MODULE 2

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS IN SPSS

1. to determine frequency counts and percentages using

SPSS
2. to compute for the measures of central tendency of a set
of scores using SPSS
3. to compute for the measure of variability of a set of a
scores using SPSS

Introduction

In most statistics classes, whether undergraduate or graduate programs,

computing the measures of central tendency (mean, median and the mode), and
measures of variability (range, standard deviation, variance and coefficient of
variation) were discussed, using long methods of calculations. These long
calculations may be one of the reasons why statistics as a course seems to be
complicated and difficult. Thus, students tend to dislike the subject.

With technological advancement and the invention of computers, programs

have been developed to help people overcome difficulties in long calculations, and
more importantly arriving at more accurate results. In research and related
endeavors, the Special Package for Social Sciences (or SPSS) is one of the
many calculation programs developed by the International Business Machines,
Corporation (or IBM) to aid researchers in analyzing large data sets easily.
Specifically, this module utilizes the SPSS version 21. Some researchers prefer
to analyze data sets which are encoded in the SPSS program (as SPSS file), but
for this module, analysis involves data in excel files (as imported files from excel
to SPSS).
FREQUENCY COUNTS AND PERCENTAGES IN SPSS

In most cases, aside from analyzing the data to answer the main objective
of the study (i.e. testing the hypothesis that there is no significant difference on the
test anxiety of male and female students), we usually start in determining how
many of the respondents (from a large data) belongs to a category in a study
variable. For instance, of the 1000 respondents, “how many are females ?, without
actually counting it manually. Or maybe we are interested on determining, “what
percent of the students answered strongly agree on one of the test anxiety items
in your questionnaire, again without actually having to count it.

To illustrate this, we will use the excel file. Folder name: DATA SET FOR
LECTURES, File name: DATA SET (descriptive statistics), a portion of which
is show below:
 The sample excel file contains data gathered from a sample of 90 students,
who were asked relevant information such as their gender, type of school, how
much they like schooling, and their scores in English test, Math test and Science
test.

The categorical variables were dummy coded as:

a) Gender (1-male, 2-females)

b) Type of school (1-public, 2-private)
c) How much do you like schooling in general ( 5- very much, 4- much, 3- neutral,
2- not much, 1- not at all).

Meanwhile, English test, Math test and Science test are the actual raw
scores obtained in the test. Using the data, respondent 1 is a male (coded as 1),
enrolled in a private school (coded as 2), and answered neutral in terms of how
much he like schooling (coded as 3). He got the score of 65, 88 and 76 in the
English test, Math test, and Science test, respectively.

How to import excel files to the SPSS program

Before we analyze the descriptive statistics of the study variables (and any other
statistical analyses), it is important to learn how to import an excel file to the SPSS
program.
Step 1. Here
Openare the
your steps.version 21. Close the initial dialog box to show a
SPSS,
blank SPSS Data Editor. (Note that earlier versions can be used, but
some of the features may be different)
Step 2. Click File, Open, Data.

Step 3. Look in the data where it is saved (i.e. , desktop, flash drive or
local disc D). The file folder’s name is DATA SET FOR LECTURES.
Specify files of type: Excel (*xls, *xlsx, *xlsm). Click DATA SET
(descriptive statistics)xls.
.
 Step 4. Click Open, then OK. (If the excel file to be used contains multiple spread
sheets, select the spread sheet to be analyzed before clicking OK).

We have successfully imported the excel file to the SPSS program, and is
now ready for analysis. There are so many features of the SPSS program that are
very interesting to learn, but we will only tackle the ones that we need in as far as
our objectives are concerned.
HOW TO DETERMINE FREQUENCY COUNTS AND PERCENTAGES OF
CATEGORICAL DATA (NOMINAL AND ORDINAL) USING SPSS.

Step 1. With the excel file already imported to the SPSS, Click Analyze,
Descriptive Statistics, Frequencies.

Step 2. Choose the variables to be analyzed and put them inside the
Variable(s) by using the arrow pointing to the right. You can choose the
variables
. one at a time or simultaneously, and you can use the arrow pointing
to the left if you like to change or replace the variable). Click Statistics, then
Continue. You can also Click Charts and specify whether you like a bar graph
or a histogram for graphical representation.
 Step 3. Click OK, and the result of the analysis is shown below.

The output shows that the Valid N for all the three variables (Gender, Type
of School and How much do you like schooling in general) is 90, and 0 Missing
data. In other words, the data set is complete. The frequency table shows that out
of 90 respondents, 42 were males (coded as 1), and that is 46.7%. There are 48
females (coded as 2) comprising 53.3%. Similarly, 38 or 42.2% are enrolled in
public schools (coded as 1), while the remaining 52 or 57.8% are enrolled in private
schools (coded as 2). In terms of how much they like schooling, 6 (6.7%)
responded “very much” (coded as 4), while 38 (42.2%) were neutral.
With SPSS, you can practically count all categorical variables (nominal and
ordinal) simultaneously and easily even for a very large data set (say n=2, 000).
CROSS TABULATIONS IN SPSS

It is also possible to determine the frequency counts and percentages of

samples for a specific variable across the levels of another variable/s. For
instance, we might be interested to know how many male students are enrolled in
private school, or how many female students answered “much” , and so on.

Step 1. With the excel file open, Click Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, Crosstabs
.

Step 2. Put one of the variables in the Row(s) box, and the other variable in the
Column(s) box.
 Step 3. Click OK, and the result of the analysis is shown below.

The result of cross tabulation shows that of the 42 males, 20 or 47.6 are
enrolled in public school, while 22 or 52.4 % are enrolled in private school. We
can also describe it in terms of type of school. Out of the 38 students who are
enrolled in public school, 18 or 37.5 are females. Practically, you can also perform
cross tabulations easily to any categorical variables, even for large data sets.
HOW TO OBTAIN MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE, RANGE, STANDARD DEVIATION
AND VARIANCE OF CONTINUOUS DATA (INTERVAL OR RATIO) USING
SPSS.

Step 1. With the excel file open, Click Analyze, Descriptive Statistics,
Frequencies.
Select the variables to be analyzed and put them in the Variable(s) box.

Step 2. Click Statistics. Check all statistics that you want to be computed.
(Aside from measures of central tendency and dispersion, measures of
distribution like skewness can also be calculated)
.
 Step 3. Click Continue, then OK and the result is shown below.

The result shows the following:

1. Valid N for English test, Math test and Science test is 90, the data is complete
2. The Mean for English test = 76.22, Math test = 79.16, and Science test = 74.60
3. The Median for English test = 76, Math test = 78, and Science test = 76
4. The Mode for English test = 76, Math test = 83, and Science test = 76. The
English test is polymodal (multiple modes).
5. The Highest score for English test = 90, the Lowest score = 56, Range = 34
The Highest score for English test = 88, the Lowest score = 66, Range = 22
The Highest score for English test = 89, the Lowest score = 56, Range = 33
6. The Standard deviation (s) English test = 7.857, variance (s2) = 61.725
The Standard deviation (s) Math test = 6.135, variance (s2) = 37.638
The Standard deviation (s) Science test = 8.544, variance (s2) = 73.007
7. We can compute for the coefficient of variations of the three scores:

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
CV = x 100%
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛

7.857
a. CV (English test) = x 100% = 10.31%
76.22

6.135
b. CV (Math test) = x 100% = 7.75%
79.16

8.544
c. CV (Science test) = x 100% = 11.45%
74.60

8. Skewness

The normal distribution, represented by the normal curve represents

symmetry and that the measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode)
are the same. However, if these three—mean, median and mode are affected by
lack of symmetry, skewness in the data occurs.
Typically, for standardized test the curve very closely approximates a
normal distribution. However if the distribution is positively skewed, most of the
scores piled up at the lower end and there are just few high scores. For a
negatively skewed distribution it is just the opposite- most of the scores are high
with few low scores..

Negatively Skewed Normal (no skew) Positively Skewed

Negative Direction Normal curve represents Positive Direction

perfectly symmetrical
distribution.
 In the example, all scores are a little negatively skewed (English = -.257,
Math =-.800 and Science .184). It means that more scores are high and few are
low, especially in Math. If the data is perfectly normal/symmetrical, skewness is
zero, but it is almost impossible in real life situations. In research, normality is
assumed if skewness is -1.0<x<1.0. Thus, the three scores still meet the
assumption of normality.
 ACTIVITIES

USING THE DATA SET PROVIDED FOR ACTIVITIES (excel file: DATA SET
FOR ACTIVITIES, DATA SET (descriptive statistics), perform the following:

1. Provide a frequency distribution (frequency counts & percentages) of all the

categorical variables. Summarize it in a single table only.

2. Provide a frequency distribution showing the cross tabulation of the variables

a. gender and dialect spoken
b. type of school and highest educational attainment of the father

3. Compute for the

a. measures of central tendency and
b. measures of variability of all the continuous variables .

Summarize it into 2 separate tables. Discuss briefly the results.