Introduction to SPSS

• Data management in a spreadsheet-like format
• The ability to create graphs and tables
• A broad range of statistical analyses

• Becoming familiar with Statistical Packages and what they can do
• Creating new Datasets
• Importing & exporting Datasets
• Manipulating data in a Dataset
• Basic analysis of data (mainly descriptive statistics)
• Producing professional quality output using Word, Equation Editor, PowerPoint and SPSS results.
• An overview of SPSS's advanced features

Examining the Help utility within SPSS

Creating a Simple Dataset

5.1 Problem

1. Create the variables needed for the following dataset. They will all be numeric for starters. Where can the variables be found for this dataset?

Note: Variable names must begin with a letter and cannot contain spaces or any illegal characters. Let's use the following convention for variable namnes: 1) the name begins with a letter and 2) the variable can contain letters, numbers, an underscore, or a period.

2. Switch to Data View and look at your variables.
3. Going back to Variable View, change the type of Name to a String and the decimals column is to be 0, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 1.
4. In the Values column, create the Value Labels for Brand where 1 = "M&M/Mars", 2 = "Hershey", 3 = "Charms"
5. Enter the data into the correct SPSS cells in the Data View. As you are entering the data into the cells, you will notice that some of the data cannot be entered correctly. You will need to switch to the Variable View to fix these problems.
6. Create descriptive statistics that specify: Mean _______, Standard Deviation __________, Minimum _________, Maximum __________ for Total Fat.

Using the SPSS Tutorial, SPSS Help, or Web define each of the following terms and give a real life example of each.

SPSS contains the following data types (measures):

• Categorical:
  ____________________________________________________________
  ____________________________________________________________
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  • Nominal:
    ______________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________
  • Ordinal
    ______________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________
• Scale:
  ____________________________________________________________
  ____________________________________________________________
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For the data in Problem 1, what is the type and measure for the data for each of the variables? Why?

• Brand: ______________________________________________________
• Name: ______________________________________________________
• ServingPerPkg: _______________________________________________
• OzPerPkg: __________________________________________________
• Calories: ____________________________________________________
• TotalFatInGrams: _____________________________________________
• SatFatInGrams: ______________________________________________

Types of Data Analysis

1. Statistical Summaries (e.g. descriptive, hypothesis testing)
2. Visual Summaries (e.g. tables, graphs)

1. Descriptive Statistics - a situation is described by the statistics by the collection, summarization, organization and presentation of data.
2. Inferential Statistics - where inferences are made from samples of the population (e.g. smokers smoking a pack of cigarettes per day have a higher cholesterol). In this area we get into Hypothesis testing.

In the Descriptive Statistics world, we are concerned about each of the following.

Give a general description and example of each of the following terms:

Mean ________________________________________________________________

Median __________________________________________________

Mode____________________________________________________

5.2 Problem

• Method #1: One way has two variable columns where the first is BrandA and the second is BrandB. Enter the above data and find the asked for information. Save this file as BrandMethod1.sav.
  • Find the mean __________, median __________, mode __________, std deviation __________, minimum __________, maximum __________ using SPSS.
  • What do the descriptive statistics tell us about the paint with regard to fading?
  • What are the type and measure values for Brand A _________________ and Brand B _________________?

• Method #2: The second way has two columns where the first column is a variable called Brand and the second column is called Fading. Create value labels where 1="BrandA" and 2="BrandB". Enter the information and find the asked for information. Save this file as BrandMethod2.sav.
  • Find the mean __________, median __________, mode __________, std deviation __________, minimum __________, maximum __________ using SPSS.
  • What do the descriptive statistics tell us about the paint with regard to fading?
  • What are the type and measure values for Brand _________________ and Fading _________________?

5.3 Problem

1. To make sure we stay fresh with Excel for the final, here's a little problem. Generate 100 random integer numbers (i.e. the numbers do not contain any decimal places) between 1 and 20. Beside each number output "EVEN" or "ODD". Save this file as random.xls.
2. Import this data into SPSS and create a Histogram and Pie Chart of the dataset.