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fabricatr

fabricatr makes the data you do not have yet: you describe the variables and how they relate, and fabricate() builds a data frame that looks like what you expect to collect, so a research design can be simulated and diagnosed before there is anything to analyze. It handles hierarchical and cross-classified data, potential outcomes, and draws with a target intra-cluster correlation.

library(fabricatr)
fabricate(
  villages = add_level(N = 5, wealth = rnorm(N)),
  citizens = nest_level(N = 4, income = wealth + rnorm(N))
)

Installation

fabricatr 2.0 is not yet on CRAN. Until it is, install it from the rewrite branch:

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("DeclareDesign/fabricatr@rewrite", build_vignettes = TRUE)

The branch installs under the released name, so it replaces the CRAN fabricatr in your library. To keep 1.0.2 for comparison, put it in a library of its own:

lib102 <- file.path(tools::R_user_dir("fabricatr", "cache"), "lib102")
dir.create(lib102, recursive = TRUE)
install.packages("fabricatr", lib = lib102)
library(fabricatr, lib.loc = lib102)

lib.loc says where to look, not which version to use. In a session that has already attached fabricatr, that library() call is a silent no-op: no error, no warning, and you keep the version you had. Run the two versions in separate R processes.

What changed in 2.0

2.0 is a rewrite of the package on dplyr, tibble, purrr, and rlang. Every function 1.0.2 exported is here, with one addition, declare_level(). A script written for 1.x runs, and each old spelling warns once with the call to write instead. vignette("fabricatr2.0") has the full account; the short list:

• add_level(nest = FALSE) becomes declare_level().
• by = join_using(A, B) becomes .by = c("A", "B") in cross_levels() and link_levels(), and rho is an ordinary argument of link_levels().
• modify_level(by =) becomes modify_level(.by =), and modify_level() named after a level works at that level while keeping the levels nested inside it.
• break_labels and category_labels become labels.
• N is supplied by name: fabricate(N = 100, ...), never fabricate(100, ...).
• total_sd in draw_normal_icc() is a parameter of the draw, not a rescaling, so the same call gives different numbers.
• The correlated draw in link_levels() takes one code path on every machine, with or without mvnfast.
• n() is the number of rows the level is building, wherever N works, and nothing can rebind it.
• Levels are about twice as fast to build, and a 20,000-row three-level design closer to three times, which is where design diagnosis spends its time.

Where to read next

vignette("getting-started") is a first tour for someone new to the package. The book at https://book.declaredesign.org puts fabricated data to work in complete research designs.

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.