SPSS: INTRODUCTION

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PROGRAM

Introduction
SPSS was originally designed for use by Social Scientists for the analysis of
social science data. It is now one of the most widely used statistical analysis
packages used among academics and industrialists in Britain. SPSS is great
for questionnaire data analysis. It offers powerful and easy ways to extract
meaningful information and also gain more insights into your data.

SPSS for Windows employs the advantages of the Windows graphical

environment to make the once complicated statistical analysis easier to use.
The pull-down menu system, with its dialogue boxes, enables you to build
complex statistical commands quickly and easily. SPSS provides an excellent
graphical module that helps to produce graphical summaries of analysis in a
variety of 2 or 3 dimensional charts. It also supports Dynamic Data Exchange
(DDE) and Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) facilities, that help the transfer
of data in and out of SPSS to most other Windows based applications. SPSS
output can be viewed in HTML format.

In addition to the dialogue box interface, SPSS supports an interactive

command language for programming and batch command processing.

Aim of this Document

This introductory document is designed to introduce you to the SPSS for
Windows interface. It will introduce you to data entry, data definition and the
basis of descriptive statistics.

NB: It is assumed that you already know Microsoft Windows environment and
how to perform basic Windows operations with the mouse. No prior
knowledge of SPSS or statistics is assumed.
Starting SPSS for Windows
1. Login to the network.
2. Click on the Start button and select the Network Programs.
3. Select Statistics then SPSS

Entering Data Using the Data Editor

The SPSS Data Editor provides a spreadsheet-like interface for entering and
editing data. It opens automatically when you start an SPSS session. There
are 2 tabs at the bottom - Data Viewer and Variable Viewer.
Data Viewer Variable Viewer

The Data Viewer displays the data file and the Variable Viewer allows you to
create new data files or modify existing ones.

Data Viewer: The numbered rows represent cases or observations. For

example, a case can be a set of responses to a questionnaire by one
respondent. The columns, with the column headings, are the variables or
characteristics being measured. For example, a variable can be a question on
a questionnaire. The cells contain the data values.

Variable Viewer: You must define the variables including the data types,
labels and values in the Variable View before you can enter data onto the
Data View. Click on the three dots (…) in the Values column to define all your
categorical data values. Example, 1=Male, 2=Female. After you finish
defining your variables, Tab to the Data View to begin your data entry.
Variable name is restricted to maximum of 8 characters. Use the Label
column to type a long descriptive variable names.
Performing Simple Analysis
The Analyze menu contains a list of general statistical analysis procedures.
To the right of each procedure is an arrow indicating a sub-menu with a set of
options. We will use the sample dataset Employee data for this exercise.

To produce frequency tables:

1. Click on the Analyze Menu to pull it down.
2. Select Descriptive Statistics then Frequencies.

This will display the Frequencies dialogue box.

Select the variables you want to work with. This is done by highlighting the
variable(s) from the column on the left hand side, and clicking the button (>) to
'transfer them across' to the list of variables to be analysed. Once this has
been done you could click OK and the default frequency analysis will go
ahead. However, you may click on one of the three buttons at the bottom of
the dialogue box.
Each of the three options will bring up another dialogue box in which you can
add to the statistics to be calculated, create graphical representations or
control the output format.

When you have tailored the analysis to your needs, click on the OK buttons.
The analysis starts, and the progress of commands being run is shown on the
status bar at the bottom left hand corner of the main window. The results of

the analyses are placed on the Output Viewer.

You may modify charts to your required presentational need. To do so, double
click on the chart to invoke the Chart menu.
Plotting Graphs
1. From the Graph menu select the type of graph you
require. For example a bar chart.
2. A dialogue box appears offering variations on the type
of graph you have chosen.
3. Choose one of the types and click Define.
4. A second dialogue box will appear for you to choose
the variables you want to plot. For a bar chart, choose
a categorical variable.
5. Select the variables you wish to plot by clicking on the variable and then
clicking on the (>) button next to the box labelled Category Axis. You may
also add a title to your graph and alter other plotting options by choosing
the Titles... or the Options... button. When you are ready, click OK. The
graph is plotted and placed in the Output Viewer.

The resulting graph

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Saving SPSS Files
The contents of the two windows, Output Viewer and Data Editor, are saved
separately. Ensure that the active window is the required content you wish to
save.

From the File Menu, select Save Data. The Save Data As dialogue box will
appear for you to choose the drive and folder you want to save the file to, the
name of the file you want to create, and also the file format you want to save it
as. This is especially useful if you want to transfer your data to other
applications.

How to Use SPSS Output in Other Applications

SPSS pivot tables and charts can be copied and pasted into another Windows
application such as Word and Excel. You can paste pivot tables as embedded
objects. Other objects could be pasted as a picture (metafile) or text.

To Copy a Table or Chart:

1. Select the object to be copied.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy Objects.
3. Paste the object at the destination application.

How to Add an Existing Text File to the Output Viewer

1. Click on the table, chart, or other object, which will precede the text.
2. From the Insert menu, select Text file.
3. Select a text file you wish to insert.
4. Double-click on the text to edit it, if you wish.

Printing
SPSS offers a great flexibility in printing the content of the Output Viewer and
the Data Editor. The page setup gives you control of the paper size and
orientation, page margins, page headers and footers and page numbering.
Output Viewer Printing
There are three different ways of printing the contents of the Output Viewer.

• All visible output – prints only items currently displayed in the

contents pane.
• Selection – prints only items currently selected in the outline and /or
contents panes.
• Printing the Content of the Data Editor
A data file is printed as it appears on the data screen. You can disable the
grid lines by using the View menu. From the File menu, select Print.

How to Read Excel Files into SPSS

1. From the File menu, select Open, then Data.
2. Point and click on the arrow next to the File Type box.
3. Select Excel (*.xls).
4. Select the Excel file you wish to load.

An options screen will be displayed requesting if you wish to read variable

names (heading titles). Place a tick in the box.

The Excel file will be loaded and a message on the Output Viewer will be
displayed giving a summary of the data read. Switch onto the Data Editor to
work with your data.

Opening an Existing File

Ensure you are on the appropriate window. The Data Editor window will open
a data file (.sav) and the Output Viewer window will open an output file (.spo).

1. From the File menu, select Open.

2. Locate the required file and click Open.
The Command Language
The SPSS dialogue and menu boxes are adequate for the casual or
occasional user. For the serious user, familiarity with the SPSS command
language is recommended. Not only will this give you a greater understanding
of how the SPSS system works, and also how best to use it to suit your
needs, but it will enable you to do more precise and complicated analyses
than are possible by just using the menus and dialogue boxes.

Leaving SPSS
1. From the File menu select Exit.

SPSS keeps track of the status of the windows you have opened in the
course of your session. If you have not saved contents of any of the windows,
SPSS will prompt you to save before leaving the program.