SPSSExercise2FrequencyDistributions

Due:

Frequencydistributionsareunivariatetechniquesusedtosummarizedata.Afrequencydistributiondisplaysthefrequencywithwhichtheattributesofavariableareobservedinasample.Objectives:Therearefourobjectivestothisassignment,thefirsttwoinvolveusingSPSSandthesecondtwoareaboutwhatyoudowithoutputfromSPSS

1. LearntomakefrequencydistributionsusingSPSS2. LearnhowtoreadtheoutputfromSPSS3. Learntodrawfrequencydistributiontables4. Learntoanalyzefrequencydistributions

SPSSProcedure:

1. Openthedataset2. FromthetoolbarselectAnalyze>DescriptiveStatistics>Frequencies.See

Figure2.1.Thiswillcauseawindowtoopenup.SeeFigure2.2.3. Inthe“Frequencies”window,showninFigure2.2,selectthevariable(s)for

thefrequencydistributionfromtheleftsideofthewindowtotherightsideofthewindow.Thiscanbedonebyhighlightingthevariableandclickingthearrow,doubleclickingthevariable,ordraggingitfromonesidetotheother.Forthepurposeofthisdemonstrationwewillbeusingthevariablewrkstat(LaborForceStatus).

4. Oncethevariable(s)youareworkingwithareontherightsideofthewindowclickthe“OK”buttononthelowerrighthandside.Thiswillcauseawindowsimilar,butnotnecessarilyidentical,totheoneinFigure2.3topopup.

ReadingtheOutput:

1. Thesmallboxonthetopoftheoutputcontains:a. “N”(thenumberofrespondentswhorespondedtothesurveyweare

workingwith.Itshouldalwaystotal2,812)b. Valid(thenumberofrespondentsthatansweredthequestion.Inthis

instance2,811)c. Missing(thenumberofrespondentswhoforsomereasondidnot

answerthequestion).d. Forthepurposesofthisassignmentwearenotconcernedwiththis

smallbox.2. Thelargerbox:

a. Thefarleftcolumnlisttheattributesofthevariablethatareconsidered“Valid”and“Missing.”Thereisalsoalabel“Total”whichshowsthetotalnumberofValidandMissingresponsesinthethirdcolumn.

b. Thesecondcolumnfromtheleftpresentstheattributesofthevariableweareworkingwith.

c. Thethirdcolumndisplaysthe“Frequency,”thenumberofrespondentsthatselectedaparticularattribute.

d. Thefourthcolumnpresentsthe“Percent,”thefrequencyofrespondentsthatselectedaparticularattributedividedbythetotalnumberofrespondentsinthesurvey(e.g.1466/2812=0.52133or52.1%).Noticethatifyouaddedallthepercentsubtotalsitwouldequal/total100asisdisplayedatthebottomofthefourthcolumn.

e. Thefifthcolumnisthe“ValidPercent,”thefrequencyofrespondentsthatselectedaparticularattributedividebythetotalnumberofrespondentsthatansweredthequestion(seeValidinstep1b)(e.g.1466/2811=0.521520452.1%)Whenreportingpercent,thisisthevaluemostlikelytobeused.

f. Thesixthcolumnisthe“CumulativePercent,”thisiscumulativefrequencydividedbythetotalnumberofrespondentsinasurvey.Thisisslightlymorecomplicatedandwillbecoveredinmoredetailduringlecture.

DisplayingData:

1. OutputfromSPSSfrequencydistributionsshouldbepresentedinatablethatdisplays

a. Atablenumberb. Atitleforthetablec. Thevalidattributesbeingdisplayedd. Thevalidpercente. The“n”orthenumberofrespondentsinthesample(itwillalwaysbe

2,812withthisdataset)f. Thesourceofthedate(itwillalwaysbe2004GeneralSocialSurvey)

2. SeeTable2.1foramodelofhowatableforthevariablewrkstatmightlook.AnalyzingAFrequencyDistribution:

1. Whenanalyzingdata:a. Referencethetablebynumberandtitle.Notethatwhendiscussa

specifictablethe“t”intableshouldbecapitalized.b. Asaruleofthumb,citeatleastthreedatapoints.Note,thatwhen

analyzingafrequencydistributionitismostimportanttodiscuss(valid)percentandnotthefrequency.

c. Provideonesentencetosummarizethefindings.2. Sample:

a. Table1presentsaFrequencyDistributionforRespondents’LaborForceStatus(workstat).UsingthesedataIfindthattheover63percent(1,786)of respondents are employed either part-time or fulltime whileapproximately3.5percent (99) areunemployed. It isworthnoting thatover 14 percent of respondents were unemployed and 9.5 percentrespondentsindicatedthattheykepthouse.Overall,thetableshowsthatmostrespondentsareemployed.

Assignment:1. ProducefrequencydistributionsforSPSSforthevariables“marital”and

“race”2. Maketablesusingtheoutputfromthevariables“marital”and“race”3. Writeareportwhere:

a. Frequencydistributionisdefined.b. Analyzethetablesproduced.c. Discussanyproblemsencounteredandhowtheywereovercome.d. Includetheoutputandtablesproduced

Figure2.1.

Figure2.2

Figure2.3

Table2.1.RespondentsLaborForceStatus(wrkstat) Frequency PercentWorkingFulltime 1466 52.2WorkingPart-time 320 11.4TemporarilyNotWorking 80 2.8Unemployed/LaidOff 99 3.5Retired 403 14.3InSchool 115 4.1KeepingHouse 266 9.5Other 62 2.2Total 2811 100n=2,812Source:2004GeneralSocialSurvey