--- Michael McCulloch <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello, in order to keep inventory while cleaning data, I'm using a
> clumsy manual step to keep track of how many observations I drop. For
> example:
>
> . describe, short //INVENTORY: dropped 28097 for histology not
> NSCLC; N = 51,560
>
> Is there a more elegant way to do this that could give me a summary
> list of variables dropped & the reason for drop?
One option is not to drop these observations but create two new
variables: touse and problem. The former is 1 when you want to use an
observation and 0 otherwise, while the latter is categorical with
labels identifying the problem. When you are doing your analysis you
just add -if touse- to your command.
*-------------- begin example ---------------------
sysuse auto, clear
gen byte touse = !missing(rep78, foreign, mpg)
gen byte problem = missing(rep78, foreign, mpg)
label define problem 0 "no problem"
label define problem 1 "missing values", add
replace touse = 0 if rep78 == 1
replace problem = 2 if rep78 == 1
label define problem 2 "rep78 == 1", add
label value problem problem
tab problem
reg mpg foreign rep78 if touse
*----------------- end example ---------------------
(For more on how to use examples I sent to the Statalist, see
http://home.fsw.vu.nl/m.buis/stata/exampleFAQ.html )
Hope this helps,
Maarten
-----------------------------------------
Maarten L. Buis
Department of Social Research Methodology
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Boelelaan 1081
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
visiting address:
Buitenveldertselaan 3 (Metropolitan), room Z434
+31 20 5986715
http://home.fsw.vu.nl/m.buis/
-----------------------------------------
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