Week Two Lab Exercise

You will be entering the scores shown below for Attitude Toward Rap

Entering and Saving a Set of Scores (Scale Variable)

1. Start SPSS
2. Indicate that you want to "Type in data.
3. Click on "Variable View" tab.
4. Name the variable (Rap), then press the Enter key.
5. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor or mouse to select the empty cell just below the word "label" give it the name (Attitude Toward Rap) and then press the Enter key.
6. Click on the "Data View" tab at the lower-left corner of the data editor.
7. Type the first number (data set below) and then press the "Tab" key or the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
8. Type in the remaining scores using the steps in letter g.
9. Check the accuracy of your entries.
10. Name and save the data file you created. Do this by clicking on the word "File" near the upper left-corner of the screen, and then click on "Save as." Next type the words "Attitude Toward Rap" and click on "Save."
11. Close SPSS by clicking on the box with the "X" in the upper right-corner of the "Data Editor" screen.

Attitude Toward Rap Music Scores for 20 Students on a Scale from 0 to 10________

            3          4          0          4          3          6          10        1          2          9

            1          3          2          10        2          8          3          7          4          4                     

Creating an SPSS Frequency Distribution (Use the data set on page 2 of this assignment)

1. Start SPSS by clicking on "Start" at the lower-left corner of the screen and then clicking on SPSS. (Notice that by default, SPSS assumes you want to open an existing data source.
2. Click on "Variable View" then make sure the measurement level indicates "Scale," change it if necessary.
3. Click on "Data View" and then click "Analyze" near the top of the screen.
4. From the drop-down menu that appears after you execute step d, use the mouse to put the cursor on the phrase "Descriptive Statistics." Then click on "Frequencies" which will produce the "Frequencies dialog box on the screen.
5. Click on the arrowhead in the "Frequencies" dialog box.
6. Click on "OK."
7. Print the output.
8. Save the output, click on "File" than click on "Save as...."

Creating an SPSS Histogram (Use the data set on page 2 of this assignment)

1. Start SPSS
2. Locate the Scores file that you saved earlier (for the frequency distribution).
3. Click on "Variable View" to make sure you are in the variable view screen.
4. Click on "Graphs."
5. Click on "Chart builder or Legacy dialogs depending on version."
6. Click on "Histogram," select simple histogram from the "Gallery" and drop it into the chart preview area above the "Gallery."
7. From the "Variables" box of the "Chart Builder or Legacy dialogs" window drag the Scores variable and drop it into the dotted-line rectangle labeled "X-Axis?" within the preview window.
8. Click on "OK" in the lower-left corner of the window.
9. You can superimpose the normal curve on the histogram if you wish.
10. Print the output.
11. Save the output.

Using SPSS:

The next six questions are based on the following data (Scores).

1. Create a stem and leaf plot for these data.

2. Create a frequency distribution for these data.

3. Create a histogram for these data using an interval of 5 (e.g., 0 to 5, 6 to 10).

4. Is the distribution symmetrical?

5. Where do the data tend to cluster?

6. Which graphical technique do you think displays the data least effectively?  Why?