R: How to Use If Statement with Multiple Conditions

You can use the following methods to create a new column in R using an IF statement with multiple conditions:

Method 1: If Statement with Multiple Conditions Using OR

df$new_var 15 | df$var2>8, "value1", "value2")

Method 2: If Statement with Multiple Conditions Using AND

df$new_var 15 & df$var2>8, "value1", "value2") 

The following examples show how to use each method in practice with the following data frame:

#create data frame
df frame(team=c('A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'B', 'B', 'B', 'B'),
                 points=c(8, 8, 10, 13, 17, 19, 22, 25),
                 assists=c(5, 10, 9, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12))

#view data frame
df

  team points assists
1    A      8       5
2    A      8      10
3    A     10       9
4    A     13       6
5    B     17       8
6    B     19      10
7    B     22      11
8    B     25      12

Example 1: If Statement with Multiple Conditions Using OR

The following code shows how to create a new column called rating that assigns a value of “good” if the points column is greater than 15 or the assists column is greater than 8.

Otherwise it assigns a value of “bad”:

#create new "rating" column using if statement with multiple conditions
df$rating 15 | df$assists>8, "good", "bad")

#view updated data frame
df

  team points assists rating
1    A      8       5    bad
2    A      8      10   good
3    A     10       9   good
4    A     13       6    bad
5    B     17       8   good
6    B     19      10   good
7    B     22      11   good
8    B     25      12   good

Each player receives a value of “good” or “bad” in the newly created rating column.

Note that the | operator is used as an “or” statement in R.

Example 2: If Statement with Multiple Conditions Using AND

The following code shows how to create a new column called rating that assigns a value of “good” if the points column is greater than 15 and the assists column is greater than 8.

Otherwise it assigns a value of “bad”:

#create new "rating" column using if statement with multiple conditions
df$rating 15 & df$assists>8, "good", "bad")

#view updated data frame
df

  team points assists rating
1    A      8       5    bad
2    A      8      10    bad
3    A     10       9    bad
4    A     13       6    bad
5    B     17       8    bad
6    B     19      10   good
7    B     22      11   good
8    B     25      12   good

Each player receives a value of “good” or “bad” in the newly created rating column.

Note that the & operator is used as an “and” statement in R.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in R:

How to Write a Nested If Else Statement in R
How to Write a Nested For Loop in R