What are the values for x and y in the output data set when the following SAS program is executed? DATA work.look; x=2; IF x=1 THEN y=100; IF x=2 THEN y=200; IF x=3 THEN y=300; ELSE y=27; RUN;

The program executes correctly without syntax errors, and the key here lies in understanding the order of the conditional statements and the behavior of the ELSE clause within the structure.

Initially, the value of x is set to 2. The first condition checks if x equals 1, which it does not, so the THEN statement does not execute, and y remains undefined at this point. The next condition checks if x equals 2, and since this condition is true, y is correctly assigned the value of 200 based on this evaluation.

However, following this, the program checks whether x equals 3. Since x is not 3, the ELSE statement associated with this check is executed, which assigns the value of 27 to y. This means that despite y being previously assigned 200, it is overwritten by the ELSE statement, ultimately resulting in y being set to 27.

Therefore, when the program completes its execution, x is indeed equal to 2, while y ends up being 27, not 200. This illustrates a logic flow where the ELSE clause inadvertently changes the intended outcome of the variable y due to its positioning.