Session 1
Creating variables and entering data
Got to variable view and edit the following
Section Description Example
Name Name the variable Gender
Course 1.3
Type Keep as numeric even if variable is not Gender is not numeric but keep
numeric it like that
Course 1.3- numeric
Width Refers to the number of digits that are Keep it at 8 (default)
displayed on the data view Only change for high numbers
Decimal Qualitative not needed so keep at 0 Gender - 0
Quantitative keep at 1 Scores on exam - 1
Label Brief description of what the variable Gender- This variable
refers to represents gender of a
Becomes handy with more participants
complex variables Course 1.3- This variable
represents performance of
participant on course 1.3
exam
Values Possible values that the variable can take Gender
Right click then a drop down o 1 = Female
menu will appear then write o 2= Male
down the variables o 3=Other
Only use for categorical Course 1.3
o None
Missing Indicate what numbers are missing cases Gender
for a particular variable There are no
Should be different than the missing
values variables
what value is not possible Can be 9 for
for this particular variable ex.
Column Actual width of column Leave at 8
Align Left/ center or right Up to you
Measure Ask for level of measurement (have to Gender - nominal
remember the categorical or quantitative) Course 1.3- scale
Scale- quantitative (ratio or
interval)
Ordinal - ordinal
Nominal - nominal
Role Leave it at input always Gender - input
, Not really taken into Course 1.3- can be target of
account for calculation grade depends on gender
Every time you add something to the rows you will have to edit it the same way
Saving and opening data in SPSS
Save - Go to files - save as - name and put location
Open - open SPSS - files - open - data - go to where you saved it \
You can open two at the same time
Adding/ deleting/ inserting cases or variables
Adding- add at the bottom of existing data set
Delete- select whole row - right click - clear
o Option of undo
Insert- click on a row - right click - insert cases
Frequencies
Allows for frequency distributions
Make sure you are in the data view
Analyze - descriptive statistics - frequencies - click on variable you want
Click on statistics
o Only use quartiles
o Tick mean median mode
o Tik variance stdev min max
Click on charts
o Bar or pie - categorical
o Histogram - interval or ratio
Just use these two not the rest
SPSS rounds to one place
Compare means or other groups
Compare groups on different statistics
Analyze - compare means - means - select variables
o Compare desired grade and actual grade
o It is a quantitative variable
o Dependent variable - always have it quantitative
o Under option choose the different thing you want them to be compared at
o Don’t open style and bootstrap
Can add more than one layer in the second condition to compare more than one
Summaries function
Compare groups on different descriptive statistic
Can also be used to display all the values for the variables
o Not convenient for large data sets
Go to analyze - reports - case summaries
Variable - quantitative variable
Creating variables and entering data
Got to variable view and edit the following
Section Description Example
Name Name the variable Gender
Course 1.3
Type Keep as numeric even if variable is not Gender is not numeric but keep
numeric it like that
Course 1.3- numeric
Width Refers to the number of digits that are Keep it at 8 (default)
displayed on the data view Only change for high numbers
Decimal Qualitative not needed so keep at 0 Gender - 0
Quantitative keep at 1 Scores on exam - 1
Label Brief description of what the variable Gender- This variable
refers to represents gender of a
Becomes handy with more participants
complex variables Course 1.3- This variable
represents performance of
participant on course 1.3
exam
Values Possible values that the variable can take Gender
Right click then a drop down o 1 = Female
menu will appear then write o 2= Male
down the variables o 3=Other
Only use for categorical Course 1.3
o None
Missing Indicate what numbers are missing cases Gender
for a particular variable There are no
Should be different than the missing
values variables
what value is not possible Can be 9 for
for this particular variable ex.
Column Actual width of column Leave at 8
Align Left/ center or right Up to you
Measure Ask for level of measurement (have to Gender - nominal
remember the categorical or quantitative) Course 1.3- scale
Scale- quantitative (ratio or
interval)
Ordinal - ordinal
Nominal - nominal
Role Leave it at input always Gender - input
, Not really taken into Course 1.3- can be target of
account for calculation grade depends on gender
Every time you add something to the rows you will have to edit it the same way
Saving and opening data in SPSS
Save - Go to files - save as - name and put location
Open - open SPSS - files - open - data - go to where you saved it \
You can open two at the same time
Adding/ deleting/ inserting cases or variables
Adding- add at the bottom of existing data set
Delete- select whole row - right click - clear
o Option of undo
Insert- click on a row - right click - insert cases
Frequencies
Allows for frequency distributions
Make sure you are in the data view
Analyze - descriptive statistics - frequencies - click on variable you want
Click on statistics
o Only use quartiles
o Tick mean median mode
o Tik variance stdev min max
Click on charts
o Bar or pie - categorical
o Histogram - interval or ratio
Just use these two not the rest
SPSS rounds to one place
Compare means or other groups
Compare groups on different statistics
Analyze - compare means - means - select variables
o Compare desired grade and actual grade
o It is a quantitative variable
o Dependent variable - always have it quantitative
o Under option choose the different thing you want them to be compared at
o Don’t open style and bootstrap
Can add more than one layer in the second condition to compare more than one
Summaries function
Compare groups on different descriptive statistic
Can also be used to display all the values for the variables
o Not convenient for large data sets
Go to analyze - reports - case summaries
Variable - quantitative variable
