Data Analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics

Adding a layer variable

To explore the relationship between happiness and financial wellbeing in more detail, it is useful to look at the pattern with in categories of marital status. Based on the results from the earlier crosstab of happiness with marital status, it is reasonable to combine the widowed, divorced, and separated groups into a single category.

This will make for a more compact and readable table, but it will also keep the count from getting low in individual cells. By adding a third variable with three categories, the number of cells in the table will grow from nine to twenty-seven, and this spreads the smaller categories out considerably. The following RECODE was used to create a new field, marstat3, based on the values of ...