SPSS
The variable view
The Data View in SPSS speaks almost for itself. Each row in the data view will show the scores for one case.
In the Variable View however we need to specify various things for each variable, which might not all immediately make sense.
Below is a short description for each of the options.
Click here if you prefer to watch a video explaining the different options.
Name
The name should be a short and clear name for the variable. It cannot start with a number, cannot contain a space, and some special characters (e.g. %) are also not allowed. The name will be the shown as the column title for the variable in the Data View. For the question 'What is your age?' one possible name might simply be age.
Type
At type you will indicate what you will type in. If the scores are numbers the type should be numeric, if it is a date, the type should be date, etc. One small catch is that if you plan on assigning a numeric code to your values (e.g. 1 = male and 2 = female), you will then be typing in numbers so the type should be set to numeric. This is very often done, so the type numeric might be the most frequently used (although I haven't done any research on this). For text you can set the type to string.
Width
This is NOT the width the column will be in the data view, but the number of characters you can enter. For numeric variables this is not of any influence, but for string variables you will need to guess how many characters you might need. For example if I ask for a pet name, the pet name Fluffy Bun, would require 6 spaces for Fluffy, 1 for the space and 3 for Bun, so 9 in total. There are longer pet names, so I might guess 30 to be a good start.
Decimals
As the name implies, this sets how many decimals will be shown when entering the data. Note that when entering the data later you can actually type in more decimals and SPSS will remember those, it will simply not display them on screen.
Label
Here you can enter a longer description of the variable and can use spaces. Some even simply copy the entire question here.
Values
With values you can assign a value to the different options on multiple choice questions (e.g. 1 = Male, 2 = Female). You can only assign numbers if the type has been set to Numeric.
Missing
You can assign a value if someone skipped the question, incorrectly answered it, unreadable answered it, etc. By typing in still a value you can distinguish if you forgot to enter something (showing as an empty cell in the data view) or that the respondent really didn't answer it (showing in the data view as your assigned missing value). I recommend to use the same missing value for all variables, and it should not be a possible value for any of the variables. Using for example 9 might be a problem if you ask children also for their age and they might be 9. I often use 999, but that's just me.
Columns
This is actually the width the column for the variable will be in the data view. I normally adjust it visually in the data view.
Align
The entered scores in the data view can either be shown to the left, center or right of the column.
Measure
The measurement level of the variable. Note that SPSS combines interval and ratio to one level called scale.
Role
This option came since SPSS 18 I think. With it you can assign what the variable might be used for. This is only used in a few very specific analyses. Usually it is left at input.
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