Converting Yes-No Strings to Numerics with an SPSS Macro

Often I have strings in my SPSS data set which have values like: Y,Yes,yes,No,n, etc. and I want them to be a numeric value so I can take their mean. This SPSS macro makes converting them a breeze!  You might need to adapt it to your data set but the principle can be applied for many uses.

The below video demonstrates it usage.  Definitely saves a lot of time if o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSJFUFRuJHc

SPSS macro

These SPSS macros should regularly categorize the string variables correctly.

 
*/////////////////////.
DEFINE !con2Num (vnames=!CMDEND)
!DO !vname !IN (!vnames)
If INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("Y"))>0 Temp1234= 1 .
If INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("N"))>0 Temp1234= 0 .
FORMAT temp1234(F3.0).
Val Labels Temp1234 0"No" 1"Yes".
Var level Temp1234 (Scale).
MATCH FILES FILE=* /DROP=!vname .
RENAME VARIABLE (temp1234=!vname).
!DOEND
exe.
!ENDDEFINE.
*/////////////////////.
!con2Num vnames=var1 var2 var3 .

*/////////////////////.
DEFINE !con2NumNA (vnames=!CMDEND)
!DO !vname !IN (!vnames)
If INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("N"))>0 Temp1234= 0 .
If INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("Y"))>0 Temp1234= 1 .
If INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("N/A"))>0 OR INDEX(Upcase(!Vname),Upcase("NA"))>0 Temp1234= 2 .
FORMAT temp1234(F4.0).
Var level Temp1234 (Nominal).
Val Labels Temp1234 0"No" 1"Yes" 2"NA".
MATCH FILES FILE=* /DROP=!vname .
RENAME VARIABLE (temp1234=!vname).
!DOEND
exe.
!ENDDEFINE.
*/////////////////////.

!con2NumNA vnames=var1 var2 var3 .

Here are some convenient references to learn more.