[R] recode() function results in logical output, not factor output

[Chuck Cleland]

On 1/7/2008 3:32 PM, Thomas MacFarland wrote:
> Dear R Users:
>  
> I have race-ethnicity groups identified in the factor variable Ethnic_G.
>  
> I need to collapse Ethnic_G into a new variable with only two factors, 1 (White, non-Hispanic) and 2 (Minority).
>  
> As seen in the code and output below, the recoded race-ethnicity variable is put into logical format, not factor format.
>  
> I've used library(car) and the package was updated.
>  
> Any ideas on how to fix this problem would be apprecidated.

   In your call to recode(), use 'W' rather than 'c(W)' to specify the 
White-non-Hispanic category:

 > recode(Ethnic_G.Character, "'W'=1; else=2", as.factor.result=TRUE)
  [1] 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2
[24] 2 2
Levels: 1 2

OR

 > recode(Ethnic_G.Character, "'W'='White-non-Hispanic'; 
else='Minority'", as.factor.result=TRUE)
  [1] Minority           Minority
  [3] Minority           Minority
  [5] White-non-Hispanic White-non-Hispanic
  [7] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
  [9] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[11] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[13] White-non-Hispanic Minority
[15] Minority           Minority
[17] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[19] Minority           Minority
[21] White-non-Hispanic Minority
[23] Minority           Minority
[25] Minority
Levels: Minority White-non-Hispanic

   Also, you can recode the factor directly without converting it to 
character:

 > recode(Ethnic_G, "'W'='White-non-Hispanic'; else='Minority'", 
as.factor.result=TRUE)
  [1] Minority           Minority
  [3] Minority           Minority
  [5] White-non-Hispanic White-non-Hispanic
  [7] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
  [9] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[11] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[13] White-non-Hispanic Minority
[15] Minority           Minority
[17] Minority           White-non-Hispanic
[19] Minority           Minority
[21] White-non-Hispanic Minority
[23] Minority           Minority
[25] Minority
Levels: Minority White-non-Hispanic

> Thanks in advance!
>  
> Best wishes.
>  
> Tom 
>> #####################################################################> # Task - recode Ethnic_G into two breakout groups, White-non-Hispanic> #        and Other> class(Ethnic_G)[1] "factor"> print(Ethnic_G) [1] B A I U W W B W H W N W W B A B H W A H W B I N ILevels: A B H I N U W> Ethnic_G.Character <- as.character(Ethnic_G)> class(Ethnic_G.Character)[1] "character"> print(Ethnic_G.Character) [1] "B" "A" "I" "U" "W" "W" "B" "W" "H" "W" "N" "W" "W" "B" "A" "B" "H" "W" "A" "H" "W" "B" "I" "N" "I"> Ethnic_G.Recode <- recode(Ethnic_G.Character, "c(W)='1'; else='2'",+   as.factor.result=TRUE)> class(Ethnic_G.Recode)[1] "logical"> print(Ethnic_G.Recode) [1] NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA> #####################################################################
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Watch “Cause Effect,” a show about real people making a real difference.
> 
> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]] 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.

-- 
Chuck Cleland, Ph.D.
NDRI, Inc.
71 West 23rd Street, 8th floor
New York, NY 10010
tel: (212) 845-4495 (Tu, Th)
tel: (732) 512-0171 (M, W, F)
fax: (917) 438-0894