SPSS Basics Training

1
» Purpose and use of SPSS

» Open SPSS
» What is a Variable?
» Defining variables in SPSS
» Entering Data
» Open and save data files
» Import data from Excel
» Handling missing data
2
» SPSS is a Statistical Software Package
» SPSS is a tool
 It only does what it’s ‘told’ to do.
 It does not think for you
 It is not a black box
» You need to know the correct statistics for your
research BEFORE using SPSS.
» If you understand the statistics, then you are ready to
do analysis in SPSS.
3
Select SPSS 21
3
from the list
Type SPSS 20 into the

2
search box
Click on the Windows

1
Start Icon
4
Open NEW
data file
Dr. Christine Pereira
ASK at Brunel (2014) 5

Enter variable names in the first
column of Variable View.

Each variable name will appear as a
column heading replacing var.
Enter the data for each variable.


What is a variable?
How do we define variables in SPSS?

» A measurement:
 A characteristic
+ E.g., Gender, Age, Height, Weight…
 Time points
+ E.g., pre-test, post-test, T0, T1, T2…
 Experimental Condition
+ E.g., Condition, Experimental group…
 Opinion/belief
+ E.g., A survey question which asks for a respondent’s level of
agreement with a statement

 Etc…


Variables
Categorical Scale
Qualitative Quantitative
Nominal Ordinal Not grouped

(Unranked categories) (Ranked categories)  Height
 Marital Status  Weight
 Political Party  Satisfaction level  Age
 Eye Color  Level of agreement  No. of cars
 No. of students
• In SPSS, data is either Nominal, Ordinal or Scale.

• It is essential to classify data correctly.
- Incorrect classification…
may result in incorrect analyses.
31
Code categorical variables
Enter data
32
Level of
Measurement?
Categorical variables need to be coded

Scale variables do not need to be coded
0
0
1
0
1
Level of
1
0
Measurement?
1
0
1
0 = Male
1 = Female
Level of
Measurement?
Scale, does not

need to be coded
1
1
2
Level of 1
1
Measurement? 1
3
4
1
2
1 = tfl (i.e. public transport)

2 = Car
3 = Cycle
4 = Walk
36
Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statement:
“Most days, my commute causes me

to feel stressed when I arrive at
university”.

Level of
Measurement?
1 = Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = I don’t know
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly Agree 38
Data has been coded
Now we’re ready to enter it in SPSS
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1. Enter & define variables from Variable View.
• Variable names
• Must begin with a letter
• No spaces and no special characters (except _ )
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• Type
• Should (almost) always be numeric
• SPSS cannot analyse non-numeric data

• Decimals
• How many decimal places do you want to see in
the Data View?

• Label
• IMPORTANT!!! Make good labels!

• Short description of the variable
• This is what will be written on all graphs & tables
• Values (i.e., Value labels)

• IMPORTANT!!! - Tell SPSS what all the codes represent!
• This is what is written on all graphs & tables


• Missing
• Missing data can be coded too

• Chose a number not in the data, like 99 or 999
• Replace all missing values in your data with this code first
• Measure
• Level of Measurement (Nominal, Ordinal, Scale)

• By default ALL new variables are unknown
• YOU must choose the appropriate measure

2. Enter data from Data View.
• Variable names
• Will become column headings in Data View.
Now, let’s enter some data

Saving and Opening Data or Output Files


Locate a folder to save
it in:
 On your H drive OR
 On your pen drive
 Name it appropriately
 Extension . sav

 Shows output for ALL analysis run in SPSS
 Keeps a log of all activity of open data files
 Saved with the extension .spv
Everything done in A data file was saved as SPSS

SPSS is shown here, in Workshop Example.sav and logged
outline form. in the output file.
New
data file
New
output file

Existing
data
file
Existing
output file

Importing data from Excel

Existing
data file

Find the folder
where you 2
saved the file
3
Select the
Excel file
Choose Excel file type to

1
see your .xlsx
Choose the
correct
worksheet

Variable
Names
(from Row 1)
View all data

This variable name from Excel could not be
used. SPSS made it a label and created a new

variable name

How to handle missing data

» Any blank (i.e., missing) data is automatically
considered missing by SPSS.
 It will not be included in the analysis.
 This means you DO NOT have to code missing data
» Why code missing values if you don’t have to?

 Sometimes data accidently gets deleted. If missing values are
coded then you know a blank space shouldn’t be there.
 There is more than one reason data is missing and you want
to distinguish between them.
+ E.g., A participant chose not to answer a survey question or question

was not applicable to them – you may want to record these as
different kinds of missing data.

There are 3 missing
values for
TravelTimemin
• Replace missing values with a code

• Use a code that will not occur for the variable
• Let’s use -1, as negative time is not possible
1

Select the
variable you 2
want to recode
Click here to
recode the 3
variable

4
Enter the
code as the 5
new value
Click Add.
MISSING -> -1 6
will appear here

Click Continue
7
then Click OK
Missing values have
been replaced with
-1 for
TravelTimemin

Remember…
8 From Variable View
Define the missing
values
• Discrete (whole numbers)

• Enter missing value codes used for the variable (e.g., -1)
• Click OK
 This is only a code – it tells SPSS what value(s) represent

missing values.
 It does not replace missing values with the code for you!
» Variables go in columns
» Categorical data should be coded first
» If you import data from Excel, make sure to:
 Put variable names in the first row
 Code your categorical data first, then import codes
» If you choose to code missing data:

 First, replace all missing values with the code
 Second, define the missing value code in the Variable View

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1

» Purpose and use of SPSS

Type SPSS 20 into the

Click on the Windows

ASK at Brunel (2014) 5

ASK at Brunel (2014) 6

Enter the data for each variable.

ASK at Brunel (2014) 7

ASK at Brunel (2014) 10

agreement with a statement

ASK at Brunel (2014) 11

ASK at Brunel (2014) 13

Nominal Ordinal Not grouped

• In SPSS, data is either Nominal, Ordinal or Scale.

Categorical variables need to be coded

Scale, does not

1 = tfl (i.e. public transport)

“Most days, my commute causes me

ASK at Brunel (2014) 37

ASK at Brunel (2014) 41

ASK at Brunel (2014) 42

• IMPORTANT!!! Make good labels!

• Values (i.e., Value labels)

ASK at Brunel (2014) 44

ASK at Brunel (2014) 45

• Missing data can be coded too

• Level of Measurement (Nominal, Ordinal, Scale)

ASK at Brunel (2014) 47

Now, let’s enter some data

ASK at Brunel (2014) 50

ASK at Brunel (2014) 51

ASK at Brunel (2014) 52

Everything done in A data file was saved as SPSS

ASK at Brunel (2014) 54

ASK at Brunel (2014) 55

ASK at Brunel (2014) 56

ASK at Brunel (2014) 62

Choose Excel file type to

ASK at Brunel (2014) 64

View all data

used. SPSS made it a label and created a new

ASK at Brunel (2014) 66

ASK at Brunel (2014) 67

» Why code missing values if you don’t have to?

+ E.g., A participant chose not to answer a survey question or question

ASK at Brunel (2014) 68

• Replace missing values with a code

ASK at Brunel (2014) 70

ASK at Brunel (2014) 71

will appear here

ASK at Brunel (2014) 73

• Discrete (whole numbers)

 This is only a code – it tells SPSS what value(s) represent

» If you choose to code missing data:

 Second, define the missing value code in the Variable View

ASK at Brunel (2014) 76

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