Whilst feasible (at least under older versions of Stata), your
strategy is ill-advised.
You should document in your do-file all manipulations/edits that are
done to the data, so instead of having -edit if()- statements in your
do-file that bring up the editor and making the changes by hand you
should write statements such as (based on your example...
replace mpg_class = . if(mpg_class == 3 & foreign == 1)
..this way you...
a) document the changes you are making to your data.
b) make your do-file self-contained and your work reprodicible.
c) avoid errors when editing by hand
c) avoid the tedious task of editing data by hand (which is also very boring!)
Neil
--
"... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which
from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he
rather gives his mind to each particular case in the light of his
evidence and his ideas." - Sir Ronald A. Fisher (1956)
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