Student Name: Student Number: Section Number:

PSYC 218 003/004/005 – Lab Assignment 1

Introduction to SPSS/Jamovi: Descriptive Statistics

INSTRUCTIONS: This assignment will give you an opportunity to practice calculating and interpreting
descriptive statistics using SPSS or Jamovi. You should review Chapters 1 and 2 of "A Student Guide to
SPSS" and/or Prof Andrew’s SPSS/Jamovi instructional videos before trying to complete this
assignment. Use the .sav file 'Assignment_1_Data.sav’ to complete the assignment. This file can be
found under “Assignments” in Canvas. The data contained in the file are from the Qualtrics survey you
complete at the beginning of the class

Learning Objectives:
This assignment is designed with three major learning objectives. To calculate descriptive statistics on
SPSS. To interpret and apply statistical concepts related to descriptive statistics. The third, is to teach
you APA formatting and notation.

APA notation: Proper formatting for statistics is a very important skill in academia. Every manuscript
requires strict formatting for the results section of the paper. You must have good attention to detail,
and remember to properly format your assignment as a last step before you submit. You will be
penalized for failure to use proper formatting. A student guide to SPSS is the best resource to consult

Marking of lab assignments will be very strict. You may insert additional spaces after any question as
needed. In addition, use proper symbols and notation (e.g., X , s2, z) when reporting your answers.
Unless otherwise specified, use APA style when reporting your answers. Round your final answers in
this assignment to 2 decimal places. You will lose marks for each and every failure to follow these
directions.

This lab assignment is due on Monday Jan 29th at 11:59 PM. You must use Canvas to submit your
completed assignment. If you submit your assignment late, 1/8 of the total mark will be deducted for
each full or partial 24-hour period.

Begin by opening the .sav file in either SPSS or Jamovi. You will find the Qualtrics survey data from a
survey of UBC undergraduate students. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the variables. For
categorical variables, you should look in Variable View to see how that variable was coded. This is
crucial for any questions requiring interpretation of that variable.

Professor: ANDREW RIVERS Page 1

DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO CAN LEAD TO ACADMIC DISCIPLINE.
 Student Name: Student Number: Section Number:

PSYC 218 003/004/005 – Lab Assignment 1

Introduction to SPSS/Jamovi: Descriptive Statistics

1. Let’s first take a look at some descriptive statistics from the sample. Using SPSS/Jamovi, look at the
frequency distribution for year of university (“year”) [5 points]
a. How many students are in each year of university in your class?
Create a frequency table and paste it here [1 point]

b. What percentage of students in your class are in their second year of study? [1 point]

c. What percentage of students in your class are in their fourth year or higher? [1 point]

d. Identify the measurement scale type(s) for which a frequency table would be the primary
type of descriptive analysis performed. Why? Which measurement scales are not
appropriate for a frequency table? [2 points]

2. Using SPSS, calculate descriptive statistics on the 'hrsstudy' variable, and answer the following. [9
points]

a. Report the mean (0.5 point) d. Report the range (0.5 point)

b. Report the median (0.5 point) e. Report the standard deviation (0.5 point)

c. Report the mode (0.5 point) f. Report the variance (0.5 point)

g. Based on the values you reported in the preceding answers, what can you conclude about
the shape (specifically, symmetry vs. skew) of the distribution of the 'hrsstudy' variable? (1
point) Explain your answer. (2 points).

Professor: ANDREW RIVERS Page 2

DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO CAN LEAD TO ACADMIC DISCIPLINE.
 Student Name: Student Number: Section Number:

PSYC 218 003/004/005 – Lab Assignment 1

Introduction to SPSS/Jamovi: Descriptive Statistics

h. If you were a new student to UBC and wanted to get an idea of how much the typical
student studies, which measure of central tendency would be most useful to you (1 point)?
Provide an explanation for your conclusion (2 points).

i. In this dataset, one student reports studying 100 hours per week. What influence does this
data point have on the mean, median and the variance? [3 points]

j. As a researcher, imagine you were looking through your ‘hrsstudy’ variable and you found
one student reported 444. What is one reason this could have happened? What does this
tell us about the importance of examining your datasets before analysis? [2 points]

k. Interpret the standard deviation of the 'hrsstudy' variable. [Hint: I am looking for more than
“the standard deviation is a measure of variability or dispersion”. A precise interpretation
would make reference to the actual value of the standard deviation.] (1 point)

3. Let’s now use SPSS/Jamovi to analyze the ‘hrssleep’ variable and answer the following: [6 points]

a. Report the mean (0.5 point) c. Report the range (0.5 point)

b. Report the median (0.5 point) d. Report the standard deviation (0.5 point)

Professor: ANDREW RIVERS Page 3

DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO CAN LEAD TO ACADMIC DISCIPLINE.
 Student Name: Student Number: Section Number:

PSYC 218 003/004/005 – Lab Assignment 1

Introduction to SPSS/Jamovi: Descriptive Statistics

e. What percentage of students get more than 7 hours of sleep each night? What percentage
of students get fewer than 5 hours of sleep? (2 point)

g. Using SPSS/Jamovi, convert the 'hrssleep' variable scores from hours to minutes (by
multiplying by 60). Call the new variable 'minsleep'. Use SPSS to calculate the mean,
median, range, and standard deviation of this new variable. How did the conversion affect
the mean, median, range, and standard deviation of the original 'hrssleep' scores? (1 point)
Why did it have this effect? (1 point)

4. Using SPSS, transform the ‘hrssleep’ variable scores to z-scores (be sure to do this within SPSS or
Jamovi), and answer the following. [9 points]

a. Report the z-score and Subj-ID for the subject who fell on the 34th percentile (hint: use the
cumulative percent column). (1 point)

b. Provide a precise interpretation of PSYC218005-10’s z-score. [A precise interpretation

would make reference to the actual value of the z-score.] (2 points)

c. Looking at this distribution of these z-scores, you’ll notice there are now several students
with negative scores for the z-scored ‘hrssleep’ variable. (1pt) Does this surprise you? Why
or why not? (1pt)

Professor: ANDREW RIVERS Page 4

DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO CAN LEAD TO ACADMIC DISCIPLINE.
 Student Name: Student Number: Section Number:

PSYC 218 003/004/005 – Lab Assignment 1

Introduction to SPSS/Jamovi: Descriptive Statistics

d. What is PSYC218005-68’s percentile rank? Use SPSS/Jamovi to get your answer. (1 pt)
Provide a precise interpretation of this percentile rank. [A precise interpretation would
make reference to the actual value of the percentile rank.] (1 pt) [2 point]

e. What answer do you get if you use Table A (in Pagano, pages 591-594) to calculate
PSYC218005-68’s percentile rank? (1 pt) Why is this answer different what you calculated in
the previous question, and is it more or less accurate than the answer you got in 4d? (1 pt)

For TA use:

Total = /28 points

Late Deductions (3.5 points for each day late) =

Final Assignment Grade = /28 points

Professor: ANDREW RIVERS Page 5

DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO CAN LEAD TO ACADMIC DISCIPLINE.