Creating APA Style Frequency Tables in SPSS

The most basic table in statistics is probably a simple frequency distribution. Sadly, basic frequency tables from SPSS are monstrous. On top of that, they don’t meet APA recommendations. So how to create better frequency tables -preferably fast? This tutorial shows a cool trick for doing just that! We’ll use bank_clean.sav throughout, part of which is shown below. Why […]

Comparing Metric Variables

Summary This tutorial shows how to create proper tables and means charts for multiple metric variables. If statistical assumptions are satisfied, these may be followed up by a repeated measures ANOVA. We’ll use income 2010 through income_2014 from freelancers.sav throughout this tutorial. SPSS FREQUENCIES for Inspecting Histograms We’ll first inspect the data in income_2010 through income_2014 by running basic histograms. This […]

Comparing Dichotomous or Categorical Variables

Summary This tutorial shows how to create nice tables and charts for comparing multiple dichotomous or categorical variables. We recommend following along by downloading and opening freelancers.sav. The question we’ll answer is in which sectors our respondents have been working and to what extent this has been changing over the years 2010 through 2014. Variables sector_2010 through sector_2014 contain the necessary information. SPSS Frequency […]

Comparing Dichotomous Variables

This tutorial shows how to create nice tables and charts for comparing multiple dichotomous variables. If statistical assumptions are satisfied, these may be followed up by a McNemar test (2 variables) or a Cochran Q test (3+ variables). We’ll use the freelancers.sav data throughout. SPSS DESCRIPTIVES Table The simplest way to compare multiple dichotomous variables is simply running DESCRIPTIVES: as long as […]

Analyzing Categorical Variables Separately

When analyzing your data, you sometimes just want to gain some insight into variables separately. The first step in doing so is creating appropriate tables and charts. This tutorial shows how to do so for dichotomous or categorical variables. We recommend you follow along by downloading and opening smartphone_users.sav. SPSS Frequency Tables We’d like to know which smartphone brands were […]

Descriptive Statistics – One Categorical Variable

Introduction When reporting on data, we usually summarize our variables. The most basic way for doing so is presenting their frequency distributions. Visualizing these as histograms tends to give immediate insight into what a variable ‘looks like’, especially when many distinct values are present. However, frequency distributions often provide more detail than we actually need. […]

Descriptive Statistics – One Metric Variable

Introduction A previous tutorial introduced some summary statistics appropriate for both categorical as well as metric variables. Now it’s time to turn to some measures that apply to metric variables exclusively. The most important ones are the mean (or average), variance and standard deviation. Mean Most of us are probably familiar with the mean (or average) but […]

Association between Metric Variables

Summary This tutorial will investigate the association between metric variables with nice tables and charts. As an example, we’ll use income_2010 and income_2011 from freelancers.sav. Quick Data Check Before jumping into analyses, let’s first just inspect whether both variables have plausible values. A fast way for doing so is generating a histogram by running FREQUENCIES. The syntax below does just that. […]

Association between Metric and Categorical Variable

Summary This tutorial shows how to run nice tables and graphs for investigating the association between a metric and a categorical variable. If statistical assumptions are met, these may be followed up by an ANOVA. As an example, we’ll use freelancers.sav and see whether (and how) sector_2010 is related to income_2010. Data Inspection and FILTER We’ll first inspect FREQUENCIES for sector_2010 by running the syntax below […]

Association between Metric and Dichotomous Variable

Summary This tutorial shows how to create nice tables and charts for studying the association between a dichotomous and a metric variable. If statistical assumptions are met, these may be followed up by an independent samples t test. As an example, we’ll investigate whether there’s an association between income_2010 and gender in freelancers.sav: is the average income over 2010 equal for […]

Association between Categorical Variables

This tutorial walks through running nice tables and charts for investigating the association between categorical or dichotomous variables. If statistical assumptions are met, these may be followed up by a chi-square test. As an example, we’ll see whether sector_2010 and sector_2011 in freelancers.sav are associated in any way. SPSS Quick Data Check Before doing anything else, let’s first just take a quick […]