Running Head: USING SPSS TO PERFORM HYPOTHESIS TESTS 1

Using SPSS to Perform Hypothesis Tests

Cameron Koontz

Longwood University
USING SPSS TO PERFORM HYPOTHESIS TESTS 2

Single Sample t-Test

Use a single sample t-test if:

- the goal is to see if the sample group is significantly different from the population
- either μ or σ is unknown
- the variable is normally distributed with n< 30

Performing a Single Sample t-Test

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. Enter a name for the Dependent Variable in the first cell.

2. Enter back into “Data View.”

a. Enter the data in the column with the DV.
3. Go to Analyze  Compare Means  One-Sample T Test

4. Select the variable, and click on the arrow to put it in the “Test Variable(s)” box.
a. In the area labeled “Test
Value,” type the μ given
to test the sample against.
b. Under “Options”, change
the “Confidence Interval”
to the correct value
depending on your alpha
level.
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5. Click OK to analyze the data.

a. A new window will pop up. It will include some descriptive statistics as well as
the results of running the t-test.
b. In the first column, your DV will be shown. The second column will show the tobt.
This, in addition to the degrees of freedom in the third column, can be used to
compare to the tcrit to see if the results fall within the rejection range.
Alternatively, the fourth column will also display the significance.

Independent t-Test

Use an independent t-test if:

- the goal is to find if an experimental group is significantly different than the control
group
- population information is unknown

Performing an Independent t-Test

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”
a. For the name of the first row, type “Group” or some other way to distinguish your
control from experimental.
b. Within this “Group” row, click
the cell under “Values,” then
click the button on the right
side of the cell.
i. This is where the
experimental and
control group will be
distinguished. In the
“Value” box, type a
number to be associated
with the control group (usually “1”). Under “Label,” call it the name of the
control group. Click “Add” to add it to the box below.
ii. Repeat this for the experimental group, using a different value number and
label, then press “OK.”
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c. In the second row in the “Name” column, type in a name to call the dependent
variable.

2. Go back into “Data View.” In the “Group” column, type

the number that corresponds with the label for both
groups, making one row for each data point. In the
column for the DV, put in all the data. Make sure that
the data is paired with the correct value label.
3. Go to Analyze  Compare Means  Independent-
Samples T Test.
a. Click in the DV label, and click the arrow to put
it in the “Test Variables” box.
b. Click on “Groups” and click on the bottom arrow to put it in the “Grouping
Variable” box.
i. The groups need to be defined, and this can be accomplished by clicking
“Define Groups.”
Put the value for the
first group in “Group
1” and the value for
the second group in
“Group 2”
c. Clicking “Options” will
allow you to change the
confidence interval.
d. Click OK to analyze the
data.
4. A new window will pop up,
displaying the results of the t-test. It is important to look at the “Equal variances
assumed” row.
a. The tobt is shown as well as the degrees of freedom, which gives the necessary
information for looking at a table to find the tcrit. Alternatively, the “Sig. (2
tailed)” will display the significance.
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Dependent t-Test

Use a dependent t-test if:

- each participant is in every group

- there are two groups to compare to each other

Performing a Dependent t-Test

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. In the first row for the “Name” column, type a label for the first group.
b. In the second row for the “Name” column, type a label for the second group.
2. Enter into “Data View” and enter the data into each row, making sure that the data for
each column is matched with the other.
3. To analyze the data, go to Analyze 
Compare Means  Paired-Samples T Test.
a. Click the first group name, and then
click the arrow to send it over to the
“Variable 1” cell.
b. Click the second group name, and
then click the arrow to send it over to
the “Variable 2” cell.
c. Click “Options” to change the
confidence interval.
d. Click OK to run the test.

4. In order to interpret the test, look at the “Paired Samples Test” box.
a. In the three rightmost columns is the t-score, degrees of freedom, and
significance.
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One-Way ANOVA

Use a one-way ANOVA if:

- there is one independent variable with three or more levels

- the experiment is a between groups design
- the goal is to assess equivalence or difference among sample means
- the hypothesis is not directional

Performing a one-way ANOVA

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. For the first row in the “Name” column, type “Participants.” This will allow for
individual labeling of the participants.
b. In the second row in the “Name” column, type a name for the independent
variable.
i. In this row, go to the
“Values” column, click
the cell, and then click
the button on the right
side of the cell.
ii. Choose a value and a
label for each level of
the IV and add them.
c. In the third column, type a
name for dependent variable.
2. Enter into “Data View.”
a. In the “Participants” column, either write the
participants’ names, or for the sake of
confidentiality, label them with a number.
b. In the column with the IV, use the value labels to
designate which data point in the DV column
belongs to which level of the IV.
c. In the column with the DV, enter all the data, being
sure to keep the right score with the correct level of
IV.
3. Go to Analyze  Compare Means  One-Way ANOVA.
a. Click on the dependent variable, and click on the
top arrow to send it to the “Dependent List.”
b. Click on the independent variable, and click on the
bottom arrow to send it to the “Factor” box.
c. Click “Options” to have the option to make descriptive statistics available.
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d. Click “Post Hoc” to change

the confidence level, or to
select any post hoc tests to
perform.
e. Click OK to perform the test.
4. The only row of interest is the
“Between Groups” row. The Fobt and
significance as well as the degrees of
freedom are shown. It is important to
note that the one-way ANOVA can
only assess whether or not there are
significant differences between the means, and cannot show where the differences are.

Repeated Measures ANOVA

Use a repeated measures ANOVA if:

- there is one independent variable with three or more levels

- each subject is in each group
- the experiment is a repeated measures design

Performing a Repeated Measures ANOVA

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. In the “Name” column, type the
name of each level of the
independent variable, using a new
row for each new level.
2. Enter into “Data View.”
a. Enter all the data into the cells,
being sure to keep each data point
consistent across the row, so as to
keep its pairs.
3. Go to Analyze  General Linear Model 
Repeated Measures.
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a. In the “Within-Subject Factor Name” type the name of the IV. In the “Number of
Levels” box, type the number of levels of the IV, then click “Add.” Click
“Define” to define the levels.
b. Click each of the
groups, then click the
arrow to send them to
the “Within-Subjects
Variables” box.
c. Click “Options” to
change the confidence
interval.
d. Click OK to perform
the test.
4. To view the results of the
test, look at the “Tests of
Within-Subject Effects” box.
a. Look at the first row
to see the results. This
will show the Fobt value as well as the degrees of freedom. Also, the degrees of
freedom of the Error is necessary to look in an F table to find the critical level.
Alternatively, look at the rightmost box to see the significance of the results.
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Two-Way ANOVA

Use a two-way ANOVA if:

- there are two factors, and there are two or more groups for each factor
- the experiment is a between groups design

Performing a Two-Way ANOVA

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. In the “Name” column, type the name of each
factor into a different row.
i. In each row, go to the “Values” column
and click the button to the right. Add a
value label for each group within the
factor.
b. Add a final row for the dependent variable. In
the “Name” column, type a name for the DV.
2. Enter into “Data View.”
a. All the data must be specified to each group that
it belongs to. For each piece of data that is
entered into the DV column, type the number
corresponding to the value label of the group it
belongs to in the factor columns.
3. Go to Analyze  General Linear Model  Univariate.
a. Click on the DV, and click on the top arrow to
send it to the “Dependent Variable” box.
b. Click on the factors and click on the second arrow to send them to the “Fixed
Factor(s)” box.
c. Click on “Options” in order to
change the significance level as
well as to add the descriptive
statistics to the results.
d. Click OK to perform the test.
4. The “Tests of Between-Subjects
Effects” is of interest. The third row
includes the FA, as well as the
significance and degrees of freedom. In
the fourth row is the FB information.
The fifth row shows the FAB
information.
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Pearson r

Use a Pearson r if:

- data is interval or ratio

- not seeking cause and effect statements

Performing a Pearson r

1. When in SPSS, enter into “Variable View.”

a. In the “Name” column, make one row for each variable.
i. Make sure the first row is the predictor variable, and the second row is the
criterion variable.
2. Enter into “Data View”
a. Type the data for each corresponding category.
3. Go to Analyze  Correlate
 Bivariate
a. Click each of the
groups and click the
arrow to send them to
the “Variables” box.
b. Make sure the
“Pearson” check box
is checked.
c. Click OK to perform
the test.
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4. Look at the first row, which should be the predictor variable. In the rightmost box will be
the correlation and the significance of this correlation.