Beyond the Basics: Modifying Your Graphs in SPSS - Selecting Records to Graph
One of the most common changes made to the default SPSS charts is the request of different statistics, while the second most common change is to chart the data from only certain records. The steps below will show how to make each of these changes.
The default Histogram graph produced by SPSS is shown below, displaying a sample of several hundred people who were asked how often they read their email. Bars are given for how many people left the question blank, how many responded that they used email "Never", "A Few Times a Year" and so on.
Including Only Selected Records in Your Graph
In this case, we want to include only those who responded to the question, "How often do you read your email?" The same three steps can be used any time you want to select a specific group, whether graduating seniors, customers who have purchases over $100,000 or guys named Bob.
- From the Data menu in SPSS, click Select Cases.
- Select the If condition is satisfied bubble and click If. This will cause all of your variables to appear in a new window that pops up.
- From the box on the left, select the variable you want to use in the If condition and click the arrow to move it into the box on the top. You can select any logical condition here, if the value is equal, greater to, or any number of function. You may also simply type your statement in the box. Here, the graph needs to show only those people who answered the question, so the statement entered was read_email ne " " . The "ne" is for "not equal."
- Click Continue at the bottom right of the window.
- The previous window is now displayed. Click OK at the bottom right of the window. Now only the records desired for the graph are selected.
Last updated:
March 30, 2011