Seminar-Workshop on the

Use of SPSS in
Research
 ObjectiveS

At the end of the seminar-workshop you are

expected to:
Familiarize the use of SPSS
Input/import data
Edit/create variables
split file/select cases
transform variable
Compute variable
analyze data using descriptive statistics
FIG. 2

At start up a pop-
up dialogue box
appears asking
"What would you
like to do?" Select
Open an existing
data source, then
click OK
SPSS Interface
SPSS Toolbars
SPSS Toolbars
SPSS Toolbars
VARIABLE VIEW
DATA VIEW

Variables are entered, one

variable in each column

Rows show the number of

cases/respondents
OUTPUT WINDOW
Entering Numeric/String Data
Gender English Math PS LS

2 85 90 90 4

2 83 85 100 4

1 90 85 125 2

1 91 89 125 2

1 86 87 89 3

2 81 90 85 2

1 84 88 101 4

1 85 87 101 3

1 88 90 101 4

2 87 86 101 4
 Steps in Entering Data

Open SPSS, click on File-New-Data

A blank data screen looking like a

spreadsheet (Data Editor Window)
appears.

At the bottom are two tabs called “Data

View” and “Variable View”. Click on
“Variable View”
 First Variable – Gender(Numeric Variable)

Enter gender in the “Name” column. Type, Width and

Decimal columns are filled automatically. The Width
can be reset to 2 and the Decimals can be reset to 0.

Click the Type cell next to your entry. Click the button
on the right side of the Type cell to open the Variable
Type dialog box. Select numeric to specify the variable
type. Click OK to save your selection and return to the
Data Editor.

Enter additional description of the variable gender

(like “gender of the respondents”) under “Label”
column. Value column can be left blank.
 Second Variable – English

Enter age in the “Name” column. Type, Width and

Decimal columns are filled automatically. New
variables are automatically given a numeric data type.
The width and decimals can be reset if required.

Enter “Grade in English of the respondents under “Label”

column

Same steps for Grades in Math and PUPCET Scores

Fifth Variable – Level of Satisfaction

Very Satisfied……..4
Satisfied……………..3
Dissatisfied…………2
Very Dissatisfied..1
 STEPS TO SAVE YOUR DATA FILE

• When you name and save files created in the

Data Editor to a hard drive or disk, SPSS by
default adds the three letters, .SAV, (called the
file extension) to these file names.

• To save a given dataset, click on the File menu

and choose Save. You can choose the location
of where you want to save the dataset.

• Output files in SPSS are saved with an

extension .spv so that you and SPSS can
recognize the file as an output file.
 STEPS IN IMPORTING DATA INTO SPSS

• Open SPSS
• Click “File”, “Open” then “Data”
• Find the directory of files you want to
import. Select what type of file, then
click open.
• Save your data
 STEPS IN TRANSFORMING VARIABLES

• Click Transform – Recode in to different variable. The

Recode into different variable dialog box opens
• Choose the input variable as gender
• Type gender1 as the output variable name and Click
change button below.
• Now click the “old and new values…” button
• The Recode into different variable – old and new
values dialog box opens
• type Female and type 1 as the new value and click
Add, Male and type 2
 STEPS IN SELECTING CASES

• Click Data menu – Select Cases (The select cases

dialog box opens)
• Choose the option “if condition is satisfied” and click
if…
• Select the variable that you will use as filter variable.
For example gender=1, this means that you are
selecting female respondents. Unselected cases are
indicated by a cross line on the cases numbers. They
are not removed from the data file.
• Click Continue – OK

***To get back all cases, click Data menu – select

cases – All cases – OK
 STEPS IN COMPUTING NEW
VARIABLES

• To compute a new variable, click Transform –

Compute variable. (The compute variable dialog box
opens)
• Name the target variable as Ave
• Click on the function group Statistics
• Double click the function Mean
• Supply the variable as the parameter for the mean
function
• Click OK
***A new variable Ave is computed and available in
the data file.
Descriptive statistics

Click
Analyze,
then
descriptive
statistics….
frequencies
THANK YOU!