How can i use destring for all my variables in a stata file more than. Stata is reading in my variables as string instead of numeric. Creating and recoding variables stata learning modules. This guide provides users with an introduction and resources to become familiar with stata. You can also destring an individual variable, type. Watch how to convert a string variable to a numeric variable. String variables can have varying lengths up to 244 characters in stata 12, or up to.
If, for example, you had a gender variable consisting of ones and zeroes that encoded as str1 and was therefore all numbers, you could use the destring command. Instructional video on how to rename and label variables and variable values using stata, data analysis and statistical software. If a variable is string, then typically stata refuses to do calculations. The most general remedy is to use the destring command. With encode, you need to specify the, generate option and give it a new variable name. Creating new variables from other variables generate. In addition, his comment point to simpler solution. In stata you can create new variables with generate and you can modify the values of an existing variable with replace and with recode. It pays to develop a convention for naming variables and sticking to it. You can use tostring and destring to convert from one type to.
A variable can have one or several values information for. Note that while using list, and some other data display commands, produces values that look like string dates, the actual values stored by stata are numeric. Jul 28, 2009 transform string variable to categorical integer variable july 28, 2009 june 16, 2011 jan sauermann when cleaning datasets one often has string variables containing categories e. How can i turn a string variable containing dates into a. No observations r2000 and destring errors statalist. This tells you that there is a nonnumeric character in a variable that you expect to be all numeric, but it does not tell you what the character. If no format is specified, tostring uses the format %12. Variable labels allow us to provide a longer description of the variables contents. Reed college stata help changing string variables to. This entry describes this manual and what has changed since stata 12. For example, nothing in the help for destring implies that you should type. Over the years, ive learned that stata is a powerful data analysis software data management, graphs and statistics.
Welcome to the main library and scholarly commons library guide for stata data analysis and statistical software at the university of illinois urbanachampaign. The premise of destring here could only be that nonnumeric text is irrelevant, so that you really have values such as 200009. Lets say you have data on the health habits of canadians aged 12 and up, but. Software purchasing and updating consultants for hire. In destring complication, anup asked how to split a string variable. Ive been browsing the stata help forums and i didnt see a solution to this issue anywhere, other than to destring the variable. How can i quickly convert many string variables to numeric. See the next entry,d data management, for an introduction to statas data management capabilities. Create a new variable that counts the number of missing responses for each respondent.
I need them converted to numeric variables so that i can generate a new variable with them. This post demonstrates how to create new variables, recode existing variables and label variables and values of variables. Even so, because the variable is defined as str2, stata cannot perform any kind of numerical analysis of the variable science. Why doesnt the destring command in stata include an encode option. The following document provides an example of how to create string variables from numeric variables, and then concatenate string variables into one. The variables may contain numeric values, but if they are defined as type string, there are very few things you can do to analyze the data. Stata is a complete, integrated statistical software package created by statacorp lp. Researchers would need to use statistical software and packages to conduct their analysis. Im fairly new to stata and i have data that i cannot seem to convert from strings to numbers.
Creating and recoding variables stata learning modules this module shows how to create and recode variables. Odd numbers of characters in string variables were soon allowed in stata 2. That intended purpose does not stop tostring being useful for things for which it. If a variable is a string, the type will be str followed by some number. The following document provides an example of how to. Jul 25, 2018 welcome to the main library and scholarly commons library guide for stata data analysis and statistical software at the university of illinois urbanachampaign. Generate a new variable equal to 1 if income is greater than 19. The easiest way to tell if this is the case is to look at the variables window. This document briefly summarizes stata commands useful in econ4570 econometrics and econ. Perhaps the mistake was yours, because what you initially typed in statas. Also, you do not have the features of a full blown programming language which you might want sooner or later.
I also have a separate string date that i was able to destring and convert to a double. Sometimes, for whatever reason, stata incorrectly calls a categorical variable a string variable. When cleaning datasets one often has string variables containing categories e. To be able to perform any mathematical operations, your variables need to be in a numeric format. It provides a wide range of statistical analysis, data management, and graphics. As of august 2018, the scholarly commons hosts statase version 12. Although the variable science is defined as str2, you can see from the list below that it contains just numeric values. Users often find that stata is reading in most, or even all, variables as string variables, when most, or even all, areor should benumeric. Usually, that variable is now string because of some mistake. The easiest way to convert string variables to numeric form is to use the encode command. For linear regressions the areg function offers a partial solution for my issue, but that function only allows me to absorb a single factor variable. What if my data is from another statistical software program.
How can i use destring for all my variables in a stata. Further, you cannot change values by changing their display format. The second command formats the numeric value so that when stata displays the date, it is in a form that is easy for humans to read. We wish to run a regression of high blood pressure on race, sex, and age group. The other links are to downloadable text which should be opened within the stata programme. Wordstat for stata content analysis and text mining tool. In a comment to the previous post destring complication. Most commands work the same in stata versions 12, 11, 10, and 9. Stata has a bultin command to quickly fill missing values for any variable, nice. How do i convert string variables to numeric variables in. You may even get the cryptic message no observations, which here means no numeric values on which to do that.
But when destring returns income contains nonnumeric characters. This only works if your original string variable is spelled consistently. Here we use the generate command to create a new variable representing population younger than 18 years. View notes ddestring from sef k24 at curtin university sarawak. Variables in varlist that are already numeric will not be changed. Learning to use statistical software involves a lot of trial and error, angry. Spsspasw will allow you to save your data as a stata file.
I am trying the following command to destring variables in the imf weo. With destring, you need to specify either the, generate option or the, replace option. A simple way of transforming such a variable to one variable containing the same information is encode. The magic here is to convert the string variable sex into a numeric variable called gender with an associated value label, a trick accomplished by encode. Converting string to numeric variables is easy with destring help destring. In his case, he has a variable of the form 28180018021832ob where 28 represents state code, 18 represents districts code, 0018 represents subdistricts code.
Hello, i have a time series dataset with the following date variable format. This variable is a string variable, which i would like to destring such that it can act as the date variable. If the variable is actually a numeric value that just happens to be stored as a string, see our faq. Monthly and halfyearly data naturally yield to the same method, but use 12 or 2 and not 4 as the step length. All variables that undergo any kind of numerical calculation must have a numerical represenation in.
As you become more proficient with programming in stata, you wont need to try out. Stata, like most software, holds numeric data to finite. The variable does not contain nonnumeric characters. Stata names are case sensitive, age and age are different variables. An example of when one might need to do this is if they needed to append several variable sets together, and they needed a unique identifier the included information about the source data set.
I usually work in r, but i have to use stata this time, thats why im struggling with this commercial software. Also, as documented under help dates, date is a function for producing daily dates, so it wont do what you want. How can i use destring for all my variables in a stata file more than 500 vars but one. The following links will take you videos of individual stata tutorials. How can i convert string variables to numeric variables in stata. I have two variables in stata, both numeric variables that have somehow been recorded as string variables. Remarks and examples this manual documents most of statas data management features and is referred to as the d manual. Mar 12, 2015 destring uncomplicated posted on 12 march 2015 by mitch abdon in a comment to the previous post destring complication. When i add the variable to the dataset, stata recognizes it as a string variable. How can i quickly convert many string variables to numeric variables. There may be times that you receive a file that has many or all of the variables defined as strings, that is, character variables.
You cannot get means, you cannot do a regression, you cannot do an anova, etc. Variable names can have up to 32 characters, but many commands print only 12, and shorter names are easier to type. Perhaps the mistake was yours, because what you initially typed in stata s. See the official stata help for destring and stata help for encode. How can i turn a string variable containing dates into a date. A variable can have one or several values information for one or several cases. The first case most often occurs when importing data from another source. When i tried, it said type mismatch i have tried the real and the encode commands, none of which are working. The latest versions of stata added many new features, including a long string data type allowing one to store along with numerical and categorical data. Title destring convert string variables to numeric variables and vice versa syntax options for. Destring a time variable using stata stack overflow. Second, and more idiosyncratic to stata, are functions written in statas own language and driven by the egencommand.
1350 1004 1128 339 283 394 531 527 48 1100 354 934 1232 923 43 516 783 903 1423 789 1069 1049 666 416 544 1322 1126 459 1161 365 691 277 306 928