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I am working with a data set where I have to recode variables so that Never and Rarely =0, Sometimes and Always as 1, and Not Applicable as NA. For reference, the numbering scheme for the code is that 1=Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 4=Always, and 5= Not Applicable. Should I change the numeric variables before renaming them or change the character variables into numeric ones? I'm at an impasse and could use help on what code to use.

Sebastian Pintea
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  • it does not matter- check out case_when() function! – yuliaUU Jul 02 '22 at 17:50
  • Could you please share some reproducible data using `dput`? So we can help you better. – Quinten Jul 02 '22 at 18:04
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    I'm a little confused: you say that `Never` and `Rarely` should be 0, but then you say `1=Never` and `2=Rarely`. I think small sample data (using `dput(..)` or `data.frame(..)`) is critical here, and please be clear about your expected output given that sample data. – r2evans Jul 02 '22 at 18:15

1 Answers1

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The problem

You have a vector (or a data frame column) x with values 1 through 5, eg:

x <- c(1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1)

You want to recode 1 and 2 to 0, 3 and 4 to 1, and 5 to NA.

Solution in base R

values <- list(`1` = 0, `2` = 0, `3` = 1, `4` = 1, `5` = NA)
x <- unname(unlist(values[x]))

[1]  0  0  1  1 NA  1  1  0  0

Solution with dplyr::recode()

values <- list(`1` = 0, `2` = 0, `3` = 1, `4` = 1, `5` = NA_real_)
x <- dplyr::recode(x, !!!values)

[1]  0  0  1  1 NA  1  1  0  0
Caspar V.
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  • How can I apply this to my data set now that has those numbers? Do I replace 'values' with the data table I have? – Sebastian Pintea Jul 03 '22 at 22:43
  • `x` is your data; if you currently have your variable in `df$happiness`, then replace `x` with `df$happiness`. Eg: `df$happiness <- unname(unlist(values[df$happiness]))`. `values` is the translation 'dictionary'; it holds the 'before = after' pairs. – Caspar V. Jul 03 '22 at 22:47
  • Gotcha. So when I do the c(1,2,3,4,5) function, it only looks at the first 5 rows. My data set has 1704 rows of those numbers. How do I manipulate it so the vector has those numbers but for all the rows if that makes sense. – Sebastian Pintea Jul 05 '22 at 15:09
  • When A is your data frame, and B is the column in your data frame that holds the numbers: `A$B <- unname(unlist(values[A$B]))`. If that doesn't help you, share a part of your data set, for instance with `str(dataset)`, `dput(dataset)` or even a screenshot. – Caspar V. Jul 05 '22 at 21:55
  • @SebastianPintea Please take the time to check out the answers to [How to make a great R reproducible example?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5963269/how-to-make-a-great-r-reproducible-example). – Caspar V. Jul 05 '22 at 22:08