ces - ces v1.0.0: Major Release with Survey Variant Support

CES Package v1.0.0 - Major Release

This is the first major release of the ces package, featuring comprehensive survey variant support and enhanced functionality for accessing Canadian Election Study data.

Major New Features

Survey Variant Support

• Complete variant system: Access all survey variants (web, phone, combo, panel studies) for years with multiple data collection methods
• Intelligent defaults: Automatically selects the most appropriate variant (web for 2015/2019, panel for 1974)
• User-friendly messaging: Informative messages when multiple variants are available
• Enhanced get_ces(): New variant parameter with comprehensive validation

Comprehensive Codebook Coverage

• 100% codebook coverage: All 22 CES datasets now have complete codebook URLs
• Enhanced download_pdf_codebook(): Full variant support for codebook downloads
• Missing codebook resolution: Added 7 previously missing codebook URLs

Improved Data Organization

• Restructured 1974-1980: Panel survey now organized as a variant of 1974 (instead of separate year)
• Cleaner dataset listing: list_ces_datasets() shows years with comma-separated variants
• Consistent naming: Renamed "survey" variants to "single_survey" for clarity

Technical Improvements

Enhanced Download System

• Robust error handling: Improved timeout handling and retry mechanisms for large files
• ZIP file support: Seamless handling of ZIP archives with automatic extraction
• Better caching: Variant-aware caching system prevents conflicts

User Experience

• Variant messaging: Clear information about available options when accessing multi-variant years
• Comprehensive validation: Better error messages and input validation
• Documentation updates: All examples and documentation reflect new variant system

Testing & Quality

• 65 passing tests: Comprehensive test suite with 0 failures
• Enhanced test coverage: Tests for all variant combinations and edge cases
• CRAN-ready: Package passes all checks for CRAN submission

Dataset Coverage

The package now provides access to 22 CES datasets across 16 election years (1965-2021): - Single surveys: 1965, 1968, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2021 - Multi-survey years: - 1972 (June/July, September, November) - 1974 (Single survey + 1974-1980 panel) - 2015 (Web, Phone, Combo) - 2019 (Web, Phone)

Acknowledgments

This release includes proper acknowledgment of the original cesR package by Paul A. Hodgetts and Rohan Alexander. We thank them for their work in making CES data accessible to R users.

What's Next

This stable v1.0.0 release is ready for: - CRAN submission and distribution - Production use in research workflows - Integration into political science research projects

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Full Changelog: https://github.com/laurenceomfoisy/ces/compare/v0.1.0...v1.0.0

- R
Published by laurenceomfoisy 12 months ago