Title of Resource Introduction to SPSS 22.0: Assignment and Grading Rubric Kimberly A. Barchard Author(s) Leiszle Lapping-Carr Institution University of Nevada, Las Vegas Students learn the basics of SPSS, including how to create a new data file or open Brief Description: an existing data file, enter data, calculate descriptive statistics, and save data and output files. A detailed grading rubric is included. Keywords: SPSS basics, descriptive statistics, applying statistical concepts, grading 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 https://osf.io/umjk5/ 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 (www.teachpsychscience.org/submissions). 2016 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.
Instructors: This is assignment 1 in a series of 10 assignments for SPSS. This assignment teaches students how to enter data into SPSS, open and save data files and output files, complete a basic statistical analysis, and save an output file in pdf format. No prior knowledge of SPSS is required for students to complete this assignment. This assignment should take 30-60 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 email. 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 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 24 points on this assignment. You should instead score the assignment out of 20 points if you decide not to use electronic submission: Simply ignore the File Names (Electronic Submission) section 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. 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: https://osf.io/5qy2p/ Instructor s site: https://osf.io/umjk5/ 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.
Introduction to SPSS Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to SPSS, the most commonly used statistical package in the social sciences. You will create a new data file and calculate some basic descriptive statistics. Next you will open an existing data file and calculate the same basic descriptive statistics. Creating an SPSS File Part I: In this part of the assignment, we ll create a new SPSS data file and analyze the data. Open a new SPSS File 1. Double click the SPSS icon on the desktop. If SPSS is not on the desktop, click on the Start button, then click on Applications or All Programs, and then click on SPSS or IBM SPSS. Be sure to open SPSS 22.0. Some computers might have a different version of SPSS, but we are using SPSS 22.0 for this assignment. If you cannot find SPSS, click the Start button and then type SPSS into the Search programs and files. 2. A window will pop up and ask you what you would like to do. Click Cancel. Naming Variables 1. SPSS data files have two ways to view the data. Variable View is used for creating the file. Data View is used for entering data. Click on the Variable View tab at the bottom of the window on the left. 2. Click on the first empty cell below Name. 3. Type in Reading for the variable. Variable names must be short. Press Enter. 4. Click on the first empty cell in the Label column. Type in Reading test scores for the Reading variable. The variable label can be much longer than the variable name. 5. Click on the cell directly below Reading. 6. Type in Vocabulary for the next variable. 7. Type in Vocabulary test scores as the label for the Vocabulary variable. 8. For both variables, change the number of decimals to 0. To do this, first click in the cell that shows the number of decimals for that variable, and then either type the number zero or use the down arrow to change the number. Entering Data in SPSS 1. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom left of the window. In the Data View window, each row represents a participant and each column represents a variable. 2. Click on the first empty cell under the first variable and enter the number 7 (the reading score for the first participant). You do not need to enter the participant numbers (these are already listed in the far left column as grey numbers). When entering variables, use the arrow or tab keys to move between cells. When you have finished entering data for that participant/row, scroll back and begin with the next participant/row. Enter the following set of data: Participant Reading Vocabulary 1 7 32 2 8 41 3 9 46 4 11 52 5 12 50 6 12 44 7 13 41 8 15 58 9 18 48 10 19 61 1
Saving Data in SPSS Initial Save 1. Click on the File menu at the top left of the window 2. Click on Save As on the drop down menu 3. From the Look In menu, open a place where you can save your file (such as a flash drive). 4. Type in what you would like to call your file next to File Name. Sometimes, SPSS will suggest a file name, such as Untitled1 [DataSet0]. Change this to something that will be easier to recognize, like SPSS reading and vocabulary data. 5. Click Save 6. An output window may appear, telling you that the file has been compressed. To switch back to the Data window, click on the Window menu, and select the Data Editor. Subsequent Saves 1. To save your data, you must first activate the Data window. To do this, click somewhere inside your Data window. Alternatively, click on the Window menu and select the SPSS Data Editor. 2. Click on the File menu at the top left of the window 3. Click Save on the drop down menu 4. If you want to save the file under a different name, use Save As. Analyzing Data in SPSS: Calculating the Mean, Median and Mode 1. Click on the Analyze menu 2. Click on Descriptive Statistics on the drop down menu 3. Click on Frequencies from the side menu 4. Choose one of the two variables from the menu on the left (click once to highlight) 5. Click on the arrow button between the two boxes to move that variable to the Variable(s) box on the right. Alternatively, you can drag the variable to the Variable(s) box. 6. De-select the box next to Display Frequency Tables. A pop-up box will appear, saying You have turned off all output. Unless you select any Output Options this procedure will not be run. Click OK. It is important to turn off the frequency tables or else you will have a LOT of unnecessary output. 7. Click on the Statistics button at the top right hand corner of the window 8. Make sure that the mean, median, and mode are all selected 9. Make sure that no other statistics are selected 10. Click on Continue 11. At the Frequencies Window, click OK. This will bring up an Output window. When you first open the Output window, SPSS will show that it is (Processing ). After a few seconds, the (Processing ) symbol will be replaced by the appropriate output. 12. You can switch back and forth between the Output window and the Data View window by clicking on the Window menu, and selecting the window you want, or by using the icons on the bottom of the screen. 13. Repeat these steps to calculate the mean, median, and mode for the second variable. When you get to step 4, move the first variable back to the left before selecting your new variable: Because you have already calculated descriptive statistics for the first variable; you do not need to calculate them again. Saving Your Output In addition to saving your data, you must also save your output. 1. Click somewhere inside your Output window (the window that popped up after running the Frequencies). 2. Click on the File menu at the top left of the window. 3. Click Save As on the drop down menu. You should name your file Intro to SPSS Last Name Output.spv (replace Last Name with your last name) by typing the name in the File name box. This will make it easy to keep track of your assignments throughout the course. 4. You should save your output file regularly, perhaps after each analysis you do. 5. Do NOT close your output file after each analysis: if you do that, you will end up with many output files (which is very confusing), each of which has to be printed separately. Keep your output file open, so that new analyses are added to the bottom of the file, and save regularly, in case your computer crashes. 2
Computer crashes When a computer crashes, the program you are using may close, or the entire computer may stop responding. When this happens, it is often sufficient to turn the computer off, and then start it up again: use the power button to make sure the computer is completely shut down. You may have to hold the button down for several seconds before the computer turns off. When you are working in a computer lab, turning the computer off and on again might not be enough to fix the problem. If not, I recommend switching computers. Furthermore, sometimes there is a problem with the entire lab (because all the computers in a lab are networked). If switching computers doesn't work, I recommend you move to another computer lab. Computers will crash. So be prepared by saving your files after each change you make. Opening an Output File If you want to open an Output File that you were working on some other day 1. Open SPSS, and close the pop up window that asks what you would like to do. 2. Click on the File menu 3. Click on Open from the drop-down menu 4. Click on Output from the side-menu 5. Select your folder and file 6. Click Open Editing Your Output Changing Format to Show 2 Decimals To change the format of the results in the Output window 1. Double click on the table to open it up for editing. Sometimes SPSS will open the table in a new window, and sometimes it will allow you to edit it in the current window either is fine. If this is the first time you have attempted to edit a table, SPSS will usually open two pop-up windows, one titled Formatting Toolbar and one titled Pivoting Trays. You do not need either of these windows to edit the table and can close them. If they continue to pop up when you double click on tables for editing, you can uncheck them in the View and Pivot menus. 2. Select the cells whose format you want to change. To do this, click the first cell you want to select, then hold down the SHIFT key, and click the last cell you want to select; finally, release the SHIFT key. 3. Click on the Format menu 4. Click on Cell Properties on the drop down menu 5. In the Cell Properties window, click on the Format Value menu. 6. To change the number of decimals that are shown, type the number of decimals you want in the box at the bottom of the window, labeled Decimals and click OK. Then click somewhere else on the screen, so that it knows you have finished editing this output. 7. Do this now: change the format of the mean, median, and mode in both tables, so that two decimals are visible for all three statistics. Right now, the mode has no decimal places and depending upon your computer, the mean and median might have 2 decimals or 4. Change the format so that all of them have 2 decimal places. 8. Repeat these steps to change the number of decimals for the output for your second variable. Deleting Output If you made any mistakes when you were working, you might need to remove a portion of your output. For example, if you do the same analysis twice, you should delete the extra analysis. To delete a portion of your output: 1. Click once on the heading, table, or graph you want to delete 2. Hit the delete key 3
To Show More Results Sometimes the computer will not show you all of your results for a particular section. If this happens, to show all your results you should 1. Double click on the section. This will select the section and open it for editing. 2. Click on one of the dots that are on the border, and drag it to resize the window. If no black dots show up, you are seeing everything there is to see. Adding a Title to the File In this section, you will add a title to your file, above the word Frequencies 1. Your SPSS Viewer window is divided into two parts: the main part where you see your output, and an outline on the left hand side. If you cannot see the outline, it is minimized. Just drag the divider bar to the right, so that you can see the outline. To add a title, we will use the Outline section. 2. Move your mouse over to the Outline on the left-hand side of the screen and click on the word "Output". When you click on this word, it will highlight this word. Sometimes it will highlight all the sub-headings as well; that s okay. 3. Click on the Insert menu. 4. Click on New Title. The word Title will appear just after the word Output in the outline window. An invisible title box will also be added at the very top of the page in your statistical results, and so all of your results will shift down a little. To show where that title box is, click on the word Title in the Outline window. 5. Now that you can see where the title box is in the main Output window, open it for editing by doubleclicking on it. Type the title Reading and Vocabulary Test Statistics. 6. When you are finished typing, click somewhere else on the page. 7. Now add a second title, above the first one. The title should give your names, the course number and assignment name, and today s date. Use three lines, so this looks organized. 8. Sometimes your title will end up in the wrong part of your output. To fix this, move your mouse over to the Outline window on the left. Then drag the title to where you want it to be. You CANNOT drag stuff around in the main window: You have to use the Outline window. Any time something feels like it is out of order, use the Outline window to move it to its proper place. 9. Save your output. 10. Keep this output file open, so that new output is added to the bottom of this file. Part II: In this part of the assignment, we ll work with an existing SPSS data file. Getting the data file from the Open Science Framework website 1. Using a web browser (e.g., Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari), go to the SPSS Assignments for Introductory Statistics project page on the Open Science Framework website at https://osf.io/5qy2p/ 2. In the Files section, look under Component: Questionnaire Data for the Questionnaire Data.sav data file. You may have to click the + symbol next to Component: Data or OSF Storage in order to see it. 3. Click on Questionnaire Data.sav. 4. In the upper right part of the page, click the Download button. 5. A Save As window will appear. Select the appropriate drive. Check that the file name is specified in the File name box. Then click Save. 6. The file will be downloaded. Once the download is complete, click on the file to open it. Opening a File If you have already downloaded the data file, and you just need to open it, here s what you do: 1. In SPSS, click on the File menu at the top left of the window 2. Click Open on the drop down menu 3. Click Data from the side menu 4. Select the appropriate drive from the Look in menu at the top of the screen 4
5. Select the appropriate folder from the list of folders in the middle of the screen 6. Once you are in the correct folder, double-click on the file name, to select and open it. Alternatively, single click on the file name to select it, and then click Open to open it Calculating Statistics 1. Calculate the mean, median, and mode for the following two questions: How many cats do you own? How many dogs do you own? The results of these analyses will appear the bottom of your output file, after your analyses for Part I. Make sure you are using the SAME output file for your entire assignment. 2. Add a title to this section, saying "Cats and Dogs", above the mean, median, and mode you just calculated. 3. Add a text box, using Insert, New Text, and write one sentence that gives the mean number of cats and dogs owned to two decimal places. Write this sentence so that it can be understood by someone who has never taken a statistics course. Do not try to teach them statistics; instead, use words they already know. For example, use the word average instead of mean. 4. This textbox should appear AFTER the mean, median, and mode you just calculated. Move the textbox if necessary. 5. Save your output file. Using Print Preview in SPSS When you have finished the assignment, you should use Print Preview to make sure it looks right. 1. If you want to submit everything in your output file (which you usually do), click on the word Output in the outline window on the left, so that all output is selected. 2. Click File, Print Preview. This shows you what it will look like when you print. 3. To close the Print Preview window and get back to the regular view, click Close. 4. If you see any errors, fix them now. For example, check that your titles are in the right location, and that you don t have any duplicate output. Then use Print Preview again to make sure it looks right. Export Your File to PDF SPSS is an expensive program that you may or may not have access to on other computers you use. To ensure you are able to read you assignments from any computer, you need to export your file to Adobe PDF. 1. In the left-hand window, click once on Output. This should highlight the entire outline. Click on File at the top and select Export. The Export Window will open. 2. In the Export Window, click on the Selected button 3. Change the Document type to Portable Document Format (*.pdf) 4. Click on the Browse button and select a drive to save your file to (such as your flash drive). 5. Name your file as Intro to SPSS Last Name Output.pdf (replace Last Name with your last name). Click Save. Then click OK to export the PDF. 6. Open your PDF, so you can check it is correct. WHAT YOU SHOULD HAND IN Hand in your output file (in pdf format), which shows the results from both parts of this assignment. 5
1 Assignment 1: Introduction to SPSS Grading Rubric No credit (-2) Partial credit (-1) Full credit (0) FILE NAMES (ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION) 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 students names, course number, assignment name, and the date. PART I The title at the top of the output section reads Reading and Vocabulary Test Statistics. Reading: mean = 12.40, median = 12.00, and mode = 12.00. Vocabulary: mean = 47.30, median = 47.00, and mode = 41.00. The means, medians, and modes for both Reading and Vocabulary have 2 decimal places. The student renamed the variables as specified: "Reading test scores" and "Vocabulary test scores." PART II The title at the top of the output section reads Cats and Dogs. File name is not "Intro to SPSS Last Name Output.pdf" All information is missing. All values are missing. All values are missing. All values are missing. Title is missing. All values are incorrect. All values are incorrect. No values have 2 decimal places. Both variable names are incorrect. Title is missing. a. Content is not all correct. b. Content is not all present. c. Content is not at the beginning of the document. a. Title is incorrect. b. Title is not at the beginning of the section. One or two values are correct. One or two values are correct. Some values have 2 decimal places. One of the variable names is correct. a. Title is incorrect. b. Title is not at the beginning of the section. File name is "Intro to SPSS Last Name Output.pdf." (Last Name is replaced with student s last name). Name, course number, assignment name, and date are at the top of the document. The title "Reading and Vocabulary Test Statistics" is at the beginning of the section. All three values are correct. All three values are correct. All values have 2 decimal places. Both variable names are correct. The title "Cats and Dogs" is at the beginning of the section. Points lost
2 Assignment 1: Introduction to SPSS Grading Rubric Cats: mean=1.32, median=1.00, and mode=1. Note: The mode does NOT need to show 2 decimal places. Dogs: mean=1.33, median=1.00, and mode=1. Note: The mode does NOT need to show 2 decimal places. The student has written a sentence describing the mean number of cats and dogs owned without using statistical vocabulary. All values are missing. All values are missing. Sentence is missing. All values are incorrect. All values are incorrect. Sentence is incorrect or inconsistent with output. One or two values are correct. One or two values are correct. a. Sentence is incorrect, but consistent with output. b. Sentence is unclear. c. Sentence uses statistical language. All three values are correct. All three values are correct. Sentence is written in a clear, unambiguous way that could be understood by someone with no knowledge of statistics (e.g., uses the word average.. 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 = 24 Total points lost = Total score = / 24