Introduction to SPSS

Version 10.0

Written by Ta Liu

Center for Social Science Computation & Research

145 Savery Hall
University of Washington
Seattle WA 98195 U.S.A.
(206)543-8110

October 2000
[Link]
 INTRODUCTION TO SPSS 10.0
Overview of SPSS.
SPSS stands for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. It is general statistical
software tailored to the needs of social scientists and the general public. Compared to
other software, it is more intuitive and easier to learn; the trade-off is less flexibility and
fewer options in advanced statistics than some other statistical software like S-Plus and
SAS.
SPSS is good for organizing and analyzing data. You can rearrange data, calculate new
data and conduct a variety of statistical analyses. Theoretically, there is no limit to the
size of data files, so you can work on large data files in SPSS when you can not do so in
Excel. This version also allows easy input/output management, such as exchanging files
with other software, changing the appearance of output, or cutting and pasting into
different programs.
The best way to learn how to use SPSS is to work with it. A quick way to get familiar with
major features is to run through the online tutorial under the Help menu.
SPSS is installed on every computer in CSSCR.

Log in to SPSS.

There are two ways to launch the SPSS program. One is to simply click on the SPSS icon
shown in red letters on your desktop. If you cannot find the icon, you can click Start, then
Program Files, then SPSS. Or if you are not sure whether the computer you are using has
SPSS , click Start, then Find, then Files or Folders, then type ÒSPSS.Ó
When the SPSS window launches, a dialogue box pops up. You have several choices; you
can either start a tutorial, type in new data, or open an existing file.

Input Data.

If you want to start from scratch and enter data manually in SPSS, select the Type in
Data option from the Open dialogue box. A blank window with a spreadsheet appears. You
can click on any cell and enter numbers. If you want to enter characters, you need to
define the variables as a string first. It is recommended that you define the variables first
even if they contain numbers.

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Now letÕs assume you wish to open an Excel spreadsheet. You can click File, then Open,
then Data (File/Open/Data). A dialogue box should appear. You need to do two things to
open your file. First, you need to locate the directory of your file. In this example, it is in
C:/Temp. Click the ÒLook inÓ directory at the top of the dialogue box, browse to select
C:/Temp. Then choose the correct file type, which is Excel. Find the file Ò[Link],Ó
then click Open. Another dialogue box pops up. It asks whether you want to read the first
line as variable names. Click to check the box and OK. You should have a window filled
with data.

For earlier versions of SPSS (9.0 or earlier), it is a little tricky because SPSS then could
only read Excel 4.0 or earlier. If you work with Office 97 or 2000, you need to save in Excel
4.0 in order to export to SPSS 9.0. You should also only keep one worksheet in the Excel
file when you save it. Version 10.0 can request a specific worksheet from an Excel
workbook; so now you can open Excel 2000 workbooks.
Similarly, you can also open a Text file. The Open box for a Text file looks different from
the Open box for an Excel file. You need to specify how the data is separated and which
part of the data you want to read. A wizard helps you through the process.
To save your file in SPSS format, ending with an extension of .sav. Go to File, then Save
As. Choose ÒSPSS dataÓ and save.
Before we move on to data analysis, letÕs first look at the basic structure of SPSS.

Basic Structure of SPSS

Unlike commonly-used Microsoft Office applications, such as Word and Excel, SPSS has
many windows. It can be quite confusing in the beginning. You will get used to it as you
work along.
The spreadsheet window is called the Data Editor. You can also open an output viewer,
syntax editor and script editor window from the ÒFileÓ menu through ÒNewÓ or ÒOpen.Ó
Later we will activate the Chart Editor and Pivot Table Editor.
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The most important windows are the Data Editor and the SPSS Viewer. The Data Editor
displays data and allows data manipulation and analysis. The SPSS Viewer displays
output and keeps log of changes in the program. The Syntax window displays the
command instructions; it helps keep track of analysis and perform automated tasks. The
Chart Editor and Pivot Table Editor are for editing charts and tables. The Script
Editor is mostly for making specialized formats of table output. The Syntax window and
Script Editor are for experienced users.
You can toggle between these windows by clicking on the taskbar at the bottom of your
screen or by selecting a window from the Window pull-down menu at the top.

The pull-down (or drop-down) menus at the top of your screen are similar to Office
applications. There are common categories like File, Edit, View, Windows and Help, which
you can figure out by looking at the names. Specific to SPSS are four categories, Data,
Transform, Analyze (Statistics in earlier versions) and Graphs in the Data Editor Window.
ItÕs slightly changed in the Output Viewer window; Data and Transform are replaced by
Insert and Format. Some of the commands have icons on the toolbar which provide
shortcuts. If you place the cursor on an icon, its name should appear.
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Data editor
The Data Editor is a spreadsheet like Excel consisting of columns and rows. Rows are also
called cases or records. Columns are also called fields or variables. Looking across a row, a
country in this example, you see the values of all variables. Looking down a column, you
see values of all cases, in this illustration, all countries.

If you are familiar with Excel, the first thing you will notice is that variable names in
SPSS appear on the top gray rows. They can only have eight characters and the first
character must not be a number. You can use underscore or upper case to have
abbreviated names. For example, population change as PopChg or pop_chg. It may be hard
to read but you can include variable labels which add meaning to your names.
A very nice improvement in Version 10.0 is the addition of a Òvariable viewÓ window in the
Data Editor. It makes the tasks of managing variables and changing variable
characteristics much easier. You can change variable names, define types, control width
and decimal points, add or change labels, and change alignment.
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In older versions of SPSS, you can work on variables by clicking Define Variables under
Data OR double-click on a variable name. Now you can work directly in the variable view
window. For example, we can change variable types. There are two common types of
variables, numeric and string. Numeric variables have numbers, and string variables have
characters. The default type is numeric. You can change variable labels; variable labels
make reading output much easier since the variable name is limited to eight characters.
String variables cannot be used in calculations and statistical analysis. You must recode
them into numeric variables (or categorical variables) with assigned values. For example,
religion can be displayed as 1 to 5, each corresponding to a type of religion.
Not only variables have labels, but values of categorical variables can also have labels.

Data Manipulation.
Data manipulation changes the layout of data and does not change its values. All data
manipulation commands are listed under the Data pull-down menu. Commands like insert
data, insert variable and merge file are related to adding new data. Commands like select
cases and sort cases change the arrangement of data or sample it. You can choose cases
according to certain requirements using select cases.

To sort data, click on sort cases and a box will appear. Choose one or more variables in the
left blank space. Let us choose Ògdp per capitaÓ and leave the Sort Order unchanged, then
click OK. All the cases (countries) are rearranged from the lowest to the highest. You can
also sort it by string characters from A to Z or reverse.
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Data Transformation
SPSS allows you to not only rearrange but also transform data, i.e., to change variable
values. You can create new variables or change existing variables. These commands are
all under Transform on the pull-down menu.

Compute
LetÕs first look at Compute. You can create a new variable by calculating values of existing
variables. Say we want to create a new variable of total GDP for each country given that
we have total population and gdp per capita. Click Compute and you can see a dialogue
box. In the top left slot labeled Target Variable, type in ÒtotGDP.Ó In the largest space on
the right, enter variables and numeric expressions that can produce the target variable, in
this case, totGdp. First select variable gdp_cap from the variable list on the left and
double-click. You should see it appear in the Numeric Expression window. Then choose the
multiplication symbol * from the operator list under the big space. Then choose the
variable popultn and enter it into the big space. Click OK. In your Data Editor, you should
see the new variable on the far right side.
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Recode
Recode is a very useful command. Using it, you can handle missing values or create new
categorical variables. For example, we want to divide countries into those with gdp per
capita over 2000 US dollars and those less than or equal to 2000 US dollars. Click on
Recode Into Different Variables. Chose gdp_cap from the list of variable at the left. Enter
a new Output Variable name as Òwealth.Ó On the bottom, find the old and new values
button and click it. A new box appears. Choose a range of lowest to 2000 and select a new
value as 0 then click add. Similarly, choose a range of 2001 through highest and enter the
new value as 1. These equations should be in the right box. Confirm your operation and
click Continue. When you come back to the old dialog box, click OK again. Voila, you have
another new variable called ÒwealthÓ at the far right end of the Data Editor.

Automatic Recode
Though you can have string variables in the data sheet, you cannot do statistical analysis
on them. You need to transform them into categorical variables. For example, you can
transform gender ÒmaleÓ into 0 and ÒfemaleÓ into 1. In SPSS, you can use automatic recode
to do it easily. In our example of international cases, say we want to explore any
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relationship between dominant religion and economic development. We need to change the
string variable ÒreligionÓ into a numeric one. Click automatic recode, type in a new
variable name ÒcatRelÓ and keep the order of values unchanged, i.e., from lowest value.
Then click OK. The beauty of this command is that it automatically changes former string
values into value labels. It would be more complicated if you did it by using another
command, like recode.

You can view value labels by clicking the value label icon On in the Data Editor window.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis is the core of SPSS. You can use descriptive statistics and graphs to
explore statistical relationships between variables. You can test those relationships by
using regression analysis.
Say we want to know the mean, median, and standard variations of each variable. You can
do so by going to the pull-down menu Analyze/Descriptive Statistics/Descriptives. The
results are stored and displayed in the Output Viewer.
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We can also use graphs to

visualize the statistical
relationships between variables.
Say we want to have a sense of any
association between gdp per capita
and urbanization. We can draw a
scatter plot. Go to
Graph/Scatter/Simple. Choose two
variables and enter them into the
Y and X slots. Click on the variable
Òcountry,Ó and put it in the last
slot, Label Cases by: Click OK and
you should see the graph in the
Output Viewer. The chart shows a
positive relationship between
urbanization and economic
development.
There are numerous tools of statistical analysis, particularly in the area of regression
analysis. Let us look at one of the simplest, linear regression modelling. We want to test
whether there is any statistical association between economic development and several
social variables, such urbanization, literacy rate and religion.
Go to Analyze/Regression/Linear. Enter Ògdp per capitaÓ as the dependent variable and
urbanization, literacy rate and categorized religion as independent variables. There are
many options to help you interpret statistical relationships. In this example, we will keep
it simple. Keep Method ÒEnterÓ intact. Click OK. After a few seconds, the results will show
in the Output window. There are a number of tables, depending on the options chosen.
In our example, there are variables entered, model summary, ANOVA, and Coefficients.
You can also use the Paste button to
paste your commands into a syntax
window. It not only saves time if you
run the regression many times, it
also keeps track of what youÕve done
so you can communicate with others
or remind yourself of the procedure
after a period of time.
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Output management

You can save your data in formats other than SPSS data. You can change the layout and
appearance of tables and graphs to meet your requirements. Data output is easy. When
you save, you can select other formats in the drop-down menu, choose a directory and click
OK. It is also quite convenient to change the appearance of tables and graphs. If you want
to change a table or a chart, just double-click it. A Pivot Table Editor or a Chart Editor
will appear.
For example, we want to change the title of a regression coefficient table. Double-click the
output table, the Pivot Table Editor pops up. Double-click the title. When the table title is
highlighted, you can change it. To place SPSS tables in reports, copy the table using the
Copy Object option under Edit and then paste it into Word.
We can also change graphs. Double-click on a scatter plot. The Chart Editor will appear.
Let's add a title and the fit line. Go to Chart and click title. Add a title in the small
dialogue box. Go to Chart again and click Options and check Òfit lineÓ Your chart should be
changed and you can close the Chart Editor.

Conclusions

We learned the basic structures of SPSS, how to input data, how to manipulate and
transform data, how to do descriptive statistics and regression analysis, and how to draw
and change a chart.
The quickest way to get an overview is to run the online tutorial. The best way to learn
SPSS is to work on a real project. In the process, you will have a lot of questions. The first
thing you can do is check the help topics. Then if you still can not figure them out, ask
consultants at CSSCR, we would be happy to help you. Or you can consult SPSS manuals,
and the Center has plenty of them. Good luck in your SPSS adventure.