Lesson 1
Entering data for SPSS

Click on Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen

From the menu select Programs, SPSS for Windows, SPSS 11.5 for Windows

The SPSS data editor will now open and looks like this:

Click on Type in Data and OK

Upon opening SPSS you will see something like this (the Data Editor window):

Click on Variable View at the bottom of the screen. This will change the view of your screen to:

This is the screen that you will use to give names to your columns of data. For instance, in line one:

Name: Group

Type: Numeric, string data (most of the time you will use numeric)

Width: Width of your column
Decimal: How many decimal places do you want to show

Label: Here is where you will label “groups.” Click on the grey box and the “Value Labels box will appear.

Value: Enter a number

Value Label: Enter what the number stands for.

For instance, if group 1 is your control group, then you would enter:

Value: 1

Value Label: Control group

Click Add

If group 2 is your experimental group, then you would enter:

Value: 2

Value Label: Experimental group

Click Add

When finished, adding groups, click on OK.

You may enter as many variables as you need. Examples include

Age, birthdate, subject number, height, weight, dependent variables. When finished entering the titles click back on Data view at the bottom left hand corner.

After entering the variable names, enter the data under the appropriate columns for each variable You can mover around the cells as you enter the data using either the mouse or the arrow keys. Save your work.