SPSS Data Entry

Samdahl

SPSS DATA ENTRY

The following instructions will guide you through the basics of SPSS, from entering data, to
moving around within the SPSS program, to running analyses on your data. These instructions
work with SPSS 11 which is the software version on computers in the Ramsey Computer lab
(spring 2003). If you are at a computer that uses a different version of SPSS the instructions
might vary.

PART I: Data Entry

Working With SPSS

People have responded to your questionnaire. You are now faced with the task of getting the data
from the questionnaire into a computer program for analysis. We will be using a program called
SPSS that is a common statistical program for data analysis.

SPSS is loaded only on the front eight computers (the first two rows) in the Ramsey computer
lab.

On a computer in the computer lab, go to the bottom left corner and click on Start. Move the
cursor over the list that appears and pause at Programs; move the cursor into the new box and
select SPSS for Windows. Again, move the cursor into the new box and select SPSS 11 for
Windows. This will start SPSS and you will get a screen that looks similar to Picture 1.

Picture 1: Opening menu

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If the list on that screen (Picture 1) contains H:\dsamdahl\outbox\Questionnaire_Template.sav
go ahead and click on that filename and the file will open. If that name doesn’t appear on the list,
you’ll have to find this file. Click on the phrase “More Files” and you’ll get a screen like the
shown in Picture 2. Go to “Look in” and select the disk drive Students on Coe-labs\Shared
(H:) as illustrated in Picture 3.

Picture 2:
Searching for the file Picture 3: Finding correct disk drive

When you click “Students on COE_labs” you will see a list of folders. Find and double click on
the folder called dsamdahl. Inside that folder double click on Outbox then open the file called
Questionnaire Template. When the file opens, you’ll get a screen that looks like this:

Picture 4: The empty file called “Questionnaire Template”

This is an SPSS data file that has been prepared for this assignment. Each column has been
labeled for a variable; the short word at the top of each column is called a variable name (a
nickname for that variable). If you move the cursor over a variable name at the top of any column
a small box will appear with a longer description of that variable. SPSS has a rule that these short
variable names cannot exceed 8 characters.

Note: If your screen changes and you are no longer looking at this grid for data entry, you can
return here using View / Data from the top menu bar or the tab marked Data View at the bottom
left on your screen.

This data file is empty. You will enter data from your own questionnaires and save that new file
with a new name (see instructions below).

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Understanding the Data File
Entering data refers to transferring the information from your questionnaires into this data file.
Each row represents a case (a person in your study) and each column represents one variable from
your questionnaire. The data from one questionnaire will fill up one row in the data file. Because
you have ten questionnaires, your completed data file will have ten rows of numbers.

You’ll notice right away that there are a lot more variables (columns) than you originally thought
there would be. In checklist questions such as the first question on this questionnaire, each item
represents a yes/no answer. Thus, a list of three items in a checklist translates into three variables
in your SPSS file. The variables have been labeled like this:

The variables have been labeled like this:

RA: This refers to you. Enter the last 4 digits of your student ID. You must enter this
for each of the 10 rows of data that you enter.

ID: Each of your questionnaires should be numbered 1 through 10. As you enter data
from a questionnaire, enter that number here.

Var1 to Var 15: These are the 15 variables with the Likert scale responses. They are
simply numbered in the order they appear on the questionnaire. The first question
is Var1, the second is Var2, etc.

Absorp, Perform, Stim, Social:

These refer to the four questions in the middle of the questionnaire that ask “how
typical is this for you”?

Gender, Age, Partner:

Entering Data

Click on the first cell in the first row. This column says “student.” Type the last four digits of
your student ID. You will type this same number in the first column for all ten rows of data. In
the next column, enter the number for this questionnaire. Your questionnaires should be
numbered 1 through 10.

Beware: If you mistakenly type something into a cell that already had good data in it, your new
entry will replace the original data. Be extremely careful and always know which cell you are
working with in a data file.

When you press ENTER, SPSS moves the cursor down instead of to the right. To move the
cursor to the box on the right, use the TAB key or the right arrow key. You might find it easiest
to turn on the NumLock key and use the numbers in the keypad to enter data.

Enter all data from one questionnaire before you begin the next line. When you have completed
the data for one questionnaire, use the mouse to click on the next row number (on the left) to
jump back to the beginning of your data file. Your data file will begin to look like the one in
Picture 4.

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Picture 4: Data file with some data entered

Another way to view your data: SPSS lets you switch how the data look on the screen in front
of you. You are entering numbers because that’s easiest to type, but you can switch views and see
the coded words that these numbers represent. To see the labels, click on the icon that looks like
a sales tag (label) towards the right in the command line at the top of the screen. To switch back
to viewing numbers, click on that icon again. This works because the instructor programmed all
that coding into the file information when she created this SPSS file.

Missing data: If someone left an answer blank on the questionnaire, simply leave that cell blank in
the data file. Blank cells are interpreted as missing data and SPSS will not use that person when
computing averages and other statistics for that variable. OR you can type a 0 (zero) or 9 in any
cell where there is missing data (except the two open ended questions).

Cleaning the Data

There are different ways to verify the accuracy of the data you just entered. One way is to skim
over the data file to see if the numbers “make sense.” You might be able to see some obvious
errors this way. Another way to check your data is to run Frequencies on all variables. The
output from Frequencies will show you the data (summarized) for each variable on your
questionnaire. If odd responses show up it suggests that the data might have been entered wrong.
Some errors in your data won’t show up until you get further into analysis (and of course, other
errors won’t show up at all).

The online handout “Statistical Analysis with SPSS” discusses Frequencies on page 2 and shows
an example of the output from Frequencies on page 4. Before you do any analysis be sure to
save your data file so it doesn’t disappear if the computer crashes. See instructions on the next
page for how to save your file.

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Saving your Data File

After you enter all questionnaires, save your file in Samdahl’s Inbox using the procedures
described below. To be safe, save a copy of your data onto your own diskette as well.

NOTE: You cannot save this file to Samdahl’s Outbox (where you found Questionnaire
Template); you must save it to Samdahl’s Inbox.

NOTE: You must give the file a new name. If you save it without giving it a new name your
data will disappear and you will have to re-enter data from all your questionnaires.

With the data screen open in front of you (like in Picture 4), click on File in the menu bar at the
top of the screen then select Save As. You will have to find the folder like you did when you first
opened this file (see page 2). Click the top box “Save in” and find the drive labeled
“Students_on_COE_labs.” When that opens find and open the folder for “dsamdahl.” You must
save your file in the folder called “inbox.”

Name your file using your last name and the last four digits of your student ID, as shown in the
example below (e.g. smith2345). You will not be able to see any other files that students have left
in the Inbox. Likewise, after you click Save you will not be able to see your own file. Be sure to
make a backup on your own diskette in case the file did not save correctly into the Inbox

Picture 5: Saving the file in Samdahl’s inbox

After you’ve saved your data file to Samdahl’s Inbox and to your own diskette, you can exit
SPSS.

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PART II: Understanding the SPSS Program

This section of the handout provides some background information that might make it less
confusing to move around within SPSS. You should read this while sitting in front of a computer
with SPSS so you can look at the program and practice these commands. There are no
assignments in this part of the handout but the assignments later will be easier for you if you
understand these basic features of SPSS.

Understanding the Desktop

SPSS works with several different files during a typical SPSS session. Each type of file is opened
in its own window. The screen will look different for each of these windows:

Data Window – This is the window you were in when you entered data. A data file looks
like a spreadsheet and it shows all of the data in your file. You can have only one data file
open at a time; if you issue a command to open another data file, the current data file will
automatically close.

Output Window(s) -- Whenever you ask SPSS to do something, its reply is pasted into
an output window. This window is divided into two frames with the left frame showing an
"outline" of commands you have issued (this helps you jump back to specific analyses you
ran earlier) and the right frame showing the results of each analysis.

Syntax Window(s) -- This window is often hidden since few people use it. People who
are expert at SPSS can write program commands in the syntax window instead of using
the point-and-click menus.

The screen and its associated toolbars look different in each of these three windows. Some
commands can only be accessed from the some windows and not others. As you work with SPSS
you will become familiar with these screens. When you are first starting to learn this program,
remember to move to a different window if a command or icon that you want is not visible in your
current window.

To move between windows: Your computer might show a box at the bottom of the screen that
lets you select and move between these different windows. If not, click on the command Window
in the top toolbar and then select the window you want to see.

Command Words Across Top of Data Window

The top menu line in each window contains standard command words. Select these commands by
pointing to and clicking on the word, or by typing the underlined letter concurrently with the ALT
key (eg. ALT-F to open Files). A submenu will open to give you access to some related SPSS
procedures.

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Picture 6: The toolbar and icons in the data window

Here are some of the procedures each command leads to in the Data Window:

File (ALT-F): open a file, save a file, print a file

Edit (ALT-E): select text, cut and paste, search and/or replace

View (ALT-V): change type font; turn toolbars on and off

Data (ALT-D): define a variable; go to a variable or specific case; split data set

Transform (Alt T): compute a new variable; recode existing variables

Analyze (ALT-A): run selected statistical analyses

Graphs (ALT-G): move to a specific graph (if any have been created)

Util (ALT-U): access information about variables

Window (ALT-W): change between data, output, and syntax windows

Help (ALT-H): access the help menus for SPSS, access the tutorial

Command Icons

The second line at the top contains program icons; these are shortcuts for some common
procedures you will use in SPSS. When you put the cursor over one of these icons, a brief
description of that icon appears to remind you what that button does. The icon button to Open,
Save, and Print appear in every SPSS window. The other icons will change.

If you are in the output window and use the icon for Open, SPSS will assume you want to open
another output file (not a data file). You can open a data file by using the command File / Open
from the toolbar, or move into the data window before using the icon Open.

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Dialog Boxes

As you explore SPSS you will bring up different menu boxes, referred to as Dialogue Boxes
because they allow you to "speak" to SPSS. For example, if you are in a data window and select
View / Fonts you get a dialog box that allows you to change the font in the database.

There are different ways to exit from a dialogue box:

Pressing OK or CONTINUE will execute any commands or changes that you

requested

Pressing CANCEL will take you out of this dialog box without making any
changes.

Moving around in SPSS

It is important to become comfortable moving between the SPSS windows, particularly between
the data window (where your data file is) and the output window (where the results of your
analyses are). SPSS views each window as a separate file. There will be a separate tab at the
bottom of your screen for the data file and the output file. To move between windows, click on
the proper tab on the bottom of your screen or use the Window command in the toolbar and
select the window you want to view.

When you exit SPSS you will have to close each window separately; there is no general command
to close all windows. SPSS prompts you to close each window.