Creating Reports Using SPSS
Reports in SPSS are selected through the Analyze menu. The arrows at the side of each of the options shown below indicate that there are additional choices within that category. For example, from the Reports options, selected below, you can request OLAP cubes, Case Summaries, Report Summaries in Rows, or Report Summaries in Columns.
An SPSS Report Example from the American Time Use Survey:Where Does the Time Go?
When you select a menu option, a new dialog window will open. For example, the window for the Report Summaries by Columns is shown below. The information you want data should be inputted into the data column. Click on the variable from the list on the left and then click the blue arrow next to the data column. In this example, the number of volunteer hours and time spent playing sports are the two variables selected. To remove a variable from the report, click on it in the data column, and click on the arrow to move it back into the variable list, as shown below.
To get data broken down by specific variables, click on the variable in the list to the left and then click the arrow next to the Break Column Variables box. In the example above, the data are broken down by gender and whether (or not) there are children under age eighteen living in the household.
Did you notice that blue Summary button in the window above? That is very important and will save you a lot of frustration. The default statistics for reports is Sum of Values. That would be very useful if the variable in question was sales per quarter. However, for volunteer hours and time spent playing sports, the Mean of Values is probably more relevant to most questions. When you click on the Summary button, a new window will pop up that allows you to select the statistic you want. Note that you need to do this for each variable. Also notice that on the right are options for making your report more readable and self-explanatory, for example, by adding titles.
You can export your report to Word or HTML. From the File menu, select Export. If you export it to Word, it looks like the report below. If you export it to HTML, it looks even worse. Producing aesthetically pleasing reports is not a major strength of SPSS. Analyzing a lot of data quickly and easily is its major asset. This report tells you that, based on a sample of 13,000+ people, the average person with children spends no time playing sports on the average day. Women with children volunteer an average of four minutes a day, while women without children volunteer an average of ten minutes a day.
Last updated:
February 22, 2010