labelr (version 0.1.9)

add_quant1: Associate Numerical Threshold-based Value Labels with a Single Numerical Variable

Description

Add variable-specific value labels based on threshold cuts of a single numerical variable.

Usage

add_quant1(data, var, qtiles = NULL, vals = NULL, labs = NULL)
aql1(data, var, qtiles = NULL, vals = NULL, labs = NULL)

Value

A data.frame, with new variable value labels added (call get_val_labs to see them), other provisional/default labelr label information added, and previous user-added labelr label information preserved.

Arguments

data

a data.frame.

var

the unquoted name of the variable to which value labels will be added.

qtiles

the number of quantile categories to employ (e.g., 4 would indicate quartiles, 5 would indicate quintiles, 10 for deciles, etc.). If NULL, vals must be non-NULL.

vals

one more values of var that will define range cutpoints, such that all values at or below a given number and above the preceding val will be treated as part of the same numerical range for labeling purposes. If NULL, qtiles must be non-NULL.

labs

a character vector of distinct labels to identify the quantiles. If left NULL, convention "q" + quantile (e.g., "q10") will be used for qtile-based labels (i.e., if qtiles arg is non-NULL), and convention "<=" + val will be used for vals argument-based labels (i.e., if vals arg is non-NULL). Note that the labels "NA" and "Other" are (non-case-sensitively) reserved and may not be user-supplied.

Details

add_quant1 is a variant of add_quant_labs that allows you to specify only one var to label but allows you to pass its name without quoting it (compare add_quant1(mtcars, mpg) to add_quant_labs(mtcars, "mpg").

Numerical variables that feature decimals or large numbers of distinct values are not eligible to receive conventional value labels. add_quant1 allows one to label such variables according to user-supplied value thresholds (i.e., cutpoints) OR quantile membership, Thus, unlike value labels added with add_val_labs (and add_val1), add_quant1 (and add_quant_labs) will apply the same value label to all values that fall within the numerical value range defined by each threshold (cutpoint). For still another value-labeling approach, see add_m1_lab (and add1m1).

Note 1: Quantity labels cannot be added incrementally through repeated calls to add_quant1: each new call will overwrite all value labels applied to the specified vars in any previous add_quant1 calls. This is in contrast to add_val_labs (which allows for incremental value-labeling) and add_m1_lab (which requires incremental value-labeling).

Note 2: aql1 is a compact alias for add_quant1: they do the same thing, and the former is easier to type

Note 3: This command is intended exclusively for interactive use. In particular, the var argument must be the literal name of a single variable (column) found in the supplied data.frame and may NOT be, e.g., the name of a character vector that contains the variable (column name) of interest. If you wish to supply a character vector with the names of variables (columns) of interest, use add_quant_labs().

Examples

# mtcars demo
df <- mtcars
# now, add value labels
df <- add_val_labs(
  data = df,
  vars = "am",
  vals = c(0, 1),
  labs = c("automatic", "manual")
)

# label variable "mpg" in terms of 5 quintiles
df <- add_quant1(data = df, mpg, qtiles = 5)

# label variable "disp" in terms of "pretty" cutpoints
vals2use <- pretty(c(min(df$disp), max(df$disp)))[-1] # establish cutpoints
df <- add_quant1(data = df, disp, vals = vals2use)
df_labson <- use_val_labs(df)
head(df_labson)