Math 210
Assignment # 1
Name_______________________________
This lab is designed to acquaint the student with data entry in SPSS by having each student find the
mean and standard deviation of the “Score” data and the correlation coefficient of the “Temp KWH”
data which will be provided by the lab instructor. Each student will receive a different data set
depending on your ID number.
PART 1: The “Score” data represents the test scores for a random sample of around 35 students. They
are listed across the page in two rows but consist of a single sample, so they must be entered in a single
column.
You enter SPSS by placing the arrow on the SPSS icon on the screen and double clicking on the left
mouse button. Alternatively, you may have to search for the SPSS program through “Start”. A small
spreadsheet should appear. You can work within this spreadsheet or left click on the square in the upper
right corner to make it full screen. Double click on the “var” above the first column of the spreadsheet,
or click on “Variable View” at the bottom left. Type in the name “Score”. To return to the spreadsheet
view click on “Data View” at the bottom left. Enter the data in the first column, with entered numbers
separated by “Enter”.
Once the data is entered, left click on the “Analyze” icon on the top row. From the resulting submenu,
select “Descriptive Statistics”. From this sub-submenu select “Frequencies”. A dialog box will appear.
Left click on the right arrow to move “Score” to the Variables list. Click on “Statistics”, and then
“Mean” and “Std. Deviation”, and then “Continue”. Finally click on “OK”. An Output screen will
appear on the screen. You can enlarge or shrink this output screen, and also scroll around in it. It
should contain the mean and standard deviation of the Score data. Enter them at the bottom of the page.
You can close the output by clicking on the x in the top right corner. You don’t need to save the output.
Saving the data, however, is a good idea. In the Data View, left click on the “File” icon at the top of the
Data Editor screen. Left click on “Save as” and work through the menu items to save the file, preferably
on drive A: or your personal drive. In SPSS “*.sav” is the default extension for a data file, for example
“Jerry1.sav”. This will save you having to retype the data for future labs. To retrieve the data you click
on “File” and select the “Open” item on the resulting submenu.
Part 2: The “Temp KWH” data represent outside temperature and electricity consumption to heat a
building for a random sample of 20 days. The temperatures are in the first row and the KWH usage in
the second row. All the temperatures must be entered in one column (call it temp) and all the KWH
numbers must go in a second column (call it kwh). Recall that you have to enter “Variable View” to
enter variable names. You cannot easily enter both sets of data in one spreadsheet – you should use a
separate spreadsheet for each of the data sets. You should have 20 values for each variable.
Once the data are entered you find the correlation coefficient as follows: Click on “Analyze”,
“Correlate”, then “Bivariate”. Highlight each variable and click on the arrow to enter it in the
“Variables” box. Clicking on “OK” will provide the output. The correlation coefficient will be the top
right number in the Correlations table. Enter it below. You will probably want to save this data as well.
We will be using it in a later assignment.
Mean __________
Standard Deviation __________
Correlation Coefficient __________
If you verified your answers on the computer and your answers were correct, you were
given a verification code. Enter the verification code in the box at right. The
verification file is at http://personal.evangel.edu/twiggerd/web/Math210/ and right
click on the Math210.exe file name. Save to your desktop for future use.