Understanding and Applying Research Design

DATA MANAGEMENT UNIT B: USING SPSS TO RECODE FOR T TEST

USING SPSS TO RECODE QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS

In order to use these as variables in the example, we will make certain assumptions and methods to prepare the data for the t test. We use SPSS to “Transform” the data from both variables. The SPSS frequency reports for these variables are shown in Figures DMUB.1 and DMUB.2.

Figure DMUB.1. The frequency report for “health1.”

Figure DMUB.2. The frequency report for “fairearn.”

As you can see in both Figure DMUB.1 and DMUB.2, we placed a solid line just under the first “Total” row. This separates the data we will use in the example from other data categories. Under “Missing” are categories like “IAP” (Inapplicable) that refers to whether the data are used in different waves of the survey, “Don’t Know,” and “No Answer.” We are excluding these categories in our example of how to use the independent t test.

Recoding “health1”

Using SPSS, we can recode the values of a variable by choosing the “Transform-Recode” options. There are actually two recode options: “Recode into Same Variables” and “Recode into Different Variables.” We use the latter, since that allows us to create a “new” variable from the original variable and in so doing leave the original data intact. Figure DMUB.3 shows the SPSS ...