[R] Sample without replacement

[Mark G Orr]

Hello, I have a simple problem (checked the archives and the appropriate 
help pages, to no avail).  I want to creat a vector that is length(2000). 
The vector is to consist of two strings( "std" and "dev") with 1760 "std"s 
and 240 "dev"s.  Furthermore, for each element of the vector, i want the 
selection of one of the strings to be approx. random.  The end result will 
be a vector with the following proportions:  .12 "dev" and .88 "std". 
My solution, below, almost works, but i don't get the exact desired 
proportions:


sample.from.vector <- c(rep("std",1760),rep("dev",240))

make.vector <- rep(99,2000)

for (i in 1:2000){
   make.vector[i] <- sample(sample.from.vector,1,replace=F)
}


As I understand the above code (which is not very well, obviously), each 
iteration assigns one element from the sample.from.vector  to the current 
make.vector element;  the element choosen from sample.from.vector is 
tagged so that i is not selected again.  However, after the loop, 
make.vector contains, for example, 1758 stds  and 242 devs.  Each 
iteration results in a different proportion of stds and devs (although 
close to the desired, not right on).

Any help would be greatly apprecitated.

-Mark Orr





________________________________
Mark G. Orr
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dept. of Neuroscience
RM 825 Kennedy Center
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY  10461

718-430-2610