AssociationExplorer2

AssociationExplorer2 is an R package that provides a Shiny application for exploring statistical associations within multivariate datasets.

The app offers interactive tools for examining relationships between variables, including:

• correlation networks
• bivariate visualizations (numeric–numeric, numeric–categorical, categorical–categorical)
• summary tables describing variable distributions

The application supports optional survey weights and range-based filters for association strengths, making it suitable for exploring complex or survey-based datasets.

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Installation

From CRAN

install.packages("AssociationExplorer2")

Development version from GitHub

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("AntoineSoetewey/AssociationExplorer2")

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Launching the Shiny Application

You can launch the Shiny application using the following command:

library(AssociationExplorer2)
run_associationexplorer()

This opens the interactive Shiny interface in your default web browser.

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Features

• Correlation networks

Visualize associations between variables using weighted network diagrams. Supports numeric–numeric, numeric–categorical, and categorical–categorical associations.

• Bivariate visualizations

Generate scatter plots, mean plots, and contingency tables depending on variable types.

• Survey weights

Users may optionally specify a survey weight variable. Weighted statistics and associations are computed where applicable.

• Range-based association filtering

Instead of setting a single cutoff threshold, users can filter associations based on minimum and maximum ranges.

• Data upload interface

Users can load their own datasets in common formats (CSV, Excel). For CSV files, the separator must be a comma (,) and decimals must use a dot (.). A small demonstration dataset is included with the package.

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Exemple

library(AssociationExplorer2)

# Launch the application
run_associationexplorer()

Upload your dataset through the interface, select the variables of interest, adjust the thresholds or weights, and explore the resulting association structures.

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Included Data

The package includes a small demonstration dataset suitable for illustrating the app’s key functionalities. Users can upload CSV or Excel files through the interface to analyze their own data. CSV files must use comma-separated values and dot decimals.

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Reporting Issues

If you encounter a bug or would like to request a feature, please open an issue:

https://github.com/AntoineSoetewey/AssociationExplorer2/issues

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License

This package is released under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Citation

If you use AssociationExplorer2 in your work, please cite the associated paper:

Soetewey, A., Heuchenne, C., Claes, A., & Descampe, A. (2026). AssociationExplorer: A user-friendly shiny application for exploring statistical associations. SoftwareX, 33(102483). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2025.102483

You may also cite the R package itself. A complete citation for both the package and the paper can be obtained via:

citation("AssociationExplorer2")