Assignment 1: Discussion
Be sure to use vocabulary that is relevant to the topic.
We're going to use the statistical software, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences or SPSS, to work with data in this class. It analyzes data on a spreadsheet. The data must be entered on the spreadsheet correctly for the analyses to be correct.
Follow the instructions from the lecture for creating a data file in SPSS. When you look at your data in "Data View" the data go in vertical columns. So the top of each column is labeled with the variable name. Research participants are listed or implied in the first column. Once all the variables have been entered in the columns, the data from each research participant appear in that participant's corresponding row when data on each variable are collected from all participants, as it is in our case.
When you are setting up the data file, create 25 cases (, with 5 responses for each respondent to your survey). In the next assignment you will be entering the data for these 25 cases.
- Create a column for each variable in your survey and put the name of each variable in Row 1 of the spreadsheet. For example, if you asked a person's age, you could call that variable age. For others, you might have to create a summary label, say "Angst 1" for anxiety item #1.
- Below the spreadsheet, list at least 3 variables, identify what level of data the variables are (e.g., nominal, ordinal, etc.), identify the ranges of scores or values for those 3 variables (e.g., age 21 thru 88), then name 3 groups to which you would reduce each of the three variables.
Save and attach your SPSS data file, .sav file or copy and paste it into a word document and attach it to your discussion thread. Post a comment or question concerning your experience with this introduction to SPSS. In addition, comment on at least two of your peers' posts and respond to what is written about your post.