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| From | Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> |
| To | "statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu" <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu> |
| Subject | Re: st: copying contents form existing to new variable |
| Date | Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:07:38 +0100 |
So, as said, the two variables are numerically identical, but one has a value label and the other doesn't. The -list- clinches. (No differences between the variables means nothing to show.) Hence Stata is not changing anything, but you are seeing labels when you -list-, by default. The problem is yours to solve, and was not created by Stata. One variable is labelled, but from the evidence that set of labels looks strange. . label li stooltested to see what has been done to your data. (No; I don't want to see your categories, thanks.) Nick njcoxstata@gmail.com On 24 April 2013 14:59, Patricia Biedermann <pati.stat@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks Nick for the quick reply. > > I imported the data from an excel file; some of them where imported as > string variables and the labels came with importing too. > > > > No, - NumberExamined- doesn't have value label > > . describe total NumberExamined > > storage display value > variable name type format label variable label > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > total long %8.0g stooltested number of stool tested > NumberExamined double %10.0g > > > When I did the -list var1 var2 if var1 != var2- command it didn't show > me any results.... > > On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 3:46 PM, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote: >> Your variables are, it may be guessed, numerically identical. See the >> results of -summarize-. >> >> -total- has a value label, but -NumberExamined- seemingly doesn't. >> (You don't show -describe- for that.) >> >> You didn't show any results for -list var1 var2 if var1 != var2- which >> ignores the labels. >> >> Why do you need a value label for what looks numeric? Why was the >> original a string variable any way? Perhaps there were problems with >> stray characters. >> >> Nick >> njcoxstata@gmail.com >> >> >> On 24 April 2013 14:38, Patricia Biedermann <pati.stat@gmail.com> wrote: >>> Hello Nick, >>> >>> I used the -clonevar- command. The contents remained the same, but if >>> I do a simple calculation (cross multiplication) with var2 then the >>> results are wrong >>> >>> Here are some results of the approach I used before: >>> NumberExamined should be the copy of total >>> >>> list total NumberExamined >>> >>> total NumberExamined >>> 1. 51 38 >>> 2. 18 10 >>> 3. 20 12 >>> 4. 19 11 >>> 5. 55 41 >>> etc >>> >>> describe total NumberExamined >>> >>> storage display value variable >>> variablename type format label label >>> >>> total long %8.0g stool stooltest >>> >>> su total NumberExamined >>> >>> Variable Obs Mean Std. Dev. Min Max >>> >>> total 25 21.56 13.2164 >>> 1 45 >>> NumberExamined 25 21.56 13.2164 1 45 >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> This could be as simple as your new variable not inheriting the value >>>> labels of the -encode-d variable. (Have a look at -clonevar-.) >>>> >>>> Otherwise, we need more evidence. What you do mean by the contents >>>> changing? Show us the results of >>>> >>>> . describe var1 var2 >>>> . su var1 var2 >>>> . list var1 var2 if var1 != var2 [example at least] >>>> >>>> Nick >>>> njcoxstata@gmail.com >>>> >>>> On 24 April 2013 10:10, Patricia Biedermann <pati.stat@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> If I generate a new variable from an existing variable it happens that >>>>> the contents get changed. >>>>> gen var2=var1 >>>>> >>>>> My approach is following: >>>>> 1) My original variable is string and I - encode - it: var1 >>>>> 2) gen var2=var1 >>>>> >>>>> At step 2) the contents changes. >>>>> I came along this Thread: >>>>> http://www.stata.com/statalist/archive/2012-05/msg01280.html >>>>> ..and tried to create a double variable first before copying the >>>>> variables. Anyway, the same problem appears again. >>>>> >>>>> What could be the problem? It did this thing (gen var2=var1) many >>>>> times and it always worked so far... >>>> * >>>> * For searches and help try: >>>> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search >>>> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ >>>> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/ >>> * >>> * For searches and help try: >>> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search >>> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ >>> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/ >> * >> * For searches and help try: >> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search >> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ >> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/ > * > * For searches and help try: > * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search > * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ > * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/ * * For searches and help try: * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/