Adding value labels

Value labels provide a method for mapping your variable values to a string label. In this example, there are two acceptable values for the marital variable. A value of 0 means that the subject is single, and a value of 1 means that the subject is married.

  1. In the Variables tab click the marital variable's Value labels cell value.
  2. Click Add value label to create a new variable label.

    The Value is the actual numeric value; the Label is the string label that is applied to the specified numeric value.

  3. Type 0 in the Value field and Single in the Label field.
  4. Click Add value label to create another variable label.
  5. Type 1 in the Value field and Married in the Label field.
  6. Click Apply to save your changes.
    Figure 1. Variable labels dialog
    The Variable labels dialog with two value labels defined: 0 = "Single" and 1 = "Married".

The created labels display in a list when you enter values in the Data tab. This setup has the benefit of suggesting a valid response and providing a more descriptive answer.

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