surveydata (version 0.2.2)

pattern: Returns and updates pattern attribute.

Description

The pattern attribute contains information about the separator character used to name subquestions in the data. Survey software typically makes use of underscores to distinguish subquestions in a grid of questions, e.g. Q4_1, Q4_2, Q4_3, Q4_other. The function pattern() returns the pattern attribute, and pattern<- updates the attribute.

Usage

pattern(x)
pattern(x) <- value

Arguments

x

surveydata object

value

New value

See Also

as.surveydata(), which.q()

Other Attribute functions: varlabels

Examples

# NOT RUN {
# Extract the pattern from membersurvey

oldptn <- pattern(membersurvey)
oldptn

# The pattern is used to extract columns

names(membersurvey)
grep("Q20", names(membersurvey), value=TRUE)

head(membersurvey["Q20"])
head(membersurvey["Q20_other"])

# Define a new pattern

pattern(membersurvey) <- list(sep="_", exclude="")
head(membersurvey["Q20"])

# Reset original pattern

pattern(membersurvey) <- oldptn
rm(oldptn)
# }