Title of Resource The Syntax Window for SPSS 22.0: Assignment and Grading Rubric Kimberly A. Barchard. Author(s)

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1 Title of Resource The Syntax Window for SPSS 22.0: Assignment and Grading Rubric Kimberly A. Barchard Author(s) Leiszle Lapping-Carr Institution University of Nevada, Las Vegas Students learn to create syntax commands by typing them and by using the paste function, Brief Description: and they will learn how to save the syntax file in SPSS format and pdf format. A detailed grading rubric is included. SPSS, syntax window, descriptive statistics, applying statistical concepts, grading Keywords: rubric Author Contact kim.barchard@unlv.edu Information: Additional Information: llapping@unlv.nevada.edu This assignment uses an existing data file, which is available on the Open Science Framework at TeachPsychScience.org is made possible with grant support from the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Fund for Teaching and Public Understanding of Psychological Science to the site creators Gary Lewandowski, Natalie Ciarocco, and David Strohmetz. All materials on this site have been subjected to a peer review process. We welcome additional resources ( Kimberly A. Barchard & Leiszle Lapping-Carr. All Rights Reserved. This material may be used for noncommercial educational purposes. All other uses require the written consent of the authors

2 Instructors: This is assignment 3 in a series of 10 assignments for SPSS. In this assignment, students will learn to create syntax commands by typing them and by using the paste function, and they will learn how to save the syntax file in SPSS format and pdf format. At a minimum, students should complete the following assignments from this series before attempting this assignment: Introduction to SPSS (under Basics of SPSS > Introduction) This assignment should take minutes for students to complete. We strongly encourage our students to complete these assignments in groups of 2-3 students. This allows them to follow the detailed instructions correctly and work through difficult parts of the assignment together. Groups larger than 3 would make it difficult for the students to work on a single computer and contribute equally. When students complete assignments in groups, it is helpful for them to save their files in a location to which all team members have access. This could be a folder on the university server or a DropBox folder. This ensures that all students have access to the current files, thus prevent students from duplicating each other s work, and reduces the chance that the wrong files will be submitted. This assignment should be printed so that students can read the instructions on paper while simultaneously completing the work on the computer. If students are working in groups, one student should read the instructions out loud (while keeping a finger on the line they are reading) while another student implements the instructions on the computer. Ideally, the student with the WORST computer skills will be the one using the computer. If students are working individually, they should use a ruler or a piece of paper to help them keep track of where they are on the instructions. This assignment can be submitted via hard copy or electronically. We prefer electronic submission for four reasons. (1) Grading can be completed at any computer (the grader does not need to carry stacks of paper back and forth). (2) There is documentation that the assignment was submitted and graded. This makes it easier for instructors and teaching assistants to communicate clearly with students when students have questions about the assignment. (3) When students are working in teams, every team member can have a copy of the completed assignment and the feedback. (4) Electronic submission reduces how much paper is used. The assignment includes instructions for converting SPSS documents into PDF format. These pdf files can easily be submitted through your university s online course management system or via . The PDF format also allows for grading on computers that do not have SPSS. Grading The grading rubric is comprehensive, detailed, and clear. It has been used successfully by both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants. Because it can be used to provide specific feedback to students, its use minimizes student questions about grades. The use of the grading rubric makes it easy for students to identify and correct any mistakes they made. In our class, we allow students to re-do assignments upon which they did not earn full marks. Re-do s are allowed at two points: once halfway through the semester and once just before the end of the semester. Allowing students to re-do

3 assignments is beneficial for three reasons. First, it encourages students to fix any errors they made and so learn the skills we were trying to teach. Second, it encourages students to re-do earlier assignments, which serves as a refresher. Third, it provides students with an opportunity to make up missed assignments, which ensures they have the skills necessary for the more advanced assignments. It is possible to earn 38 points on this assignment. You should instead score the assignment out of 30 points if you decide not to have students submit their files electronically: Simply ignore the File Names (Electronic Submission) sections of the grading rubric. In our course, we use course management software (e.g., Blackboard) to scale the grades to make this assignment worth 3 points (rather than 30). Files This assignment consists of four files. Two of these files are available to students. All four files are available to instructors. File Student s site: Instructor s site: Assignment Original Link to student site Questionnaire data Original Link to student site Grading rubric Original Instructions for instructors Original This assignment was designed for SPSS 22. The websites above may contain assignments for later versions of SPSS.

4 The Syntax Window for SPSS Open the Questionnaire Data.sav file from the Open Science Framework at Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to create and run Syntax files. Syntax files are used to write down the commands needed to run statistical analyses in SPSS. The advantage of using the Syntax Window is that it provides a record of the analyses you conducted. Furthermore, if you decide you need to repeat an analysis you have already done, you can just highlight the analysis and run it. This is especially useful if you want to do several different analyses that are very similar to each other. You can copy and paste the commands, and make any changes you need. In this assignment, you will calculate the mean and standard deviation for two variables using the menus and then calculate them again using the syntax window. In every assignment after this, you will be asked to use the syntax window. Part A: Watch the SPSS Tutorial on the Syntax Video 1. Open SPSS A box will pop up asking you what you want to do, click Cancel. 2. Click on the Help menu. Select Tutorial. Then select Working with Syntax. 3. Watch the slide show tutorial. Stop at when you get to the next section, which is titled Modifying Data Values. Part B: Opening the Data File and Titling Your Output 1. Download and open the Questionnaire Data.sav file from the Open Science Framework at 2. Switch to the output window. If SPSS did not create an output window for you, create a new output window. To do this, click on File, New, Output. 3. Add a title at the top of your output file, including your name, the course number, the assignment name, and the date. Part C: Calculating Mean and Standard Deviation using Menus 1. Calculate the mean and standard deviation for the two variables: How many dogs do you own? and How many cats do you own? There are several ways to do this. We recommend Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, Descriptives. 2. Put a title on this section, above the word Descriptives, that says Calculated Using Menus. Part D: Calculating the Mean and Standard Deviation using the Syntax Window In this section, we will calculate the mean and standard deviation for the same two variables, cats and dogs, using the syntax window. We will type the commands we need directly into the syntax window, and then run the commands. 1. Click on the File menu. 2. Select New from the drop-down menu. 3. Select Syntax from the side-menu. 4. A new syntax window will now open. Readjust the window size if necessary. Type the following commands into this window. Type them exactly as they appear below: DESCRIPTIVES /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV. (Don't overlook the period at the end of the last line. It's important.) 5. Save your syntax window, by clicking on the File menu, and clicking Save. This way, you won t have to re-do all this if you need to come back to this assignment later. Right now, this file is called Syntax1. Change the file name to give the assignment topic, your last name, and what kind of file this is: SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Syntax.sps. Note: You must activate the syntax window in order to save the syntax window. If your output window is active, for example, then what you are saving is your output file. If your data window is active, then what you are saving is your data file. To activate the syntax window, click anywhere inside the syntax window. 6. In the Syntax Window, select the three lines you just typed. 7. Click on the Run menu. 8. Click on Selection from the drop-down menu. This will run the commands that you have highlighted. Note: In this case, it would have been fine to use Run All, but in future you might only want to run one of the commands in your syntax window, and so you will want to use Run Selection. 9. In the output window, a new log will appear and a new set of descriptive statistics. If SPSS is printing logs in your output file, you will note that the log that appears in your output file is exactly identical to the syntax commands you just typed: the log is telling you what syntax commands were used to generate the output. 10. Go to your Output window. Compare the means and standard deviations you got here with the results you got using the menus. They should be the same. 11. In your output window, put a title on this section, just above the new log. Your title should say Calculated Using Typed Syntax Window. In theory, you should be able to put the title above the log by clicking on the word "Log" on the left-hand side, and then using Insert, New Title. However, for some inexplicable reason, when I do that, the title ends up below the 1

5 log. So, this is a good opportunity for me to show you how to move output around. First insert the title. Then select the title in the left-hand window, and drag it to where you want it to be. Note. You cannot move items in the window on the righthand side; you have to use the window on the left-hand side. 12. Save your output file. Use the file name SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Output.spv. 13. Do not close your syntax or output files, because you will need both of these files to complete the assignment. Part E: Inserting Titles and Comments in Your Syntax File To make your syntax file easier to read, it is helpful to add titles and comments. You can type these directly into the file. When you do this, though, you must put a * at the beginning of each comment line and a period at the end of each comment line. If you do not do this, you will get an error message when you try to run your syntax commands, because SPSS will interpret your comment or title as an SPSS command. 1. Create a new line at the top of your syntax file. Place your cursor before Descriptives. Make sure that your syntax is NOT selected (or else you will erase it all). Now hit Enter to start a new line. 2. On this new line, type the title. The title should give your name, the course number and assignment name, and the date. Remember to put a * at the beginning of the title and a period at the end of the title. 3. Add a comment above the syntax commands you just typed. The comment should read *Typed syntax commands. (without the apostrophes) Type the words directly into the syntax file. Make sure to end the line with a period. Part F: Calculating the Mean and Standard Deviation using the Syntax Window, the Easy Way Typing in syntax commands by hand is slow and boring. It s also prone to error, when you type something incorrectly. Finally, you have to figure out exactly what commands to use before you can type them in. So, it s not the easiest method of creating a syntax file. Fortunately, there is a much easier way. We ll use this method for the rest of this semester. 1. Click on the Analyze menu. Click on Descriptive Statistics on the drop down menu. 2. Click on Descriptives from the side menu. 3. Double-click on the two variables you are interested in, dogs and cats, to select them. 4. Click on the Options button at the upper right of the window. 5. Make sure that the mean and standard deviation are selected, and that no other statistics are selected. 6. Click Continue. Then click Paste. 7. You have now created the syntax commands needed to do this analysis. Go to your Syntax window, and you will see that a second set of commands is underneath the first set. 8. Add a comment above these commands, which says *Syntax commands created using the Paste function. Make sure the comment starts with a * and ends with a period. 9. Select the new command lines, click Run, and Selection. If you get an error, make sure that every comment line starts with a * and ends with a period. 10. In your output window, title this section. If SPSS is adding Logs to your output, put the title above the word Log ; otherwise, put the title above the word Descriptives. Make the title Calculated Using Pasted Syntax Commands. 11. Save your output file. Save your syntax file. Part G: Export your Output file to a PDF 1. Create a PDF of your Output by exporting it to a PDF. Title your PDF SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Output.pdf. Part H: Create PDF of your Syntax File by Printing to Adobe PDF You should also convert your Syntax File into a PDF so you can read it at on other computers. However, you will need to do it differently than for other assignments. There is not an Export option for syntax files. Therefore, you must follow these instructions: 1. Click the File menu at the top left of the window. 2. Click Print on the drop down menu. 3. Under Print Range, select either All or Selection. Usually you will want to print All. 4. Select the number of copies to be made (usually 1). 5. Select the printer Abode PDF. Click OK. Change the file name to SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Syntax.pdf. WHAT YOU SHOULD HAND IN Hand in BOTH your output file AND your syntax file (both in pdf format). Your output file should have the means and standard deviations for dogs and cats calculated three times, with different titles for each. Your syntax file should have commands for calculating the mean and standard deviation of dogs and cats twice, with different comments for each. Both files should have titles at the top, with your names, the course number and the assignment name, and the date. 2

6 1 Assignment 3: The Syntax Window for SPSS Grading Rubric SYNTAX FILE NAMES (ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION) No credit (-2) Partial credit (-1) Full credit (0) Points lost Document is in.pdf format. Document is not in.pdf format. Document is in.pdf format. Document has been given the correct file name. TITLES At the top of the document, there is a title giving student's name, course number, assignment number, and the date. File name is not "SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Syntax.pdf." Name, course number, assignment number, and date are a. Content is not all correct. b. Content is not all present. c. Content is not at the beginning of the document. File name is "SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Syntax.pdf." (Last Name is replaced with student s last name). Name, course number, assignment number, and date are at the top of the document. Gave a comment above the typed syntax commands saying "*Typed syntax commands." (without quotation marks). Gave typed syntax commands to get the mean and standard deviation for Cats and Dogs as indicated by the syntax command: "DESCRIPTIVES /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV." Gave a comment above the pasted syntax commands saying *Syntax commands created using the Paste function. (without quotation marks). Syntax command is Comment is Syntax command is not exactly "DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=dogs cats /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV." Comment is a. Comment is not exact. b. Comment is not in the correct location. a. Comment is not exact. b. Comment is not in the correct location. Comment is correct and is at the top of the typed syntax commands. Syntax command is exactly " DESCRIPTIVES /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV." However, differences in capitalization, spacing, and line breaks are all okay. Comment is correct and is at the top of the pasted syntax commands.

7 2 Assignment 3: The Syntax Window for SPSS Grading Rubric Pasted the syntax commands to get the mean and standard deviation for Cats and Dogs are present: DATASET ACTIVATE DataSet1. DESCRIPTIVES /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV. OUTPUT Syntax command is FILE NAMES (ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION) Syntax command is not exactly "DATASET ACTIVATE DataSet1. DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=dogs cats /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV." Syntax command is exactly "DATASET ACTIVATE DataSet1. DESCRIPTIVES /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV." However, differences in capitalization, spacing, and line breaks are all okay. No credit (-2) Partial credit (-1) Full credit (0) Points lost Document is in.pdf format. Document is not in.pdf format. Document is in.pdf format. Document has been given the correct file name. TITLES At the top of the document, there is a title giving student's name, course number, assignment number, and the date. File name is not "SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Output.pdf." Name, course number, assignment number, and date are a. Content is not all correct. b. Content is not all present. c. Content is not at the beginning of the document. File name is "SPSS Syntax Window Last Name Output.pdf." (Last Name is replaced with student s last name). Name, course number, assignment number, and date are at the top of the document. Gave a title at the top of the output, above the word Descriptives, saying Calculated Using Menus. Using menus, gave the following values for Dogs: mean = 1.33 and standard deviation = Title is a. Title is not exact. b. Title is not in the correct location. Title is correct and it is above the word Descriptives. correct.

8 3 Assignment 3: The Syntax Window for SPSS Grading Rubric Using menus, gave the following values for Cats: mean = 1.32 and standard deviation = Gave a title before the next output section, above the word Log, saying Calculated Using Typed Syntax Window. Using typed syntax window, gave the following values for Dogs: mean = 1.33 and standard deviation = Using typed syntax window, gave the following values for Cats: mean = 1.32 and standard deviation = Gave a title before the next output section, above the word Log or Descriptives, saying Calculated Using Pasted Syntax Commands. Using pasted syntax commands, gave the following values for Dogs: mean = 1.33 and standard deviation = Using pasted syntax commands, gave the following values for Cats: mean = 1.32 and standard deviation = Title is Title is a. Title is not exact. b. Title is not in the correct location. a. Title is not exact. b. Title is not in the correct location. correct. Title is correct and it is directly above the word Log. correct. correct. Title is correct and it is directly above the word Log or Descriptives. correct. correct. Instructions: Note the reason for losing points by circling or highlighting above. In the points lost column, note the number of points lost for each row. Total points lost = 38 Total points lost = Total score = / 38