Date:         Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:06:29 -0300
Reply-To:     Hector Maletta <hmaletta@fibertel.com.ar>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Hector Maletta <hmaletta@fibertel.com.ar>
Subject:      Re: recoding a second missing value
Comments: To: Govind Acharya <ga47@cornell.edu>
In-Reply-To:  <467EBA2E.4@cornell.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

         You have to recode only the system missing values. For that, use
the syntax window to write the following command:

                RECODE varname (SYSMIS=8).

         That would do the trick, I expect, leaving the 9s untouched.

         Another approach is temporarily designating the 9 as a valid value,
then do as you did before (only system-missing values would be recoded),
then restate the 9 (and the 8) as missing values.

         Hector

         -----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Govind Acharya
Sent: 24 June 2007 15:39
To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: recoding a second missing value

         Hi all,

         I have a very large data file (915 variables, 17,000 cases) and our
         client wants the following: if it is truly missing, we have a 9.
But,
         our software that reads the forms rendered a second missing data
that I
         want coded as an 8 as a blank.  That's fine, but now I am stuck
with
         having to recode all of the blanks into an 8.  When I use the
"Recode
         into Same Variable" and use the option "System or User Missing" as
the
         Old Value and enter the value of 8, it changes the blanks *and* the
9 to
         an 8.  That's not good!  So, is there a way to do this using a
script or
         drop down that can allow me to recode blank values as an 8 but
preserve
         the 9 as it is?  I suppose I could change the 9 to nonmissing and
then
         make the 8 missing, then recode the blanks as an 8, but I frankly
don't
         know how to do that in a script.

         Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

         Govind

         --
         -
         Govind Acharya
         Assistant Director/Senior Research Associate
         Survey Research Institute, Cornell University
         391 Pine Tree Rd.
         Ithaca, NY 14850
         phone: (607) 255-0375; fax: (607) 255-7118
         http://www.sri.cornell.edu