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15:13
thanks, chi! i think that's just what i was looking for
I have another basic stata question. (please let me know if there is a better place to ask these.) is it necessary to always define yvar before use in a command like lpoly or can it be defined on the fly as in R where I(yvar==1) can often be used (instead of doing yvar1 = yvar==1 and then using yvar1)?
 
6 hours later…
21:04
Ok, i see that it is not possible. no big deal.
I read the entirety of the stata manual's chapter 25 (on factor variables) and nowhere saw mention of reassigning levels as can be done with R's levels(x) <- y syntax... does anyone happen to know of a way?
ah, guess the closest i can get is recode, which looks painfully awkward (what with its operating on the factor levels/codes instead of the factor's labels)

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