[R] Using SPSS Labels

Andrew Choens andy.choens at gmail.com
Wed Dec 24 05:19:13 CET 2008


I am trying to import a SPSS.sav file into R. The attached file is not
technically the file I am trying to import, but does replicate my
problem. The actual file is much too large to attach. No matter what I
do, I can not get R (base or Hmisc) to apply the value labels in
the .sav file to the dataframe created in R. Here's the code that I am
using.

maine <- spss.get("test.sav")
# or
maine2 <- read.spss("test.sav", read.value.labels=TRUE)

When I try to import the file, the value labels are not assigned to the
rows. This is what I get.

   ID GENDER
1   1      1
2   2      2
3   3      1
4   4      2
5   5      1
6   6      1
7   7      1
8   8      2
9   9      2
10 10      1
11 11      3

In the .sav file, 1 = Men 2 = Women 3 = user assigned missing.

The variable values are attached as a value.labels attribute. If I
remove row # 11 (gender = 3), I can import the file as I expect.

   ID GENDER
1   1      Men
2   2      Women
3   3      Men
4   4      Women
5   5      Men
6   6      Men
7   7      Men
8   8      Women
9   9      Women
10 10      Men

Given all of this: How can I import a .sav file with user assigned
missing values correctly.

If this is not possible, what is the best way to use the value.labels
attribute when I make a table with table(Gender).

Thanks.

-- 
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