Data Type Conversion

Data type conversion is allowing you to transform data between different types to suit your analysis needs. In this lesson, we'll focus on converting between numeric, character, and factor data types.

Checking Data Types

Before converting, it's important to know the current data type of your variable. Use the class() function to check:

x <- 42
class(x)  # Output: "numeric"

y <- "Hello"
class(y)  # Output: "character"

Numeric to Character Conversion

Use the as.character() function to convert numeric to character:

num <- 42
char_num <- as.character(num)
class(char_num)  # Output: "character"
print(char_num)  # Output: "42"

Character to Numeric Conversion

Use the as.numeric() function to convert character to numeric:

char <- "3.14"
num_char <- as.numeric(char)
class(num_char)  # Output: "numeric"
print(num_char)  # Output: 3.14

Character to Factor Conversion

Use the as.factor() function to convert character to factor:

fruits <- c("apple", "banana", "apple", "cherry")
factor_fruits <- as.factor(fruits)
class(factor_fruits)  # Output: "factor"
print(factor_fruits)  # Output: apple banana apple cherry
                      #         Levels: apple banana cherry

Factor to Character Conversion

Use the as.character() function to convert factor to character:

char_fruits <- as.character(factor_fruits)
class(char_fruits)  # Output: "character"
print(char_fruits)  # Output: "apple" "banana" "apple" "cherry"