SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

1016 MRSETS
These variables are coded 1 for yes and 0 for no. A multiple dichotomy group combines
the five variables into a single variable with five categories in which a respondent could
be counted zero to five times, depending on how many of the five elementary variables
contain a 1 for that respondent. It is not required that the elementary variables be dichotomous.
If the five elementary variables had the values 1 for regularly, 2 for occasionally,
and 3 for never, it would still be possible to create a multiple dichotomy group that counts
the variables with 1’s and ignores the other responses.
• Multiple category (MC) groups combine variables that have identical categories. For
example, suppose that instead of having five yes/no questions for the five news sources,
there are three variables, each coded 1 = Internet, 2 = radio, 3 = television, 4 = magazines,
and 5 = newspapers. For each variable, a respondent could select one of these values. In
a multiple category group based on these variables, a respondent could be counted zero
to three times, once for each variable for which he or she selected a news source. For this
sort of multiple response group, it is important that all of the source variables have the
same set of values and value labels and the same missing values.
The MRSETS command also allows you to delete sets and to display information about the
sets in the data file.
Syntax Conventions
The following conventions apply to the MRSETS command:
• All subcommands are optional, but at least one must be specified.
• Subcommands can be issued more than once in any order.
• Within a subcommand, attributes can be specified in any order. If an attribute is specified
more than once, the last instance is honored.
• Equals signs are required where shown in the syntax diagram.
• Square brackets are required where shown in the syntax diagram.
• The TO convention and the ALL keyword are honored in variable lists.
MDGROUP Subcommand
/MDGROUP NAME= setname LABEL= ’label’
VARIABLES= varlist
VALUE= {value }
{’chars’}
The MDGROUP subcommand defines or modifies a multiple dichotomy set. A name, variable
list, and value must be specified. Optionally, a label can be specified for the set.
NAME The name of the multiple dichotomy set. The name must follow SPSS variable
naming conventions and begin with a $. If the name refers to an existing
set, the set definition is overwritten.