These quick SPSS tutorials are designed to get you the result you need as fast as possible.
They work on the assumption that you have already added data into SPSS, and what you need to know is how to perform a specific calculation and to interpret the result.
If you require a more in-depth understanding, then you should check out our detailed tutorials.
This quick tutorial details the rules for naming variables in the SPSS statistics package. SPSS allows you to rename variables either via its Variable View or by using syntax. There are a number of rules governing the naming of variables. Rules & Best Practices for Naming Variables Names can be safely up to 32 … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to rename a dataset in the SPSS statistics package. Quick Steps In the SPSS Data View, click File, then Rename Dataset… Type the new dataset name into the dialog box, following SPSS’s naming conventions Click OK The Data The normal scenario for renaming a dataset is where … Read more
This quick tutorial will show how to calculate the median of a set of data in SPSS. Quick Steps Click Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Frequencies Move the variable for which you wish to calculate the median into the right-hand column Click the Statistics button, select Median under Central Tendency, and then press Continue Click … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to generate a frequency distribution table and histogram within SPSS. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Frequencies Move the variable of interest into the right-hand column Click on the Chart button, select Histograms, and the press the Continue button Click OK to generate a frequency … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to interpret the result of a chi square calculation you have performed in SPSS. The Result The tutorial starts from the assumption that you have already calculated the chi square (test of independence) statistic for your data set, and you want to know how to interpret the result … Read more
In this quick SPSS tutorial, we’ll look at how to calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS, and how to interpret the result. Quick Steps Click on Analyze -> Correlate -> Bivariate Move the two variables you want to test over to the Variables box on the right Make sure Pearson is checked under Correlation … Read more
In this quick tutorial, we’re going to look at how to recode a string variable as a numeric variable in the SPSS statistics program. This is often done using the automatic recode functionality of SPSS, but in this case we’re going to do it manually because of the extra control we get. Quick Steps Click … Read more
In this quick tutorial, we’ll explain how to do a one sample t test (or single sample t test) in SPSS, and also how to interpret the result. Quick Steps Analyze -> Compare Means -> One-Sample T Test Drag and drop the variable you want to test against the population mean into the Test Variable(s) … Read more
This quick tutorial will show you how to reorder columns in the SPSS Data View. Quick Steps Select the entire column you want to move by click on its name at the top Drag the column to its new location The Problem In a previous tutorial, we created a new variable to hold a … Read more
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
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 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