Soc 351 Lab Exercise
Name: ____________
Part 1. Intro to SPSS – Getting Started
1. Open SPSS 11.5 from Start menu
2. Open data file by doing the following:
Desktop –public files (folder) ---GSS --- GSS966ab
3. Get yourself familiar with variables information about Variable names, variable label, value label
By going to Utilities – Variables
Carefully go through the variable list (the box on the left side of screen ) and variable information
(the box on the right side of screen).
4. Then find out three variables that measure a person’s characteristics (age, gender, race, party
affiliation, religion, education) and write down relevant information below (name of the variable,
value label, and level of measurement). You can do this by going through the variable list.
Variables about One’s Characteristics
4a1. Name of Variable 1 ______________
4a2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
4a3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
4b1. Name of Variable 2 ______________
4b2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
4b3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
4c1. Name of Variable 3 ______________
4c2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
4c3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
5.
Find out at least 3 variables that measure one’s attitude and fill out relevant information as you did in
Question #4.
Variables about One’s Attitudes or Beliefs
5a1. Name of Variable 1 ______________
5a2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
5a3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
5b1. Name of Variable 2 ______________
5b2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
5b3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
5c1. Name of Variable 3 ______________
5c2. What do 1 and 2 mean in this variable? 1. _____________
2. _______________
5c3. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
Lab Notes 1
1. What is a variable? - a measured concept.
2. Basic terms about variables::
a. Variable Name: name of a variable – a short description -no more
than 8 letters
b. Variable label: a detailed description of the variable
c. Value label: a description of response categories for a variable
Example: What is your religious preference?
1. Protestants 2. Catholics
3. Jewish
4. Others
5. None
Since it is too long to record such a sentence – people use
Relig as variable name
Rs’ Religious Preference --- as value label
For the above question, the value labels are as follows:
1. Protestants 2. Catholics
3. Jewish
4. Others
5. None
Introduction to Spss -- Basic Steps:
1. Get the data set into Data editor
2. Select a procedure
3. Select the variables for analysis
4. Examine the results
Windows
1. Data editor window – display data
2. Viewer window – view the results of data analysis
Tool Bars
Each window has its own toolbar.
Utilities
Find variable information
How to Change From Variable Label to Variable Name?
Variable Labels are long and may not be necessary when you search a Variable Name.
How to change the Display of Variable?
a) Go to Edit -- Option - Click display Variable Names
b) Then click Ok and click Ok again.
c) Then go to Analyze  Statistics  select variables
Now you will notice the differences b/w Variable Labels Variable Names.