Part 3  Importing the data into SPSS

The hard part is over and now we can move on to SPSS!

Action: Download file five, put it in the tutorial folder, THEN CLOSE THE FILE.

Action: Start up SPSS and open the file (file five).

Once again if you cannot located the file you may need to change the type of file to Excel .

We will now complete the rest of the exercise in this SPSS document. Be sure to save the file before beginning (This is a good habit to get into - computers crash when you least expect it (well mine always do) and you don't want all you hard work to be wasted.

First a look at our clean data file!

Our variables look good. No super long or useless names. Although the variables are in place we still need to put in our labels and values. There is no way (as far as I know) to export values from SurveyMonkey so we have no choice but to do this by hand.

3.2 Labels

I will be using the following terms throughout this lesson.

Here is an example using the first question from the survey:

Action: Open Survey

From the survey	In SPSS

Now lets put the above example in SPSS

The value name is already in place. The label can be typed in by hand. Follow this by adding values. See the examples below.

Type in label by and then select the value box

Type in the value labels.

Let's work on the rest of the questions. You can read each question in the survey PDF

Question 2

Below is a list of the most common domesticated dinosaurs. Please select any that you have had as a pet. These include dinosaurs that you have as pets now and those you have had in the past.

This is the select all that apply question that we worked on in the last lesson. Recall that we had to change the blank spaces to the number 2. In the survey we asked one question with six choices, but because it is check all that apply, we actually have 6 different variables. Any question type that allows the user to check all that apply, must be divided into separate dichotomous variables for analysis.

Question 3.

Below is a list of the most common domestic dinos. Please rate their scariness.

Like question 2, this question is actually 5 different variables, because we ask the same question for each dinosaur. We should create 5 different labels. I used the following variable labels, but you can create your own.

The question is a Likert scale with answers that range from 1 or "Not Scary at All" to 5 or "Terrifying!"

Values Value Labels 1 Not scary at all 2 A cause of slight discomfort 3 Scary 4 Really really scary 5 Terrifying

Since the five variables have the same value labels, it would be a good idea to cut and paste the same values from one variable to another.

Question 4

Please rate the following dinosaurs and their traits.

This question with a matrix of drop down menus. There are 5 rows each with 3 menus giving us a total of 15 variables.

There are three different menu option each with four or five choices. Notice that the top choice in the menu (very intelligent) becomes the value 1 while the bottom choice (stupid) is 4. Typically values go from lowest to highest (stupid to very intelligent) but ours are backward. This is how SurveyMonkey codes drop down menus. The top choice is 1. Double check before entering values in SPSS. You don't want to code them incorrectly. You may need to recode them in SPSS once you have imported all the data.

Values Value Labels Intelligence 1 Very intelligent 2 Somewhat intelligent 3 Kinda dumb 4 Stupid Looks 1 Beautiful 2 Nice Looking 3 Plain 4 Unattractive 5 Downright Ugly Personality 1 Great at Parties 2 Pleasant Enough 3 OK 4 Not very nice 5 Nasty

Question 5

How much do you agree with the following statement? I believe that dinosaurs make good pets.

This one is a bit easier to work with. It is only one varible.

Value Value Name 1 Strongly Disagree 2 Disagree 3 Neither agree nor disagree 4 Agree 5 Stongly Agree

Question 6

Do you think that keeping dinos as pets should be outlawed?

Question 7

People keep dinos as pets for many reasons. Please rank the following reasons in order of importance, where 1 is most important and 6 is least important. You should only have one answer per column.

This is once again a complecated question. The user has been asked to rank each opion on a scale of 1 least important to 6 most important. The SurveyMonkey survey allows forced ranking which means the user can only choose on per column. So once again we have six variables with numbers that tell us how important a user feels about a specific reason. Watch out, once again the numbers run backwards with 1 being most important and 6 least important.