Create a binary vector from numeric, date, and character or factor vectors.

Usage

dummy_num(dat, project, var, value, opts = "more_less", name = "dummy_num")

Arguments

dat: Primary data containing information on hauls or trips. Table in the FishSET database contains the string 'MainDataTable'.
project: Project name.
var: Variable in dat to create dummy variable from.
value: String, value to set dummy variable by. If var is a date, value should be a year, If var is a factor, value should be a factor level. If var is numeric, value should be a single number or range of numbers [use c(1,5)].
opts: String, how dummy variable should be defined. Choices are "x_y" and "more_less’". For "x_y", each element of var is set to 1 if the element matches value, otherwise 0. For "more_less", each element of var less than value is set to 0 and all elements greater than value set to 1. If var is a factor, then elements that match value will be set to 1 and all other elements set to 0. Default is set to "more_less".
name: String, name of created dummy variable. Defaults to name of the function if not defined.

Value

Returns primary dataset with dummy variable added.

Details

For date variables, the dummy variable is defined by a date (year) and may be either year x versus all other years ("x_y") or before vs after year x ("more_less"). Use this function to create a variable defining whether or not a policy action had been implemented.
Example: before vs. after a 2008 amendment:
dummy_num('pollockMainDataTable', 'Haul_date', 2008, 'more_less', 'amend08')

For factor variables, both choices in opts compare selected factor level(s) against all other factor levels.
Example: Fishers targeting pollock vs. another species:
dummy_num('pollockMainDataTable', 'GF_TARGET_FT', c('Pollock - bottom', 'Pollock - midwater'), 'x_y', 'pollock_target')

For numeric variables, value can be a single number or a range of numbers. The dummy variable is the selected value(s) against all others (x_y) or less than the selected value versus more than the selected value (more_less). For more_less, the mean is used as the critical value if a range of values is provided.

Examples

if (FALSE) {
pollockMainDataTable <- dummy_num(pollockMainDataTable, 'pollock', 'Haul_date', 2008, 
  'more_less', 'amend80')
}