Reading Material 1 An Introduction to SPSS 1 What is SPSS = The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is a flexible statistical analysis and data management programme. = Among other things, SPSS generates tabulated reports, charts and plots of distributions and trends, descriptive statistics and complex statistical analysis. * The popularity of SPSS stems primarily from the fact that it comes with a friendly user interface which makes statistical analyses accessible to the casual user and more convenient to the experienced statistician. 4.4 Additional features of SPSS © SPSS provides a versatile spreadsheet-like system for defining, entering, editing and displaying data. Most data sets and formats can be easily transferred into SPSS (e.g., excel). It is capable of undertaking complex analyses. SPSS produces output that incorporates, among other things, high-resolution full colour pie charts, bar charts, histograms, scatter plots and 3-D Please note: While SPSS produces impressive outputs and results, it does not provide an appropriate mechanism to report these results, e.g., to an audience. However, SPSS allows the user to transfer outputs and results to packages more suitable for presentation purposes, e.g., PowerPoint or Word. 2 Working with SPSS During a typical SPSS session, you are likely to work with three main windows; namely the Data Editor Window, the Output Viewer Window and the Syntax a w. These are described individually below: 2.1 Data Editor window This window displays the contents of the data file. The Data Editor. provides a convenient method for creating and editing data. The user can use the Data Editor to create new data files, or modify existing ones. The Data Editor window opens automatically when you start a new SPSS session. The Data Editor provides two views of your data, in altemate screens. These are the ‘Voriable View and the Data View Soreens. LW This version of the Data Editor displays information about the variables and allows the user to specify the characteristics of the variables and values. It provides, spreadsheet-like presentation of the variable definitions, with rows corresponding to the variables in the data file, and columns corresponding to their defining attributes. Figure 1 below shows a typical Variable View screen.Figure 4: The typical Variable View screen ofthe Data Editor Sees Fle Git view Qata TFensforn dnahze Gaps Utlies Wedow Hep [sles] &] slo] |e] os) -Felee=| Salatel | %I ‘ype! Width{ Decimala| Label{ Vatues| Missing) Colurnns| at a] Data View) Variable View /1 2. Data View: The Data View version of the date editor also comes in a spreadsheet-like format. It displays the variables as defined in Variable View and allows the user to enter actual data values directly into the spreadsheet col's. A typical Date Editor sereen is shown in Figure 2, Figure 2: The typical Data View screen of the Data Editor Go ienease reesuiias Edt View Data Transform analyze Graphs Usities Window Help [ at i The user can add, change, and delete date information in both screens. 2.2. The Output Viewer window ‘The Output Viewer window displays the statistical results, tables, and charts from all analyses performed with SPSS (e.g., descriptive statistics, correlations, plots, charts). The Output Viewer window opens automatically after the user runs any procedure that generates output. In the Output Viewer windows, one can edit, move, delete and yy the SPSS results, Output Viewer Files are saved separately from the SPSS data files as (*.spo) files.2.3. Syntax Editor window was written like a programming language. Users wrote SPSS syntax (often on a mainframe computer and even with key-punch cards) that performed the tasks they wanted. The modem SPSS windows still allows users the choice of writing syntax commands in the syntax editor window. Syntax commands can either be written straight into the syntax editor or the user can paste the dialog box selections into a Syntax Editor window, where the selections appear in the form of command syntax. The command syntax can then be edited to utilize special features of SPSS not available through dialog boxes. Multiple syntax windows can be opened simultaneously and the contents of a Syntax Editor window may be saved separately as (*.sps) files. 3 The SPSS Menu Many of the tasks in SPSS can be performed by using the menu selections. The menu options are similar in all three SPSS windows and all have similar functions. | S113] S| [-| 5) ele) a Sled Sia sie) The functions of the SPSS menu functions are examined below. File ‘The [File] menu is used to Create a new SPSS system file, Open an existing system file, Read in spreadsheet or database files created by other software programs, Create a Syntax command file, Retrieve an already created SPSS command file into the Syntax Editor; Open, Save, and Print output files. E The [Edit] menu is used to Cut, Copy, and Paste data values from the Data Editor; Modify or Copy text from the Viewer or Syntax Editor; and to Copy charts for Pasting into other applications from the Output Viewer. View The [View] mema is used to Turn toolbars and the status bar on and off, and Turn grid lines on and off from all window types. It is also used to Control the display of value labels and data values in the Data Editor. Data The [Data] menu is used to Make changes to SPSS data files, such as Transposing variables and cases, or Creating subsets of cases for analysis, and Merging files. These changes are only temporary and do not affect the permanent file unless you save the file with the changes.Transform The [Transform] menu is used to Make changes to selected variables in the data file and to compute new variables based on the values of existing ones. These changes are temporary and donot affect the permanent file unless you save the file with changes. Analyze ‘The [Analyse] menu is used to perform various statistical procedures such as Crosstabulation, Analysis of Variance, Correlation and Linear Regression. Graphs ‘The [Graphs] menu Creates bar chaits, pie charts, histograms, scatterplots, and other full-colour, high-resolution graphs. (Some statistical procedures also generate graphs.) ‘The [Utilities] menu is used to Display information about variables in the working data file and Control the list of variables from all window types; as well as Change the designated Viewer and Syntax Editor, ete. Window As with other Windows applications, the [Window] menu allows users to Switeh between SPSS windows or alters the sizes of all opened SPSS windows. < {Heto! menu Opens a standard Microsoft Help window containing information ‘on how to use the many features of SPSS. Context-sensitive help is available through the dialog boxes, Status Bar A status bar at the bottom of the SPSS application window indicates the current status of the SPSS processor. If the processor is running a command, it displays the ‘command name and indicates that the command is being processed. 4 SPSS as a data management package Information that has been collected or arranged for statistical analysis is referred to as data, There are three important components in any formulation or ordering of data, These are: 1, Unit of analysis: The observations, cases or subjects on which the study is undertaken, e.¢., if a students were surveyed as part of a study, the individual students would be the units of analysis. 2. Variables: The characteristics or properties studied; e.g., the “frequency with which students use buses or ‘current year of study at University’. Valtes: Tae responses given, or data collected, that links the unit of analysis to the variable; e.g. ‘4 times a day’ or ‘2 year’ for the two categories of variables above.N.B: Units of Analysis need not be individuals. They can be objects, time periods, events, or other entities. Essentially, anything that can be described by characteristics can serve as a Unit of analysis. Similarly, a variable can refer to anything that can be used to characterise a particular unit of analyses. When the analyst has a number of units of analyses, a number of variables and a set of values, the collective result is a Data Set 4.1 The Data Matrix: A data set can best be visualised as a matrix, the rows of which represent the units of analyses, the columns the variables and the matrix cells the relevant values, The data from a hypothetical survey of student use of Bus services at Loughborough University for example, could be displayed as follows. [tat of Variables Analysis Age Sex| Freq of Bus use | Year at Uni. Student 1 22 ‘Male 2 2 Student 2 19 | Female i ii Student 3 26 Male 4 i © The main benefit of arranging data in a matrix form is that the three-fold nature of data (i.e., units of analysis, variables and values) becomes immediately visible. tures of the data matrix: $ gscorting, int Yar analysis. - ‘The number of rows , inaicates how many units are being studied, i.e, the sample size. - The number of columns, m, indicates how many variables are used to characterise the units of analysis, - The number of variables (that are simultaneously manipulated by applying statistical techniques) determine the type of analysis used: © Univariate analyses use only one variable in the analysis; © Bivariate analyses use two variables simultaneously; © Multivariate analyses simultaneously use more than two variables. - Each cell in the matrix shows the value of measurement for the variable and consequently offers 2 description of the unit of analysis by the appropriate variable, 4.2 Creating a data set matrix with SPSS SPSS comes with a user-ftiendly Data Editor which facilitates data entry using the matrix format above. The data entry process with SPSS will require using the Two versions of the Data Editor window. As stated previously, the Variable View version-is where the analyst specifies the name, type and other characteristics of the variable. The Data View version on the other hand, is where the user enters the actual data values for each variable.4.2.4 Variable View: There is no particular order in which the fields in the two windows have to be completed. However it is accepted good practice to complete the fields in the Variable View first. The typical SPSS 11.0 Variable View screen is shown below. (ities esussbreesieg Ble Edt Yew Qata Trensform Analyze Grechs Utiies Window Help EGE |e] | lee) Balls] lol) th Decimats] Label] Values] Miesing| Colurmns| Align | Measure | + 2 3 | STEIN DaSViEW) Varanle View / SPSS Processor i ready As can be seen, the Variable View version is made up of a number of rows and 10 columns. Each row represents a variable and the 10 column determines the characteristics of that one variable. The definitions of the columns/characteristics are as follows: Name: This column is where the analyst specifies the name of the variable. The choice of names for variables in SPSS is governed by six rules; Must not exceed eight characters (a character is a letter, a digit or a symbol). Must begin with a letter or @. Must not end with a full-stop. Can contain letters, digits or any of the characters @, #,_, or $. Must not contain either of the following; o ablank; © special characters such as !, ? and *, other than those listed above. 6. Must not be one of the keywords (such as AND, NOT, EQ, BY and ALL) that SPSS uses as special computing terms. yaey s is where the user specifies the data type for each variable. Numeric: A variable whose values are displayed in standard numeric format. By default, all new variables are assumed to be numeric. Comma: A numeric variable whose values are displayed with commas delimiting every three places, and with the period as a decimal delimiter. Dot: A numeric variable whose values are displayed with periods delimiting every three places, and with the comma as a decimal delimiter. Scientific notation: A numeric variable whose values are displayed with an imbedded E and a signed power-of:ten exponent.Date: A numeric variable whose values are displayed in one of several calendar-date or clock-time formats. Custom currency: A numeric variable whose values are displayed in one of the custom currency formats that you have defined in the Currency tab of the Options dialog box. Defined custom currency characters cannot be used in data entry but are displayed in the Data Editor. String: Values of a string variable are not numeric, and hence not used in calculations. They can contain any characters up to the defined length. Upper and lower case letters are considered distinct. (Also known as an alphanumeric variable.) Width: This determines the width of the variable values. This is measured in terms of ‘the number of characters the values comprise of. A width of 8 would mean that the largest number or value that can be accommodated would be 8 characters long. Decimal spaces: This determines the decimal spaces that the values take. Specifying “0” decimal spaces display the number values as 1, 2, 3 etc. Specifying “2” decimal spaces means that they would be displayed as 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 ete. Label: This allows the user to enter additional and more detailed information on the coded variable name. The earlier stated rules for variable names do not apply here. The label can be anything up to 120 characters in length and can include spaces. This is case sensitive and appears as you typed it Value: This allows the analyst to label the values of the variables. For example, if the variable is ‘Gender’, this column allows the user to provide numeric values to designate the sex (e.g., 1 = Male; 2 = Female). A value label can be up to 60 characters in length, is case sensitive and can contain spaces. Missing Values: In SPSS, there can no empty cells within the data-set. So if the user does not enter a value into a cell, SPSS automatically supplies a system-missing value (normally a full-stop). However, SPSS also allows the user to specify a character (User Missing Value) which it should treat as a missing value and ignored in analysis. Data Alignment: The default alignment of data in Data View is the left margin but the user may, if he chooses to, change the alignment to centre or right. surement: In quantitative statistics, and definitely in SPSS, the measurement process normally involves the assignment of aumbers to characterise a unit of analysis. In measurement we can have different kinds of numbers may be required to represent different forms of measurements.SPSS uses three types of measurement scales - Scale date values are numbers expressing quantity or scores as so many units on an independent scale (e.g., height, age, income). - Ordinal data consists of ranks where values represent categories with some intrinsic order (e.g., 1 = low, 2= medium, 3 = high). - Nominal data values relates to qualitative variables or attributes, such as gender or blood group. Nominal values are merely labels. They may take the form of numbers, but such numbers basically represent categories and have no intrinsic order (e.g., 1 = male; 2 = female; 3 = shemale). While both Scate and Ordinal data reiate to quantitative variables, only in Seale data does each value give quantitative information independently of the rest of date Ordinal (ranks) mean nothing individually. They merely tell us that one individual has more or less of one variable than another. The default measurement level is Scale for numeric variables and Nominal for string variables. 4.3. The Data View Version: It is possible to enter data into the data viewer without having previously entered detaiis of the variables in the variable view version of the data editor. The two versions of the data editor are interchangeable in the order in which they are completed, Within Data View a number of functions can be undertaken in a similar fashion to spread sheet type applications. - You can select an entire column or row; - You can copy the values in one column to another column or lower down the same column, by using the copy and paste functions from the drop down menu; - You can delete selected cells, entire columns and rows; Itis also possible to import data from other applications, e.g., Excel, ASCII formats. It is also possible to cut columns of data from excel and paste them into SPSS. 5 Saving SPSS files: The SPSS has the common windows-based drop down menu [File] [Save] which allows you to save to a floppy disk, to your hard drive or your U drive. SPSS saves a data file with the extension *.sav, and will be recognised by SPSS in the future. ‘SPSS data can also be saved in other formats, e.g Excel or text formats, by using the {Save As] option.