Directions for Frequency Tables, Histograms, and Frequency Bar Charts
Frequency Distribution – Quantitative Ungrouped Data
Dataset: Frequency_Distributions_Graphs-Quantitative.sav
1. Open the dataset containing the male student weight data.
Go to Analyze / Descriptive Statistics / Frequencies
2. Highlight the variable you want to analyze in the box at the left and use the Right-pointing arrow
to move the variable name into the Variable(s) box. Keep the Display frequency tables box at
the lower left checked.
3. Click on the Format... button on the left, and choose Ascending values.
4. Click on Continue to return to the previous page and then click OK to see your results. The
results will open in a new Output window. You’ll see the count (frequency) of each ungrouped
weight, its relative percent and its cumulative percent (low to high).
If you want to keep these results, save the Output Window using the normal Save As… file
location and file naming conventions.
Check that the valid
sample size is what you
expect.
5. You can also choose the Statistics… button on the main Frequencies page. This lets you compute
a number of basic descriptive statistics. There are two other Analyze menu commands
discussed later (Descriptives… and Explore…) which also compute basic descriptive statistics.
Frequency Distribution – Qualitative Ungrouped Data
Dataset: Frequency_Distributions_Graphs-Qualitative.sav
1. Open the dataset containing the yes/no responses about instant messaging.
Go to Analyze / Descriptive Statistics / Frequencies
2. Highlight the variable you want to analyze in the box at the left and use the Right-pointing arrow
to move the variable name into the Variable(s) box. Keep the Display frequency tables box
checked.
3. Click on the Format… button on the left, and choose Ascending values (for alphabetical order).
Click on Continue to return to the main Frequencies page, and then click OK. Your results will
appear in your Output Window. You’ll see the number of subjects who responded in each
possible way (no/yes), the relative percent of these responses and the cumulative percent.
Frequency Distribution (in a table) – Quantitative Grouped Data
Unfortunately, there is no automatic way to generate this type of summary table using SPSS. You would
need to first determine the size and range of the class intervals you want to use (Witte 2.2 Guidelines,
pg. 31) and then recode your ungrouped (raw) data into these categories. Finally, you would use the
Frequencies command to count the number of cases falling into each of your newly created class
intervals.
With SPSS, the easiest approach to displaying the frequency of responses within chosen class intervals is
use the Histogram graph command to display the frequency distribution. You can use the Data labels
option within the Chart editor to see the count of cases for each class interval.
Frequency Distribution – Quantitative Grouped Data – Histogram
1. Open the data file containing the weight data.
Choose Charts… from the Analyze / Frequencies command, select the Histograms button and
click OK.
Alternatively, you can choose Graphs / Legacy Dialogs / Histograms to create the histogram
without using the Frequencies command.
2. A basic histogram graph will appear in the Output window. Initially SPSS selects the size and the
number of the class intervals. For many purposes, these choices are just fine.
3.
However, if you want to control the class interval size yourself, double click on top of the
Histogram in order to bring it into the Chart Editor. Notice the Chart Editor is a new window.
4. Inside the Chart Editor, place your mouse on top of one of the histogram bars and double-click.
This will bring up the relevant Properties window. Click on the Custom radio button, and then
enter the size of the class interval you want to use. Check the Custom value for anchor box, and
enter the desired starting value for the lowest class interval. Alternatively, you can control the
number of intervals (rather than their width).
5. The Chart editor takes some getting used to. Play around with it when you have time.
Remember to close the Chart Editor to save all your changes back into your Output Window. To
close the editor, click the red  in the upper right of the window.
Here is an example of the weight histogram with custom “Binning” (class intervals of width 10
lbs), a custom title, the counts of each bar displayed as “Data Labels,” and a superimposed
normal curve.
Frequency Distribution – Qualitative Grouped Data – Bar Chart
1. Open the data file containing the instant messaging data.
Choose Charts… from the Analyze / Frequencies command, select
the Bar charts button. Decide if you want to see the frequencies
(counts) or if you prefer to see the responses summarized as
percents. Use the Chart Values to make your choice, and click OK.
Alternatively, you can choose
Graphs / Legacy Dialogs / Bar
to create the histogram
without using the
Frequencies command.
In this case, choose a Simple
Bar Chart for Summaries for
groups of cases and click on
the Define button.
In the Define window, highlight the name of the variable
you are studying and use the Right-pointing arrow to
move the variable into the Category Axis box. Then, use
the radio buttons in the Bars Represent panel at the top
to choose which summary statistic you want displayed.
N of cases shows the basic frequencies and % of cases
converts these counts to percents. Use the Titles button
to add a title.
2. Press OK. Your graph will open in the Output window.
3. Sometimes, the SPSS defaults for the Y
axis for Bar Charts distort the graph
and make small differences look too
important. You can adjust the Y axis
scale by bringing the graph into the
Chart Editor (double click on top of the
graph in the Output Window). Inside
the Chart Editor, click on the Y tool
icon. This opens a Properties window
that will let you adjust the axis
minimum, maximum, increment and
other scale features.
4. Here is the frequency Bar chart with the Y axis adjusted to a max of 80, increments of 10, both
the relative percents and the counts displayed in the bars, and the title adjusted to take fewer
lines.