Data Entry and Managment

A few tips.. Put everything on one sheet. SPSS only reads one sheet at a time Include a column for subject ID. This will help if you have to manipulate data later

More Tips CTRL+D to fill from above ALT+Down Arrow to get a drop down of previous entries CTRL + Enter to fill multiple cells with same value Freeze Panes to keep your variable row visible Regardless as to how far down the spreadsheet you scroll Split window to keep your subjects visible Regardless as to how far to the right you scroll

Having a Word with Excel Have excel speak to you and tell you what numbers you just entered Speeds up data entry and minimizes mistakes Right click Quick Access Toolbar Choose commands from > Commands not in the ribbon Speak cells on enter While you’re there, also select “Form…”

Missing Data If you have missing data, leave that space blank! Don’t put in an indicator for missing data. Many folks will use an X, “No Response,” or 999. SPSS, however, will natively interpret anything you’ve put into that cell as a data point. This will make analysis difficult. You can, however, tell SPSS to interpret certain codes (X, 999, No Response) as missing data. SPSS will handle blank spaces as missing data just fine without any help from us.

Coding Dichotomous Variables It is often easier to do some analyses with dichotomous variables (such as correlations) if you have numerically coded data rather than words. When possible, do numeric coding rather than words to indicate subject data. For example, instead of typing in “Male” or “Female” in terms of gender, use “1” for male and “2” for female. Of course, you may also use 1 and 0, and the designations of which is male and which is female is arbitrary and entirely up to you.

Keep your variable headings simple and short! SPSS tends to rebel against spaces in variable headings Also doesn’t like it when you start the variable heading with a number. Extremely long variable headings tend to get unwieldy May be truncated by SPSS). As such, instead of the variable heading “5 month follow-up for testing with XYZ,” try a code that you could easily recognize, such as “XYZ_FU_5mo.”

Keep your spreadsheet plain and simple Many times, people will add extra rows in the middle of their data set Aids explanation Facilitates data entry Simply looks nicer. SPSS, however, will interpret that as data for one of your subjects and become very confused. Many times, people will do this to separate out two groups. Instead create an additional column to indicate group membership.

Don’t Do This!

Do This

Repeated Measures Data Entry In general, each subject gets one row, and one row only! If you are using a repeated measures design, do not enter the subjects’ data for the repeated tests on a new row further down the spreadsheet. You won’t be able to analyze the data that way

Seriously, Don’t Do This!

Add a New Variable Instead Instead, give each testing point its own column in the same row of the other testing points for that subject

Do This

Click “Open Another File”

Navigate to your spreadsheet

The default should be just fine. Check out the preview and click “OK”

Now, you can add some info

Missing Data?

Changing Variable Types

Now, check for anomalies For continuous variables Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Descriptives Move variables of interest to ‘Variables’ box Options: Mean, Std. Deviation, Minimum, Maximum Continue > OK Look for minimums and maximums that don’t make sense Is someone 233 years old? Did someone score a 66 on a 7-point scale?

For dichotomous variables Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Frequencies Move variables of interest into variables box Click ‘OK’ Look for anything that doesn’t make sense Did someone get placed in a group that doesn’t exist? Now, you’re ready to go!

Questions? Thoughts?