creating a new variable.

hello, all.

in my previous research, i have always used existing data.  i am trying something new as an exploratory exercise and have never create my own variable form scratch.

essentially, i am creating a variable for party affiliation.

here is an example.

var =party.

levels= democrat, republican, other.

respondents will indicate which category they fall under.

for the sake of ease, i will use small data as an example.

i was thinking the levels would need to be created first-

dem <- c(1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0)

rep <- c(1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0)

other <- c(1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0)

then, i could do:

party <-cbind(den, rep, other)

par1 <-factor(party)

this is where i am getting stuck...  any thoughts would be appreciated.

i promise this isn't homework.  i am trying to understand how i would go about creating variables if i choose to go in this direction in the future...  and work out the kinks now.