jamovi

Hi,
I was wondering if it's possible to add labels to levels of transformed variables?
I realize that this can be done by specifying the "name" of the new level in the transform (the --> use '...' part), but I was wondering if there's a way to assign labels after? (also because not in all case you would change all the levels you have in the original variable)

For example, one variable I have is 'type of employment', and I have values from 1 to 7, each corresponding to a different one. I labeled them such as "full time", "part time", etc. But since some of these have a very small number of data, I want to merge categories 6 and 7 (Other) into one. So I can write (I think)
if $source == 5 use 6
else use $source

What I get in the transformed variable are 6 categories, but there is no way to label them... or is there? This is not such a big deal but it would help in understanding tables and graphs more easily.

Thanks,
Simona

hi,

you can just use labels in use '...' part. i.e.

if $source == 5 use "part time"

the problem comes where you need to have both the value and the label, i.e. if you're reverse scoring an item, 7 = strongly agree, for some analyses you'll want the numeric value (means), and for others you'll want the label. not sure if that will be a problem here.

cheers

jonathon

Thank you for your reply.
My issue was more along the lines of whether there is a way of creating a transform such as:

Original variable categories:
1 (label "bus")
2 (label "car")
3 (label "bicycle")
4 (label "on foot")
5 (label "plane")

I want to merge 3 and 4 into a new category (which might be labelled "Other"), because those categories have very low observed counts.

So my transform should be able to a) merge the variable and b) give it a new label
in addition, I was wondering if it was possible to state something like "else, just keep the original value AND its original label"
(because otherwise I will have to define a series of ifs that go like --> if $source == 1 use "bus", if $source == 2 use "car" etc.
Might not be a big deal but it gets a little troblesome when you have a bunch of categories.

Hope I could explain what I'm trying to do?

Um, I'm replying to my own question with a slightly different example because I just realized something that partly answers my question:

ORiginal variable
1 (label "bus")
2 (label "car")
3 (label "bicycle")
4 (label "on foot")
5 (label "other")

Transform (version 1)
if $source == 4 use 5
else use $source

This gives me a new variable with levels defined as 1, 2, 3, 5

Transform (version 2)
if $source == 4 use 'Other'
else use $source

This gives me a new variable with levels defined as bus, car, bicycle, other

Which is what I wanted to get. I didn't realize that it worked this way.. I thought you had to specify labels one by one. I feel kind of silly now but I guess this might help people having the same question in the future ^^;

Hi everybody,
I found this discussion looking for support about value labels. As a new user of Jamovi, I immediately realized what Jonathon wrote above in response to the first question. Actually, it might become a problem when you transform (i.e. recode) a variable and the new labels do not have corresponding numeric values. For example, if I reverse code a likert type variable using labels, I cannot subsequently use the recoded variable to compute mean scores. Is there (or will be there) a way to fix it?

not at the moment. probably the best you can do for the time-being, is to recode the column twice. once for numeric values, and once for labels.

jonathon

Yes, this is feasible, though not efficient

Came across this in 2020 and thought it worth clarifying for posterity. I'm not sure this is exactly what Jonathan was suggesting, so ymmv with this approach...

To 'transform' a variable with levels, do the transform to numeric levels, then create a new variable and copy/paste the values from the transform into the new variable and delete the transform. The new variable is just a standard variable and will function normally allowing you to assign descriptions to the numeric values, aka label the levels.

oh yup. it is naughty. but it will work

jonathon

Thanks for your hint, decuser!