MAXCAT Subcommand (MVA command)

The MAXCAT subcommand sets the upper limit of the number of distinct values that each categorical variable in the analysis can have. The default is 25. This limit affects string variables in the variables list and also the categorical variables that are defined by the CATEGORICAL subcommand. A large number of categories can slow the analysis considerably. If any categorical variable violates this limit, MVA does not run.

Example

MVA VARIABLES=populatn density urban religion lifeexpf region
  /CATEGORICAL=region
  /MAXCAT=30
  /MPATTERN.

• The CATEGORICAL subcommand specifies that region, a numeric variable, is categorical. The variable religion, a string variable, is automatically categorical.
• The maximum number of categories in region or religion is 30. If either variable has more than 30 distinct values, MVA produces only a warning.
• Missing data patterns are shown for those cases that have at least one missing value in the specified variables.
• The summary table lists the number of missing and extreme values for each variable, including those with no missing values.