combining variable levels in a meaningful way SAS 9.4

[Whitlea]

Hi, 

I was curious to see if there was a procedure that regroups variables in a meaningful, statistically sound way.  

I have a variable with 10 different levels that I would like to reduce to 5 levels. I can regroup on my own but wanted to see if there was a faster, more sophisticated way of doing so.

Help is greatly appreciated!

[PaigeMiller]

I was curious to see if there was a procedure that regroups variables in a meaningful, statistically sound way.  

I suppose the answer depends on what you think is "meaningful". What do you think is "meaningful"?

To make this concrete, how would you combine the following groups? What would be a meaningful way to do this?

Toyota

Nissan

Mazda

Honda

Ford

Chevrolet

Volkswagen

Chrysler

Kia

[ballardw]

If "meaningful" implies something like "these values have some similar characteristics" such as price then you may be looking for Clusters.