Assignment One

Objectives:
Students will become familiar with basic features of SPSS v.10.Specifically you should learn how to create, input and save SPSS data.After you have created an SPSS data set, basic descriptive statistics and correlations will be computed.

Part One: Creating an SPSS Data Set
1. First, you will need to get a copy of the in-class handout showing data for twenty-eight countries. Click here if you need a copy of the data sheet. This cross-national data set includes measures for: Infant Mortality Rates per 1000 births (IM), Per Capita Gross Domestic Product (pcGDP), Number of Telephones per Person (1TelPer), Number of Hospital Beds per Person (1HospPer), and Percentage of Persons living in Urban Areas (%Urban).

2. Using the handout, create a data set in SPSS.  Here's how…
               ·Open the SPSS program by going to the Programs options and clicking on SPSS V.10 for Windows.
               ·Once the program opens, you should select the option "Type in Data."
               ·A data sheet will appear.Notice the columns are not named and each has a label "var." Along the left side, you will see a column of numbers that correspond to individual rows.
               ·Notice at the bottom left of your SPSS screen, there are two folder tabs. The first is labeled "Data View" and the second is "Variable View."  The "Data View" allows you to see your data while the "Variable View" is where you will specify variable type and constraints.
               ·You should first name and specify your field names (a variable).For this assignment, you should only enter data for "IM", "pcGDP",and "1TelPer".
               ·Go to the "variable View."
               ·Type "im" for infant mortality rate in the space to the right of row 1 under "Name". The letters will automatically change to lower case.
               ·Specify the "Type" of data. IM is a numeric variable.
               ·Specify the "Width" of the data. None of the infant mortality rates are greater than three spaces.
               ·Specify "Decimals". This refers to the number of decimal spaces you wish to allow in your data. IM has no decimal spaces.
               ·Specify "Label".This refers to how your data will be labeled in you output. It is usually best to label your data in such a way that others who are not familiar with your data will be able to decipher your variables. Type in "Infant Mortality Rate".
               ·Specify "Values". You can specify specific values if needed. We'll talk more about this later. For now, just leave this as "None".
               ·Specify "Missing". Some data sets code missing data (i.e. 99). The current data set does not have any special codes for missing data. Leave it as "None".
               ·Specify "Columns". Again just leave the default value.We'll discuss this more later.
               ·Specify "Align". This refers to how you want to justify your data.It's mostly personal preference.
               ·Specify "Measure". You should specify the type of data included in this variable. Is it scale, ordinal, or nominal?
               ·Repeat this procedure for "pcGDP",and "1TelPer".

3.  Now you are ready to begin entering data into your data set.  Here's how:
               ·Click on "Data View" in the bottom left hand of your screen.
               ·Notice that your three variable columns are shown in the first three columns in the gray area.
               ·You may enter data into a specific cell by clicking in that cell and typing the value. Notice the top of the screen also shows a data editor, which is also useful in entering and editing data.
               ·You can move from cell to cell by using the arrow keys. Numeric data can be entered either on the number keys above the letters on your keyboard or on the numeric keypad on the left side of your keyboard (use number lock if you choose this option).
               ·Enter the data from the handout in the corresponding column of your data set.

4.  After entering all the data, you should save your data set by either choosing "Save" on the File menu or by clicking on the diskette icon at the top of the screen. Be certain to save the file to a floppy disk and not to the hard drive on the lab computers. If you are uncertain about saving files, ask.

5.  Congratulations! You now have a data set stored in SPSS.
 

Part Two: Descriptives and Correlations

1.  Now that you have created a data set with three variables, we want to demonstrate some of the very useful features of SPSS. Descriptive statistics, particularly measures of central tendency, are probably the most widely used measures in business and in research. These include such measures as mean, median, mode, range, etc. For this assignment, we want to calculate certain descriptive measures and correlations for "IM," "pcGDP," and "1TelPer."  Here's how:
               ·Go to the Analyze menu at the top of your SPSS screen.
               ·Scroll down to "Descriptive Statistics". Notice the arrow at the right of the words. Hold your cursor still and a drop down list will appear with several options. Slide your cursor to the right and click once on "descriptives".
               ·A box will appear on your screen. On the left you will see your three variable names. You can select to execute descriptive calculations on one, two or all of the variables by selecting the variable name. You select a variable in one of two ways. You can double click the variable name, which moves it to the right  side, or you can highlight a variable name and move it to the right side by clicking on the arrow between the two inner boxes. By the way, you can unselect a variable by moving it back over to the left using the same procedure.
               ·After you have moved the variables you wish to run descriptives on to the left side, simply click "OK" to execute the command.
               ·An output screen will appear showing the results of your calculations. You can save the output file to disk also by clicking save on the File menu. Notice the file extension is not the same as the SPSS data set extension. Students often confuse the steps on saving output and data files.
               ·You should print your output showing descriptives.

2.  Next, we will calculate bivariate correlations for the three variables.
               ·Go to Analyze again, choose "Correlate" and then "Bivariate."  Select the variables you wish to correlate and then "OK". If you want, you can save this output under your descriptives output in one file or you save them separately.
               ·Play around with some of the other "Analyze" functions if you like. Trial and error is a great teacher.

Turn In:
1.  A printout of your data set.
2.  A printout of descriptive statistics for each of the three variables.
3.  A printout of the bivariate correlations showing all three variables.