This function makes it easy to get the variable labels from either an individual vector or a data frame. NOTE: it is not possible to set or modify the variable labels with this function.
Arguments
- x
A vector object, the name of a column in a
data.frame, or an an actualdata.frameobject.- data
A
data.frameortibbleobject. This should only be specified whenxis only the name of a column in adata.frame.- unlist
Logical. If
TRUE, the default, returns a named vector. IfFALSE, returns a list. This only works whenxis adata.frame- if_null
String. This determines what to return should there be no variable label. There are three options:
Value
If x is a variable or vector, a string containing the "label"
attribute, if one is present, is returned. If x is a data.frame then a
named vector or list with the "label" attribute from each variable is
returned.
Examples
# load dplyr so we can see how it might work in a typical workflow
library(dplyr)
#>
#> Attaching package: ‘dplyr’
#> The following objects are masked from ‘package:stats’:
#>
#> filter, lag
#> The following objects are masked from ‘package:base’:
#>
#> intersect, setdiff, setequal, union
# check for an individual vector
attr_var_label(test_data$top)
#> [1] "An ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on the bottom"
# get the variable label for the entire data set
attr_var_label(test_data)
#> resp_id
#> "Unique ID for each Respondent"
#> wts
#> "Survey weighting variable"
#> edu
#> "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#> pid_f3
#> "Political Partisanship"
#> pol_part_rally
#> "Attended a political rally, speech or campaign event"
#> pol_part_worked
#> "Worked or volunteered for a political party, candidate or campaign"
#> pol_part_contact
#> "Contacted an elected official"
#> pol_part_money
#> "Contributed money to a candidate running for public office or to a group working to elect a candidate"
#> pol_part_social
#> "Publicly expressed your support for a political candidate on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, or other social media"
#> pol_part_attended
#> "Attended government meetings in your community, such as city or town council meetings"
#> pol_part_none
#> "None of the above"
#> top
#> "An ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on the bottom"
#> inferior
#> "Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups"
#> dominate
#> "No one group should dominate in society"
#> deserving
#> "Groups at the bottom are just as deserving as groups at the top"
#> special
#> "It is unfair for some groups in society to receive special treatment from the government"
#> harder
#> "I have a harder time succeeding than my parents did"
#> controlled
#> "Much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secrecy"
#> small
#> "Even though we live in a democracy, a few people will always run things anyway"
#> run
#> "The people who really \"run\" the country are not known to the voters"
#> big_events
#> "Big events like wars, recessions, and the outcomes of elections are controlled by small groups of people who are working in secret against the rest of us"
#> accept_hamas
#> "If you had a close family member who supported Hamas, would your family and friends find it…"
#> accept_isr
#> "If you had a close family member who supported Israel, would your family and friends find it…"
#> dislike_jews
#> "How many of your close friends/family dislike Jews"
#> stick_together
#> "Jews stick together more than other Americans"
#> values
#> "Jews share my values."
#> head
#> "Jews always like to be at the head of things."
#> loyal
#> "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America."
#> business_power
#> "Jews have too much power in the business world."
#> wall_street
#> "Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street."
#> trad_n
#> "ADL Index"
#> edu_f
#> "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#> edu_f2
#> "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#> top_rev
#> "An ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on the bottom"
#> inferior_rev
#> "Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups"
#> dominate_flip
#> "One group should dominate in society"
#> deserving_flip
#> "Groups at the bottom are not just as deserving as groups at the top"
#> sdo_sum
#> "Social Dominance Orientation"
#> sdo_avg
#> "Social Dominance Orientation"
#> pol_part_sum
#> "Political Participation"
#> controlled_rev
#> "Much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secrecy"
#> small_rev
#> "Even though we live in a democracy, a few people will always run things anyway"
#> run_rev
#> "The people who really \"run\" the country are not known to the voters"
#> big_events_rev
#> "Big events like wars, recessions, and the outcomes of elections are controlled by small groups of people who are working in secret against the rest of us"
#> acts_sum
#> "Conspiracy Theory Belief"
#> acts_avg
#> "Conspiracy Theory Belief"
# same, but as a list
attr_var_label(test_data, unlist = FALSE)
#> $resp_id
#> [1] "Unique ID for each Respondent"
#>
#> $wts
#> [1] "Survey weighting variable"
#>
#> $edu
#> [1] "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#>
#> $pid_f3
#> [1] "Political Partisanship"
#>
#> $pol_part_rally
#> [1] "Attended a political rally, speech or campaign event"
#>
#> $pol_part_worked
#> [1] "Worked or volunteered for a political party, candidate or campaign"
#>
#> $pol_part_contact
#> [1] "Contacted an elected official"
#>
#> $pol_part_money
#> [1] "Contributed money to a candidate running for public office or to a group working to elect a candidate"
#>
#> $pol_part_social
#> [1] "Publicly expressed your support for a political candidate on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, or other social media"
#>
#> $pol_part_attended
#> [1] "Attended government meetings in your community, such as city or town council meetings"
#>
#> $pol_part_none
#> [1] "None of the above"
#>
#> $top
#> [1] "An ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on the bottom"
#>
#> $inferior
#> [1] "Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups"
#>
#> $dominate
#> [1] "No one group should dominate in society"
#>
#> $deserving
#> [1] "Groups at the bottom are just as deserving as groups at the top"
#>
#> $special
#> [1] "It is unfair for some groups in society to receive special treatment from the government"
#>
#> $harder
#> [1] "I have a harder time succeeding than my parents did"
#>
#> $controlled
#> [1] "Much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secrecy"
#>
#> $small
#> [1] "Even though we live in a democracy, a few people will always run things anyway"
#>
#> $run
#> [1] "The people who really \"run\" the country are not known to the voters"
#>
#> $big_events
#> [1] "Big events like wars, recessions, and the outcomes of elections are controlled by small groups of people who are working in secret against the rest of us"
#>
#> $accept_hamas
#> [1] "If you had a close family member who supported Hamas, would your family and friends find it…"
#>
#> $accept_isr
#> [1] "If you had a close family member who supported Israel, would your family and friends find it…"
#>
#> $dislike_jews
#> [1] "How many of your close friends/family dislike Jews"
#>
#> $stick_together
#> [1] "Jews stick together more than other Americans"
#>
#> $values
#> [1] "Jews share my values."
#>
#> $head
#> [1] "Jews always like to be at the head of things."
#>
#> $loyal
#> [1] "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America."
#>
#> $business_power
#> [1] "Jews have too much power in the business world."
#>
#> $wall_street
#> [1] "Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street."
#>
#> $trad_n
#> [1] "ADL Index"
#>
#> $edu_f
#> [1] "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#>
#> $edu_f2
#> [1] "What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?"
#>
#> $top_rev
#> [1] "An ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on the bottom"
#>
#> $inferior_rev
#> [1] "Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups"
#>
#> $dominate_flip
#> [1] "One group should dominate in society"
#>
#> $deserving_flip
#> [1] "Groups at the bottom are not just as deserving as groups at the top"
#>
#> $sdo_sum
#> [1] "Social Dominance Orientation"
#>
#> $sdo_avg
#> [1] "Social Dominance Orientation"
#>
#> $pol_part_sum
#> [1] "Political Participation"
#>
#> $controlled_rev
#> [1] "Much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secrecy"
#>
#> $small_rev
#> [1] "Even though we live in a democracy, a few people will always run things anyway"
#>
#> $run_rev
#> [1] "The people who really \"run\" the country are not known to the voters"
#>
#> $big_events_rev
#> [1] "Big events like wars, recessions, and the outcomes of elections are controlled by small groups of people who are working in secret against the rest of us"
#>
#> $acts_sum
#> [1] "Conspiracy Theory Belief"
#>
#> $acts_avg
#> [1] "Conspiracy Theory Belief"
#>
# now let's do it on a variable without a label
top <- sample(c(1:3), 10, replace = TRUE)
# if no label is present and if_null = "name", it will use the variable name
attr_var_label(top, if_null = "name")
#> [1] 1 2 3 1 2 2 3 2 1 1
# if it's se to "NA" it will give NA
attr_var_label(top, if_null = "NA")
#> [1] NA