PLS 209                                                                                 Name___________________________
Research Methods
Homework7
Data Set Creation Using SPSS 

GET THE DATA

The data set will consist of the 50 US states and most, if not all, of the data will be from the Statistical Abstract of the United States. You will have at least five variables in you data set: State, Crime1 Rate, Poverty Rate, and two additional variables of your choice. 
Go to the main page of the Statistical Abstract  Statistical Abstract
Click on State and Metropolitan Area Data Book (should be lower right) State and Metropolitan Area Data Book: 2006
Click on State Data Tables    http://www.census.gov/compendia/smadb/SMADBstate.html 
Select the EXCEL version of Table A-25. Crimes and Crime Rates --- Save or print this table ---You will use the data in column "O" Total Property Crimes per 100,000 for 2003
Select the EXCEL version of TableA-36. Poverty Status of Families and Individuals in the Past 12 Months --- Save or print this table --- You will use the data from column "N" Percent (Individuals) Below Poverty in the Past 12 Months
Select a two more tables of your choice ---- select two variables you think might be related to one another

Hint:  An easy way to save the required information is to open a blank EXCEL spreadsheet.  In column 1 paste in the names of the states you can copy from either Table A-25 or A-36.  In the 2nd column past in the data for Total Property Crimes per 100,000 for 2003.  In the 3rd column past in the date for  Percent (Individuals) Below Poverty in the Past 12 Months.  Past the information on your other two variables into columns 4 and 5.

If you save your data in an EXCEL file it can be read directly into SPSS.  Insert a new top row in the spreadsheet.  In cell A1 enter State, in cell A2 enter Crime1, in cell A3 enter Poverty, in cell A4 enter the name of your first additional variable, and in cell A5 enter the name of your 2nd additional variable.  Read the EXCEL file with SPSS as a data file.

COMPUTER INSTRUCTIONS       

    Review Section 2 of the SPSS Tutorial on Creating a Data Set  http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/training/SPSS/Create_dataset.htm

 Step 1 Enter Data

• Start SPSS
• In the Data Editor Go to the Variable View
• In the first column under Name enter State in row 1, Crime1 in row 2, and Poverty in row3, a name for your first variable in row4, and a name for your second variable in row5.
• For the State variable set the variable type to string ---- click on the type cell for state and select string from the options that appear when you click on the ... button
• Increase the width of the State variable to 15 characters
• Change to the Data View
• Enter the state names in column 1 (Exclude the District of Columbia)
        [If you first delete the District of Columbia from the EXCEL spreadsheet, you can copy and then paste into SPSS---Caution: do not copy the 1st row]
• Enter the corresponding total property crime data in column 2  --- again just copy and paste
• Enter the corresponding total Poverty  rate data in column 3
• Enter the corresponding values for your first variable column 4
• Enter the corresponding values for your final variable in column 5
• Save the file as States50
• From the data editor print a copy of the file

  Step 2 Create a 2nd Crime Variable by Recoding Crime1 into a new variable named Crime2

• Select in sequence Transform, Recode, Into Different Variables
• Highlight Crime1 in the left window and click the right arrow
• In the Output Variable Name:  enter Crime2 in the box and click on Change
• Click on Old and New Values
• On the left side under Old Value click Range  (If Range is not available make sure the variable is defined as numeric)
• Enter 0 in the first range window and 2000 in the second range window
• On the right side under New Value make sure Value is checked and enter 1 in the new value box and press Enter
• Repeat setting 2000 to 3000 equal to 2, 3000 to 4000 equal to 3, 4000 to 5000 equal to 4, and 5000 to 6000 equal to 5.
• Click Continue and then OK  to finish the transformation.  The new variable should appear in the data editor.

 Step 3 Generate Scatterplots

• From the menu bar on the top of the screen select Graphs  
• Select Legacy Dialogs
• Select Scatter/Dot from the Graphs menu
• Select Simple Scatter  from the Scatter/dot menu
• Click Define
• Put Poverty on the X axis and Crime1 on the Y axis (highlight the variable name and then click on the appropriate arrow)
• Click OK
• Print the resulting scatterplot
• Generate a second scatterplot using the two variables you have included in the data set.

  Step 4 Generate Frequencies for Crime2

• Select in sequence  Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, Frequencies
• Select Crime2 and click Ok to generate basic frequencies
• Print the frequency table

 Submissions  

Email the saved states50.sav file to aspin@bradley.edu
In class hand in the two scatterplots and frequencies printouts

Return to PLS 209 Home Page