This quick tutorial will show you how to create a unique identifier for each case – i.e., each person, experimental subject, etc – within a data set in SPSS. The advantage of doing this is it disambiguates cases that might otherwise be confused – for example, if you had two John Smiths in your sample. … Read more
This quick tutorial is designed to show how to do a paired samples t test in SPSS and how to interpret the result. A paired samples t test will sometimes be performed in the context of a pretest-posttest experimental design. For this tutorial, we’re going to use data from a hypothetical study looking at the … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to do an independent samples t test in SPSS and how to interpret the result. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Compare Means -> Independent-Samples T Test Drag and drop the dependent variable into the Test Variable(s) box, and the grouping variable into the Grouping Variable box Click … Read more
In this tutorial, we will learn how to import data from a MySQL database into the SPSS statistics package. Specifically, we will detail how to set up a MySQL data source and how to import data from it. To follow along, you’re going to need your database IP address, and the username and password you … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to do Fisher’s exact test in SPSS. This test tends to be used when sample sizes are small, and you want to test whether two categorical variables (for example, gender and smoking status) are associated with each other. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Crosstabs … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to calculate the skewness and kurtosis of a distribution in the SPSS statistics package. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Descriptives Drag and drop the variable for which you wish to calculate skewness and kurtosis into the box on the right Click on Options, and … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to calculate percentiles in SPSS using the default HAVERAGE method. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Frequencies Drag and drop the variable for which you wish to calculate the percentile(s) into the box on the right Click the Statistics button Select the Percentile(s) option, type … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to calculate the chi square (test of independence) statistic in SPSS and also how to interpret the result of the calculation. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Crosstabs Drag and drop (at least) one variable into the Row(s) box, and (at least) one into the … Read more
This tutorial will teach you how to define variable values and display value labels in the SPSS statistics package. Quick Steps Click on tab to display Variable View Identify your variable, click on its cell in the Values column, and then click on the ellipsis Enter your first coded numerical value where it says Value, … Read more
This tutorial will introduce you to the Variable View tab in SPSS, and teach you how to define variables – that is, specify their various parameters – within this view. Adding a Variable In order to define a variable and set its parameters you need to get some data into SPSS. The easiest way … Read more
This tutorial explains how to import data from Excel into the SPSS statistics package. Preparing Excel Open the Excel spreadsheet from which you wish to import data. You can see in our example that we have 5 columns of data. Before you begin the process of importing your data into SPSS, you need to ensure … Read more
This tutorial will show you the quickest method to create a histogram in the SPSS statistical package. Quick Steps Click Graphs -> Legacy Dialogs -> Histogram Drag variable you want to plot as a histogram from the left into the Variable text box Select “Display normal curve” (recommended) Click OK Histogram will appear in SPSS … Read more
This quick tutorial will teach you how to calculate the mean and standard deviation of a set of data in SPSS. There are a number of different ways to achieve this, but what follows is probably the easiest. Quick Steps Click Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Descriptives Drag the variable of interest from the left … Read more