Random factors as numeric

[jgeller112]

Random factors as numeric

[jgeller112]

The main issue here is that it is an extra step.

Let's say participant is your varying factor: you can change your random effect to numeric like so:

data$PID <- as.numeric(factor(data$Sub.ID,levels=unique(data$Sub.ID))) 

[ConnorEsterwood]

I'm also having this issue where I have a categorical random variable (subjectID) for a repeated measures study design. The error code I'm getting is:

"simvar" needs to be numeric. Consider creating a numeric dummy variable.

This would be impractical for my case as it would require me to make a column for each subject if I'm interpreting that right. As far as I can tell random variables (i.e. random effects) can be categorical so why is it not permitted in this analysis?

I see where this error is coming from in the

# ------------------------------- check_input ---------------------------------#

section of the utility side of things but I'm sure there is a good reason ... just not sure what it is.

-CTE

[ConnorEsterwood]

Nice! yeah, I ended up doing the following to get my dummy variables:

Model_Data <- transform(Model_Data,
                ID = as.numeric(factor(Subject_ID))) 

[lkumle]

Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback! This seems like an appropriate update for the next version of mixedpower.
In the meantime, the solutions offered in this thread are great workarounds.