http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/lmer-causes-segfault-td2335407.html
in lmer this is pretty crucial if you have factors that are identified by numerical values:
>dummy.data = read.csv("~/tmp/tmp.csv")
>dummy.data$c <- factor(dummy.data$c)
> str(dummy.data)
'data.frame':   4800 obs. of  5 variables:
 $ g : Factor w/ 2 levels "1","2": 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
 $ s : Factor w/ 24 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
 $ c : Factor w/ 100 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 ...
 $ pc: Factor w/ 2 levels " c"," p": 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 ...
 $ x : num  0.175 0.511 0.237 0.572 0.306 ...ezANOVA converts numeric values to factors because it knows that everything but the dependent variable must be a factor.
ezANOVA is limited in the number of levels of a factor (roughly 50?)
lmer can take multiple levels, but doesn't give you standard stats.
> library(ez)
>ezPrecis(dummy.data)
Data frame dimensions: 4800 rows, 5 columns
      type missing values min max
g   factor     1.       1.   1   2
s   factor     1.     24    1.  24
c   factor     1.    100    1. 100
pc  factor     1.       1.   c   p
x  numeric     1.   3848    1.   1The factor (ordered) function creates a factor (ordered factor) from a vector. Factor labels can be specied in the optional labels argument. Suppose the spray variable in the InsectSprays data was stored as numeric values 1; 2; : : : ; 6. We convert it back to a factor with factor. > str(sprays <- within(InsectSprays, spray <- as.integer(spray))'data.frame': 72 obs. of 2 variables: $ count: num 10 7 20 14 14 12 10 23 17 20 ... $ spray: int 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ... > str(sprays <- within(sprays, spray <- factor(spray, + labels = LETTERS[1:6]))) 'data.frame': 72 obs. of 2 variables: $ count: num 10 7 20 14 14 12 10 23 17 20 ... $ spray: Factor w/ 6 levels "A","B","C","D",..: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
-- Main.DennisNorris - 27 Oct 2010

 You should trust both wikis because the password could be read by the particular administrators.
 You should trust both wikis because the password could be read by the particular administrators.