to output text depending on the result of an R calculation:

r ifelse(sd(cars$speed) < 6, "The standard deviation is less than 6.", "The standard deviation is equal to or greater than 6.")

Note the use of > here, which signifies a quotation environment that will be indented.

As you see with $2 \pi$ above, mathematics can be added by surrounding the mathematical text with dollar signs.

iheiddown documentation built on Nov. 10, 2022, 5:52 p.m.