Working with string variables in SPSS is often difficult for users. Not least because many SPSS procedures ignore string variables entirely. Even when this is not the case, longer string values may be more awkward to reference in procedures such as Select Cases, and furthermore, SPSS output usually displays string values in alphabetical order, which can make analysing fields such as rating scales difficult. In this video, Jarlath Quinn compares and contrasts three different methods for recoding string variables in SPSS, showing how users can create their numerical equivalents whilst controlling the order that the values are displayed in.
