I am new to data analysis and Stata, so I apologise if I have not explained this very well.

I have two independent variables I need some advice on: one is a ratio variable on age and the other is an ordinal variable on income. My dependent variable is a feeling thermometer on attitudes towards the economy/environment: 0 "Prioritise the economy" - 10 "Prioritise the environment.

I have recoded age into a categorical variable, as I felt it would be better to have age groups - rather than 0-100 - in my multiple regression. My logic was that by doing so, even though I would lose some information, I could better see a difference between age groups and their relationship to my dependent variable. Is this a good idea?

However, I have also recoded income into a discrete variable (I think). Previously, it was in categories such as "Under GBP 2,600" and "GBP 2,600 - GBP 5,199" etc. I recoded it by using the median of each category: "1300" and "3900". I felt this was a good idea as the income intervals were not equal. I'm hoping this will help when I do other tests, such as difference of means or non parametric tests. I'm worried that I have needlessly done this though. I thought that if I turned income into a discrete variable, it would make it easier for me to look at control variables, but I feel I have contradicted this thought process by grouping age.

Any advice would be much appreciated!