SPSS Variables and Measures

Types of SPSS Variables

Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

SPSS Variables and Measures

Nominal and Ordinal Categories

Nominal Variables
No meaningful Order in Choice Where did you hear ? IT, Radio, TV etc.

Ordinal Variables
Related in a Meaningful Sequence Age : 16-24, 25-34, 35- 44 etc.

SPSS Variables and Measures

Interval Variables
Same as Ordinal but Always equally Spaced Categories Cannot identify a Start Point on the scale used Measures responses relatively not absolutely Inefficient ................................Efficient
1.........2................3..............4..............5

No agreed definition of Efficiency

SPSS Variables and Measures

Ratio Variables
As for Interval But Equal Intervals between Categories Recognised Zero Point so that Absolute measures can be made E.g. How many meetings did you attend discrete measure of 1,2,3 etc.

SPSS Variables and Measures

Categorical Data
Nominal and Ordinal Variables collect such data Require Respondents to Choose from
Independent and Mutually Exclusive categories

Questions which ask for choice from 1 or more categories E.G. Behaviour, Attitudes etc.

SPSS Variables and Measures

Continuous Data
Interval and Ratio Variables collect such data Responses can be related to each other Range of possible answers have an equal distance between each other

SPSS Variables and Measures

Measuring Central Tendency

Mode : Mean : Median Mode
Identifies the Most Commonly Occurring Response to a question Answer given by the highest number of people Applicable to all variable types Could have multiple modes

SPSS Variables and Measures

Mean
Measure of the Average Calculated arithmetically Add all values and divide by number of responses Only for Interval and Ratio Variables

SPSS Variables and Measures

Median
Measures the middle response where All responses are lined up in ascending or descending order All variables except Nominals which cannot be placed in such an order Useful where there are extreme values unrepresentative of sample

SPSS Variables and Measures

Measuring Dispersion
Minimum Maximum Range Variance Standard Deviation

SPSS Variables and Measures

Variance
Amount of spread overall Indicates how data are clustered around the Mean Required to calculate Standard Deviation

SPSS Variables and Measures

Standard Deviation
Indicates by how much the average respondent differs from the overall average Smaller the Std. Dev. The more closely responses are clustered about the mean Closely clustered responses imply that members of the sample hold similar opinions