All along this journey of learning to use SPSS, we have been creating output. When we create tables,
that is SPSS output. When we ask for graphs and descriptive statistics, that is SPSS output.
With every new click of the mouse, the output window opens, and we have more output.
Now we will learn what we can do to improve that output with options like pivot tables,
table looks, and how to export both our output, and our data in IBM SPSS Statistics.
To follow along with the data that you see here, click on the link in the description.
I am using the DogToys3.sav data set.
Because this video is all about output, we are going to need some output to work with,
and this will also allow me to teach you a new trick using syntax. Start with this:
go to Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Frequencies. Double-click to move over
the "Favorite dog toy" string variable, the one with the a in the lower right,
and the "favorite dog toy" categorical variable. Also select the ordinal variable
"Size of dog." We will display frequency tables for these variables, and for charts, choose
bar charts with percentages. Continue. We will ask SPSS to create APA style tables for this output.
Now, instead of clicking OK to run the analysis, click on this button that says "Paste".
A new window opens, and this is called a "Syntax window".
It contains all of the computer code that tells SPSS what analyses to run
we will come back to this next go to Analyze -> Descriptive Statistics -> Explore.
For the dependent list, we will use the scale variables “Days until dog toy chewed up”
and we will use the “Breed of dog,” as a factor. For Plots, turn off the stem-and-leaf, but turn on
the histogram. Click continue. Again, click the paste button.
New syntax has been added to our syntax window. No output yet, just the code.
Now, before we do anything else, save the syntax file. Call it “Dog Toys Syntax.”
I’m going to save mine to the desktop. I can save this syntax and use it later and replicate exactly
the same analysis that I’ve run. Now, as you may have figured out, this computer code that
we've been pasting - called the SPSS syntax - is what will actually run the analysis.
The top line of syntax references the active data set, which is the data that we're using.
I could run this same syntax on other data, as long as the other data had the same
variable names. This is the FREQUENCIES analysis, the table modifications for APA style,
and the EXPLORE analysis. Note that the syntax is in blocks, indicated by these brackets.
To make it run, you could click anywhere within a single block of syntax, say to run just the
frequencies, or highlight more than one block. Notice that you do not need to be precise.
And then click the green triangle to run selection. The output window opens.
I am going to save this output as “Dog toys output”.
I should begin by telling you that this is not called the “output window”. SPSS calls it the
“Viewer”, and it shows us our options to use the results in other applications. All of our output
is contained in this large window. We can scroll down to see more. In this left column we find
a tree diagram of the analyses that we ran. This is the explore analysis with the scale variables.
Clicking on its icon will jump to that part of the output.
What we call the “Log” is actually the syntax
that we ran. This is the frequencies analysis with the categorical variables.
You can see that clicking the gray triangle closes and opens the rest of the analysis.
If the output is indented, it is contained under the higher level such as this frequency table.
We can rearrange the order of the frequency tables by dragging, and we can delete output.
In fact, the frequency table for the string version of this variable is exactly the same
as the categorical version of the variable. Delete the extra table by clicking on its icon,
and then selecting edit delete. Same for the extra bar chart.
We are not limited to just the output that SPSS gives us. We can modify both tables and graphs.
In the viewer, the default SPSS output for a frequency table includes four columns,
including two versions of percentages and a cumulative percent.
APA style tables require only the frequency and the percentage, which is what we have here,
but these tables need some work to be fully APA style.
We modify a table by double clicking on the table to open it.
The most obvious difference between this table and the APA style formatted table that we want
is its appearance, and we can fix that by going to Format -> Table Looks.
Now here we have lots of options for coloring and formatting our tables. We want APA Times Roman 12
Point. Click Okay. That improved the entire table, but I can also modify the cells by selecting all
of the percentages in this right column, and then using the icons to decrease decimals to zero.
When I select a column of numbers, I can adjust the width
of the column by dragging. I could also change to left justify or right justify.
When I choose Align Mixed, I can make individual cells align as I want them,
and of course, we have other editing tools for font size and for formatting.
We can modify both tables and charts in SPSS.
You begin editing a chart the same way as you do a table: by double clicking on it.
To make this chart closer to APA style, I would change the bar colors to gray.
Remove the titles.
Under fill and border, I could add a light
one-point thick stroke (or black border) around the gray bars.
Click on the horizontal rules, and then Hide Grid Lines.
And then click on the y-axis. And in the properties window, on the Number Format tab,
I can add a percent sign as a trailing character. Click Apply, and then close the Chart Editor.
And now I have made both my tables and charts APA style for use in my
Report.
SPSS gives you another powerful way to customize tables using the Pivot
Tables feature. Scroll down to the EXPLORE output. We have a lot of information here.
Some of it we could get rid of, but really the format of this table makes it
impossible to use in any report. We need to modify it. Double-click on the table to open it.
The pivot table option allows you to change the presentation of the data in your table. You may
not know how you want your table to look in the end, but with some trial-and-error,
and experimentation, you can arrive at something that works for you. Let's begin by dragging the
breed of dog from rows to a column. Already that looks better. We have the statistics and the
standard errors in different columns. If I drag the stat type down, I can group them together.
Or I can drag stat type to the layer box to create a second table behind the first one.
Then I can choose which particular statistics I wanted to display with this new drop down.
I want to put the variable label about the Days until the dog toy was chewed up,
into the table title later. I will use the Delete function to get rid of this first column. Now,
I can delete statistics that I don't need. I will keep the means and the confidence intervals.
Although I will use an abbreviation for the confidence interval.
I will delete the variance.
And I will delete the minimum and maximum. And also delete these last three rows.
You would make these choices, depending upon the needs of your data. Feel free to experiment,
dragging the settings in the pivot table to see how they change the table. Before I close though.
I want to use the Table Looks to change the font and the shading on this table.
No matter what output we create in SPSS, we're going to want to export it somewhere else
for use in our write-up. Sometimes, I need only one small part of the output.
For example, I may want to export this pivot table to Excel. In the left navigation column,
right-click (or control-click on Mac) on the icon for descriptives and choose
export. I want to export the selected object to Excel 2007 and higher, with a file name “Table”.
Notice that I erased the suffix,
but it will get added again when I save the file. No worries. Click OK.
I can now open my new table in Excel. Let's get rid of any formatting that may trip us up,
so that we can customize. Start by selecting the table and then Unmerge the cells.
I am going to erase all of the borders, so I can add just the borders that I want. Delete
the data in the first column. And then add my table number and table title in APA style.
Another select-all, and double-click on any line between the rows to tighten them up.
I will select breed of dog to merge and center. I can do any additional formatting that I choose to,
and then adjust the column widths. And when I’m ready, I can cut-and-paste to my research report.
That was how to export just one part of the output. You can get all of your output into a
single Word document with this next trick. In fact, this is the way that you will probably
export most of your output most of the time. You will send it to Microsoft Word.
In the output window - or the Viewer - all we need is this icon, which says Export. I am going to
reset this window from my previous example. Here are the default export settings for SPSS,
and mostly they're all fine, but I recommend that you modify at least one of these default settings.
Click on change options. These settings will be fine. Now click on page setup for export.
Set the orientation to landscape and then click OK continue.
Back in the export output window we are going to export to word as an .RTF document, but notice
that we could also choose to export to excel, HTML (for use in a website), as a PDF, or plain text.
The PC version of SPSS also has a setting for exporting to PowerPoint.
Choose your desired output location. I want Word RTF.
Now, when you export, I recommend choosing All Visible. There's actually some hidden output, such
as a notes table, that you cannot see, but that will export. Choosing All Visible exports just the
output that you can actually see in the Viewer, none of the hidden output. You have the option to
browse for a place to save the document. I’m going to save it to the Desktop as “Dog toys output”.
The created export file is an RTF - or Rich Text Format that makes it highly flexible - but I
prefer to open it in Word and save as a Word Document with the .docx extension.
In Microsoft Word we can resize graphs.
Delete unneeded syntax.
And don't forget that table that we exported into Excel that can be copied
And used to replace the one that we exported.
And finally, how could we export the actual data that we used for our analysis?
Step 1, make the data set active by clicking on the data window.
Step two, go to File Export. You can create data files for other statistics software
like SAS, or Stata, but the most common ones that I use are CSV or Excel. Save.
So, let's review what you have learned you are now familiar with the SPSS viewer for the results.
You have some basic syntax skills that we can build upon later. You know some basic ways to
modify the results in your Viewer, such as using the SPSS Pivot Table editor, and Table Looks.
You can export your results to Microsoft Word or other formats. And you can export your data
to Excel. Do you feel like a pro, yet? Save your data set and meet me in the next video.