Posts filed under '3a. Analysing your data'
This week Eamonn send us the following question about the Compute function:
When using transfor/compute - say to create a construct from a set of Likert
Scale items - does SPSS save the formula used to create the new variable, or
is it lost once you compute?
SPSS does not save the formula in your data file. It does keep the formula in mind if you keep SPSS open. So if you want to use the same formula again, but than with different variables for example, you can open the Compute screen again, and there your old formula is. But if you close SPSS and open it again, the formula will be gone.
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January 19th, 2007
andris
Many visitors of our blog are searching for information about the one sample t-test.
From the menus choose: Analyze>Compare Means>Means
Select one or more dependent variables.Use one of the following methods to select categorical independent variables:
Select one or more independent variables. Separate results are displayed for each independent variable.
Select one or more layers of independent variables. Each layer further subdivides the sample. If you have one independent variable in Layer 1 and one independent variable in Layer 2, the results are displayed in one crossed table, as opposed to separate tables for each independent variable.
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May 8th, 2006
mark
This weekend we got a question from Kat, who is desperately 
looking for our help. She is working on a project with a lot of data in Excel:
“I am in the middle of a project for which I have constructed a large table in Microsoft Excel.
The table consists of variables going across the top, and cases down the side. The cells contain numbers (ie. the frequency of each variable within each case). Many of the cells have no number or the variable has zero frequency in that case.
April 19th, 2006
andris
We got a question from Tom:
“I’m doing research. In this research I had interviews with 20 different
persons. The interviews were open questions (so not only yes/no answers,
but also yes/no/sometimes/only when.. etc)
I am looking for a way to translate the answers into SPSS, so I can make
graphs and percentages for each question (For example: 25% answered yes, 30%
answered no, 2 % answered only when etc.)
Is there an easy way to deal with my problem?”
This is a preview of How to analyse answers on open ended questions with SPSS
. Read the full post (279 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)
April 7th, 2006
andris
Sometimes you want to split your data file in separate groups for analysis
Its a easy thing to do in SPSS. From the menus choose:
Data > Split File
This opens the Split File dialog box.
Select Compare groups or Organize output by groups. The examples following these steps show the differences between these two options.
Select Gender (gender) to split the file into separate groups for these variables. You can use numeric, short string, and long string variables as grouping variables. A separate analysis is performed for each subgroup defined by the grouping variables. If you select multiple grouping variables, the order in which they appear on the Groups Based On list determines the manner in which cases are grouped.
March 22nd, 2006
mark