Relative frequencies / proportions with dplyr

Question

Suppose I want to calculate the proportion of different values within each group. For example, using the mtcars data, how do I calculate the relative f

Answer 1

@Henrik's is better for usability as this will make the column character and no longer numeric but matches what you asked for...

mtcars %>%
  group_by (am, gear) %>%
  summarise (n=n()) %>%
  mutate(rel.freq = paste0(round(100 * n/sum(n), 0), "%"))

##   am gear  n rel.freq
## 1  0    3 15      79%
## 2  0    4  4      21%
## 3  1    4  8      62%
## 4  1    5  5      38%

EDIT Because Spacedman asked for it :-)

as.rel_freq <- function(x, rel_freq_col = "rel.freq", ...) {
    class(x) <- c("rel_freq", class(x))
    attributes(x)[["rel_freq_col"]] <- rel_freq_col
    x
}

print.rel_freq <- function(x, ...) {
    freq_col <- attributes(x)[["rel_freq_col"]]
    x[[freq_col]] <- paste0(round(100 * x[[freq_col]], 0), "%")   
    class(x) <- class(x)[!class(x)%in% "rel_freq"]
    print(x)
}

mtcars %>%
  group_by (am, gear) %>%
  summarise (n=n()) %>%
  mutate(rel.freq = n/sum(n)) %>%
  as.rel_freq()

## Source: local data frame [4 x 4]
## Groups: am
## 
##   am gear  n rel.freq
## 1  0    3 15      79%
## 2  0    4  4      21%
## 3  1    4  8      62%
## 4  1    5  5      38%