ARCHIVED: In SPSS, how do I recode a nominal variable?

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The recode command recodes a nominal variable that has a limited number of values.

Suppose you want to recode an existing variable q1 so that the scale is inverted (i.e., 5=1, 4=2, 3=3, 2=4, 1=5). The following command accomplishes this:

  RECODE q1 (5=1)(4=2)(2=4)(1=5).

You can also use the recode command to recode more than one variable at a time. The variables, in this case, need to have the same coding structure. An example follows:

  RECODE q1 to q10 (5=1)(4=2)(2=4)(1=5).

The above examples illustrate how to recode variables into the same variables. If you want to recode variables into different variables, add an into command, with your new variables' names at the end:

  RECODE q1 (5=1)(4=2)(2=4)(1=5) into new1.

  RECODE q1 to q10 (5=1)(4=2)(2=4)(1=5) into new1 to new10.

You can also recode a string variable into a numeric target:

  RECODE sex ('M'=1) ('F'=2) into newsex.

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