SPSS exercise 1.14
One way of displaying your data (e.g. in a research report) is to use graphs. For this exercise, open the WatchAndListenSurvey.sav database. What type of graph is the most suitable for displaying the following information, and why?
a. Number of men and women (dem49).
b. Relative distribution (percentages) of number of days watching television per week (dem54).
c. Distribution of number of days listening to the radio per week (dem52). (Please note: Values 8 and 9 must be shown as missing).
d. Distribution of the variable 'talking about art' (dem73). (Please note: Values 8 and 9 must be shown as missing).
e. Distribution of the 'age' (dem50) variable.
f. Percentage of cinema visits (dem156) (Please note: Values 8 and 9 must be shown as missing).
g. Favourite channel (dem106).
Hints
1 Graph selection charts
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Bar chart |
Pie chart |
Box plot |
Histogram |
1. Select |
1.1 Specifics |
How often does something occur? |
What things occur relatively often? |
What is the dispersion like within a variable? |
What is the shape of a distribution? |
1.2 Minimum level of measurement |
Nominal |
Nominal |
Ordinal |
Interval |
2. Calculate |
Frequencies -> Charts -> Bar |
Frequencies -> Charts -> Pie |
Graphs -> Legacy dialogs -> Boxplot |
Frequencies -> Charts -> Histogram |
3. Check |
The graph must have a title, names and scales on the axes and, if applicable, acknowledgement of the source. |
4. Conclude |
Select a few notable values and mention them, indicating what the units are and what the variable means. |
Describe the centre of the distribution, the limits of the middle half of the observations, skewness, and extremes. |
Describe the shape of the distribution (number of peaks, symmetry, and skewness) and several notable points (peaks, troughs), clarifying what the units are and what the variable means. |
*You can edit graphs in SPSS using the 'Chart Editor'
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