Introduction to SPSS for Windows

SPSS is a software package used for conducting statistical analyses, manipulating data, and
generating tables and graphs that summarize data. Statistical analyses range from basic
descriptive statistics, such as averages and frequencies, to advanced inferential statistics, such as
regression models, analysis of variance, and factor analysis. SPSS also contains several tools for
manipulating data, including functions for recoding data and computing new variables, as well as
for merging and aggregating datasets. SPSS also has a number of ways to summarize and display
data in the form of tables and graphs.

Starting SPSS
1. Click on the Start button (bottom left hand corner of screen)
2. Move mouse to highlight Programs
3. Move mouse to highlight SPSS for Windows and click with left mouse button
4. If creating a new file, click on: Type in Data
If accessing an existing file click on: Open existing files

Entering Data in SPSS

1. Data sheet
● Column represents a single variable (e.g., question in survey)
● Row represents a single case (e.g., each person in a survey is a case)
● You can use many different data types in SPSS (e.g., numeric, date, dollars)

2. Defining variables
● Click on Variable view (tab on bottom left corner of screen)
● Numbers across left correspond to each variable
● Name = variable name (must be 8 or less characters in length)
● Type = type of value (e.g., numeric, date, etc.) Click on shaded box to select
● Width = number of digits in value (default is 8 characters)
● Decimals = number of decimal spaces required for value (default is 2)
● Label = full description of variable identification
● Values = correspond to coding values that need to be defined (e.g., 1 = male)
● Missing = designate different types of missing values in your data (rarely used)
● Columns = identify how much room to allow for your data and labels (default is 8)
● Align = allow you to align data in each cell either right, left, or center (default is right)
● Measure = allow you to select three options based on the nature of your data: Scale,
Ordinal, and Nominal
Scale are data with intrinsic numeric meaning that allow typical mathematical
manipulation (e.g., age is a scale variable). Scale is default for numeric variables.
Ordinal are data that have intrinsic order but mathematical manipulations are typically
meaningless. Interestingly, dichotomous variables (male/female, pass/fail, true/false)
are considered ordinal.
Nominal are data that are used for identification but have no intrinsic (less or greater)
order such as ethnicity, marital status, etc. Nominal data may be used for categorization
but cannot be used in normal analyses.

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3. Entering data
● Once your variables are defined, you are ready to enter your data
● Click on the Data View tab on bottom left of screen
● Begin entering data by selecting the cell and typing in your number
● Numbers will automatically appear in the identified cell
● Press Enter to record the value and jump to the next cell
4. Saving data
● Insert your disk into the computer
● Go to File (top right of screen)
● Scroll down to Save as …
● Under Save as, click on arrow to the right to get drive options for data saving
● Under File name, name your file as something meaningful to you and make sure it ends
with .sav
● Click Save

Basic Statistical Operations with SPSS

1. File
● Opening a new or existing file
● Saving a current file
2. Data
● Inserting new variables
● Inserting cases
● Weighting cases
● Finding cases in a column
● Sorting cases
● Merging data files
● Selecting specific cases for data analysis
3. Transform
● Recoding variables
● Replacing missing values with a mean or other value
● Transforming variables
● Computing new values for new variables
4. Analyze
● Conducting all statistical procedures with your data including descriptive statistics and
frequencies, comparing means (T-test, ANOVA), correlation analyses, regression
analyses, etc.
● Parametric and nonparametric tests available
5. Graphs
● Graphing your data in various forms (e.g., line, bar, pie, histogram, box plot, etc)
6. Utilities
● Provides information on your variables
7. Help
SPSS is uniquely defined to offer you tutorials on all topics. To obtain step-by-step instruction
on how to perform specific data analyses, go to Help in the menu bar, then scroll down to
tutorial and select your specific topic for help. You may also seek support by accessing on-line
support and guidance with the SPSS web site: http://www.spss.com

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 An Example
Inputting data into SPSS
● Start
● Programs
● SPSS for Windows

To Enter Data

A spreadsheet called UNTITLED DATA will open. In the first column insert numbers from 1 to
30 as shown on the data sheet (see the following pages). Clicking within any cell will select it for
data entry. To move around the spreadsheet use ENTER key to go down, TAB to go across to the
right, and SHIFT TAB to move left. Another way is to use the arrows of the extended keyboard
to move around within the spreadsheet.

To Input Variable Information (example)

Double click on the ‘var’ heading above the column or go to variable view and click on first
variable name. Where it says Variable Name replace var0001 with ID
Move across and fill in the information as follows:

Type Default numeric. Do not change for this example.

Width Default 8 spaces. Do not change for this example.
Decimal places Default 2. Change to 0 for this example
Label In “variable label” bar type your variable name, in this case: ID
Missing This is to identify variables that you want treated as missing. For
example, if a respondent had put in “not applicable” on a survey
item you would want to code it as a missing variable. Leave this
blank.
Columns Default 8. Do not change for this example.
Align This just changes how the variables appear on your screen. Do not
change for this example.
Measure There are three different types of measures – nominal, ordinal, and
scale. Choose the appropriate measure in this case – nominal.

For the categorical variables, Province, Gender, Race, and Religion, you will need to define
categories. To define categories (Let’s use the variable Province as an example):
● Under values – double click on box with three dots for Province
● Under value labels
● Type: 1 in value bar
● Type: Ontario in value label bar
● Click Add
● Type: 2 in value bar
● Type: British Columbia in value label bar
● Click Add
● Continue
● OK

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Enter all the data and name all the variables in this manner, according to the description
provided.

Data Description

Variable 1 Respondent’s identification number (ID)

Variable 2 Province the respondent lives in (PROVINCE)
1 Ontario
2 British Columbia
Variable 3 Respondent’s gender (GENDER)
1 Male
2 Female
Variable 4 Respondent’s ethnicity (ETHNIC)
1 Caucasian
2 African-Canadian
Variable 5 Respondent’s age (AGE)
Variable 6 Respondent’s religious affiliation (RELIGION)
1 Protestant
2 Catholic
3 Other
4 None
Variable 7 Respondent’s mother’s education – years of schooling (maeduc)

Name your data set and save it to your disk.

Note: Use this data set to complete Exercises # 1 and # 2.

Running Frequencies in SPSS (example)

To run frequencies for each variable go to:

● Analyze
● Descriptive Statistics
● Freqencies
● Click on any variable in the left box and transfer it to the variable(s) box by clicking
the arrow. Note: You can transfer more than one variable to the Variable(s) box and run
frequencies for all variables at the same time.
● In the same window click on Statistics
● Select minimum, maximum, and range (they may already be selected as default)
● Continue
● In the same window click on Charts …
● Bar chart (You can also try a histogram with or without the normal curve, and a pie
chart. However, SPSS will only allow you to select on 1 chart at a time!)
● Continue
● OK

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If you want you may name your output and save it to your disk.
id province gender ethnic age religion maeduc
1 1 1 1 1 32 1 16
2 2 1 2 1 19 2 13
3 3 1 2 2 37 2 15
4 4 1 1 1 72 4 10
5 5 1 2 1 86 1 5
6 6 1 1 2 37 4 18
7 7 1 2 2 20 3 14
8 8 1 1 1 19 2 13
9 9 1 1 1 32 4 12
10 10 1 1 1 25 1 10
11 11 1 2 1 30 2 11
12 12 1 1 2 22 3 10
13 13 1 2 1 20 4 20
14 14 2 2 2 43 3 14
15 15 2 1 1 27 2 18
16 16 2 2 2 29 4 14
17 17 2 2 1 30 1 9
18 18 2 2 1 31 1 12
19 19 2 1 2 36 2 16
20 20 2 2 1 41 1 18
21 21 2 2 1 45 3 10
22 22 2 1 1 21 3 15
23 23 2 2 1 35 2 13
24 24 2 2 2 28 2 12
25 25 2 1 1 37 2 18
26 26 2 1 2 43 2 10
27 27 2 1 2 40 1 10
28 28 2 2 1 51 4 20
29 29 2 1 1 60 4 14
30 30 2 2 1 23 3 16

# 1. Run frequencies for the following categorical variables: gender, Ethnicity, Religion, and
Province. Answer the following questions:
1) What percentage of the sample is female?
2) What percentage of the sample is African-Canadian?
3) What percentage of the sample is Catholic?
4) What percentage of the sample is from Ontario?

# 2. Run Descriptives for the continuous variables: Age, and Mother’s Education.

Variable Mean SD Range Maximum Minimum

Age
Mother’s Education (years)

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