Introduction to SPSS Allen Risley Academic Technology Services, CSUSM

SPSS Workshop Agenda Layout of the Program Adding Data to SPSS Preparing Data for Analysis Creating New Variables Descriptive Data Analysis Working with SPSS Output

Layout of the SPSS Program SPSS Program Windows Menus and Toolbars SPSS Options

SPSS Program Windows – Data Editor Data View Variable View – Output Viewer – Syntax Editor File Types – Data: filename.sav – Output: filename.spo – Commands: filename.sps Menus and Toolbars

SPSS Options Users can set options to make program easier to use Edit menu – Choose Options – On General Tab: Display Names & File h Record Syntax… & Temp. Dir. – H:\ – On Viewer Tab: h Display Commands in the Log

More SPSS Options – Output Labels Tab For Pivot Table Labeling: – Variables in labels shown as Names and Labels – Variable values in labels shown as Values and Labels – Pivot tables Tab For Tablelook: – Choose Academic (narrow).tlo

Adding Data to SPSS Use Syntax to Read an Existing Data File In-line Data in a Syntax File The SPSS Text Import Wizard Data Entry in the SPSS Data Editor Import from Excel

Loading Data Using Text Wizard The SPSS Text Import Wizard: – File Menu: Read Text Data – In Open Data box, enter: C:\SPSS\grades.txt – Step 1: choose No, Next – Step 2: choose Fixed Width, No, Next – Step 3: use defaults: Next – Step 4: use defaults: Next

Loading Data Using Text Wizard The SPSS Text Import Wizard: – Step 5: Use these names and formats: V1: ID, Numeric V2: Gender, String V3: Test1, Numeric V4: Test2, Numeric V5: Test3, Numeric Click on Next

Loading Data Using Text Wizard The SPSS Text Import Wizard: – Step 6: choose No, Yes The Yes will open a syntax window with the text of a GET DATA command – Click on Finish – In the Syntax window choose the Run Menu Choose All – This creates an SPSS data file with the contents of grades.txt

Loading Data Using Syntax You can re-use a syntax file by opening it and running it – File menu Open – Syntax… You can open a blank syntax window to type in your own commands – File menu New – Syntax…

Other Ways to Load Data Data Entry in the SPSS Data Editor Import from Excel – File Menu: Open – Data – In Open Data box, enter: C:\SPSS\grades.xls – Click OK for defaults

Preparing Data for Analysis Variable Formats Variable Labels Value Labels Missing Values Copying Data Properties

Formatting Your Variables Variable Formats – Click on the Variable View tab of the Data Editor to edit or display formats Name Type Width Decimals Label Values Missing Columns Align Measure Variable Labels – – Type in descriptive text that explains what the variable measures

Formatting Your Variables (cont.) Value Labels – Text that explains what numeric values stand for – Click in the cell of the Value column for your variable, enter a Value and Label, click Add Missing Values – Defines values that should not be included in calculations – Click in the cell of the Missing column for the variable, choose either Discrete… or Range… and enter the values

Creating New Variables Collapsing Variables Using Recode Computing Variables Counting Values in Other Variables Ranking Cases Date and Time Variables

Recoding Variables Recoding renumbers or collapses the values of a variable – Transform menu Recode into different variables – Highlight variable(s) and move over with arrow – Fill in a Name and Label for the new variable – Click Old and New Values

Recoding Variables – Specify the Old Value e.g., 90 through 100, 80 through 89, etc. – Specify a New Value e.g., 4 (for an A), 3(for a B), etc. – Click on the Add button – Repeat until all old and new values are specified – Old values can be defined as single values, ranges or missing values – Add value and variable labels, etc.

Computing New Variables Create new variables using equations or functions – Transform menu Compute Variable – Enter a Target Variable Name – e.g. TestAvg – Build a Numeric Expression E.g. – (Test1 + Test2 + Test3)/3 – Click OK

Other Ways to Create Variables Counting Values in Other Variables Ranking Cases Date and Time Variables

Descriptive Data Analysis FREQUENCIES DESCRIPTIVES CROSSTABS MEANS

The FREQUENCIES Procedure FREQUENCIES creates tables with counts of cases for each value of the variable Analyze Menu: – Descriptive Statistics… Frequencies Highlight variables to create tables, click the arrow to add to variable list, then click OK Statistics, Chart and Format options are available

FREQUENCIES Output 1.Command syntax 2.Summary statistics 3.Variable values and corresponding labels 4.Frequency counts for each value 5.Percentages 1.Raw percent 2.Valid percents 3.Cumulative percents

The DESCRIPTIVES Procedure DESCRIPTIVES creates tables with summaries of values for variables Analyze Menu: – Descriptive Statistics… Descriptives Highlight variables to create tables, click the arrow to add to variable list, then click OK Options are available to choose different statistics

DESCRIPTIVES Output 1.Command syntax 2.Variable name and label 3.Number of cases 4.Statistics: – Minimum – Maximum – Mean – Standard Deviation

The CROSSTABS Procedure CROSSTABS displays the intersection of values of two or more variables Analyze Menu: – Descriptive Statistics… Crosstabs Highlight variables to create tables, click the arrow to add to Row, Column or Layer variable lists, then click OK Statistics, Cells and Format options are available

Crosstabs Output 1.Table title 2.Column variables 3.Row variables 4.Cell counts (# of cases) 5.Column percents (% of cases in column) 6.Statistics

The MEANS Procedure MEANS calculates overall means and group means (defined by independent variables) Analyze Menu: – Descriptive Statistics… Means Highlight variables to create tables, click the arrow to add to Dependent or Independent variable lists, then click OK Optional Statistics are available

MEANS Output 1.Command syntax 2.Numbers of cases included and excluded 3.Dependent variable 4.Independent (group) variable 5.Means 6.Number of cases 7.Standard Deviations

Working with SPSS Output Editing/Manipulating Tables Exporting Output to a File Copying and Pasting Output

Editing SPSS Tables SPSS Table objects can be opened for editing before you use them elsewhere – Right-click on the table – SPSS Pivot Table Object – Either Edit or Open Text can be formatted, rows or columns removed, footnotes added, etc.

Exporting SPSS Output to a File SPSS output can be exported to other programs Either entire output file, or selected tables Export to Word, HTML, Excel, Text, PDF, or PowerPoint

Copying and Pasting SPSS Output To copy and paste SPSS tables from SPSS to Word: – Right-click on the table – Choose Copy – Switch to Word – Click location in the document – Choose Paste Special – Choose Picture

On-line SPSS Resources at CSUSM Academic Technology Services is developing on-line resources for help with SPSS. Visit our SPSS page at: – Allen Risley at: