Coding Gender in Statistical Programs

When looking at statistical databases, I have seen many elegant (and inelegant) methods of coding variables. One consistent coding question is how to code gender. Some people code 1 for male and 2 for female or the other way around. This means of coding leads to difficulties not just in political correctness (i.e., who is #1?; I’ve seen people code males and females as 8 and 9 to get away from the who is #1 question), but in remembering how these variables were coded.

One solution is to name your variable female. With this naming, you could then code males as 0 (lacking the quality of femaleness) and females as 1. This means of coding clarifies how the variable was coded for anyone who looks at the database.