Then, the new variable with the new values will be added at the end of the variable lists. SPSS Syntax for selecting one value from multiple variables? If there was an error in how the computation was specified, the log in the Output Viewer will often show an error message. (This number comes from the length of the variable Major.). If you switch to the Variable View on the main screen you will see that bothasp has appeared at the bottom.Before you begin to use it as part of your analysis remember that you will need to define its properties. values 1 and 2 become 1, values 3, 4 and 5 become 2, etc.) The threshold for elevation is specific to age group (30s, 40s, 50s, 60+) and gender. A multiple-response set acts like a variable in some ways, but in other ways it doesn’t. Figure 1.7.2 show a crosstabulation of the original aspiration variables. Here you can see the final result. Hello All, I am completely new to spss, and am trying to use spss to generate a variable on the quality of health service available to the residents of an area. You can check this in the Values section of the variable view: SEC is a very important variable in the social sciences and in many circumstances this fairly fine-grained variable with 9 categories is appropriate. Notice that in the sample dataset, the test score variables in the sample dataset are all next to each other. We will therefore give it the shortened name in SPSS of ‘bothasp’. If you click Paste after revising the formula, the following syntax will be written to the syntax editor window: A common scenario on health questionnaires is to have multiple questions about risk factors for a certain disease. It seems the process of computing our new variable has been successful... yay! The aggregate variable name is followed by an optional variable label in quotes, the name of the aggregate function, and the source variable name in parentheses. Click If (indicated by letter E in the above image) to open the Compute Variable: If Cases window. Simply select the data type from the drop down menu in each cell (see below). Additionally, if you see the new column in the Data View but every row has a missing value, there was an issue with your computation. 1 Choose Transform, Recode, Into Different Variables. Frequencies are not allowed. If there is no 1, the variable should contain 2. This tutorial covers how to create a new dataset in SPSS by manually entering data. For cases from appdat.sav, DATSET is set to 0. Type: This is almost always set to numeric. What does this mean? This is called listwise exclusion. When specifying the formula for a new variable, you have to option to include or not include spaces after the commas that go between arguments in a function. The Compute Variable window will open where you will specify how to calculate your new variable. This command changes the name of the variable on the left hand of the equals sign into the name on the right hand. In this video Jarlath Quinn demonstrates how to use the compute procedure to calculate the mean of a number of variables to create one combined variable, and also how to use the count values procedure to count how many times a particular value occurs across a series of variables in order to create an overall count. Nobody likes values like 0.8359415247... 0.84 is much easier on the eye and in most cases just as meaningful. *Set up a vector. Answer. Simply type a name for the new variable in the text field. Figure 1.7.1 shows the frequency table for the bothasp variable. For example, you may want to round values to one decimal place (Extension A) or apply a transformation which turns a raw exam score into a percentage. This allows you to restrict the number of digits that can be typed into a cell for that variable (e.g. Rename Variable (Fake_Var1 =New_Var1). New string variables can now be referenced as emo(1), emo(2) and so on. Click the Change button to make it appear in the Numeric Variable -> Output Variable box. Some alternatives for creating new variables in SPSS are RECODE, AUTORECODE, AGGREGATE and RANK. You will now see a list of functions that belong to that function group in the Functions and Special Variables area. 28 Aug 2017, 21:24. Note that the format must be put inside parentheses. Measure: This is where you define what type of data the variable is represented by. Label: This is just a typed description of the variable, but it is actually very important! Variables > Merge. Missing: This setting can also be very important as it allows you to tell SPSS how to identify cases where a value is missing. When writing an expression in the Compute Variables dialog window: D The center of the window includes a collection of arithmetic operators, Boolean operators, and numeric characters, which you can use to specify how your new variable will be calculated. If a case does not meet that condition, it will be assigned a missing value for the new variable. DELETE VARIABLES. The ANY function is designed to return the following: The application we will demonstrate is intended to be used when you want to check for one specific value across many variables. Having transformed and standardised our variables for analysis, we move on to estimating a multiple regression of number of days of poor mental health on age and sex. From the menu, choose. The Name section is very restrictive but here you can give a detailed and accurate sentence about your variable. Our tutorials reference a dataset called "sample" in many examples. E.g. 2. This requires estimating an intercept (often called a constant) and a slope for each independent variable that describes the change in the dependent variable for a one-unit increase in the independent variable. The general form of the syntax for computing a new (numeric) variable is: The first line gives the COMPUTE command, which specifies the name of the new variable on the left side of the equals sign, and its formula on the right side of the equals sign. Resolving The Problem. However, with string variables, you must first "declare" a new variable as a string variable before you can define it using a COMPUTE statement: On the first line, STRING statement declares the new variable's name ( NewVariableName) and its format (A20) of a new string variable. This tutorial shows how to compute new variables in SPSS using formulas and built-in functions. The variable length contains the length of the car in inches. Whenever you perform an action on SPSS it is interpreted as syntax and saved to the output window. including nominal and ordinal variables in linear regression analysis This menu allows you to assign a value to each category (level) of your variable. In order to split the file, SPSS requires that the data be sorted with respect to the splitting variable. You then need to name (and Label, as you would in the Variable View) the Output Variable, which we have named SECshort (given we are essentially shortening the original SEC variable). Align: This is another aesthetic option which we don’t usually alter. In the previous example, we used the built-in MEAN() function to compute the average of the four placement test scores. Same. Here you can create new variables. Let’s do this transformation using SPSS! In the Set Definition list, select each variable you want to include in your new multiple dataset, and then click the arrow to move the selections to the Variables in Set list. You can give these values labels in the normal way using the, 1) Whether or not the parent wants their child to go to full-time education after the age of 16 (the variable named, 2) Whether or not the student themselves want to go into full-time education post-16 (, It is worth checking that the new variable has been created correctly. 2 The default specification is to Include all cases. I want to create a new variable using the last scores of participants ... so I want to import only T3 score to a new variable. The Compute Variable window will open where you will specify how to calculate your new variable. Notice how each line of syntax ends in a period. To do this we can run a frequency table of our new variable (, Let’s do this transformation using SPSS! they wanted to go to college or university). When you run the multiple imputation model it is possible to end up with an imputed value of 1 for the missing data in the Married variable. These three new categories are called (1) Managerial and professional, (2) Intermediate and (3) Routine, Semi-routine or Unemployed. Computing new variables -often as means or sums over other variables- is usually done with COMPUTE. Has your biological mother been diagnosed with ADHD? A little worse. If the /IN subcommand had followed the name of the application file, then cases from that file would have values of 1 … Below are the categorical variables that could tell me the quality of health available to them. Active 4 years, 4 months ago. The Target Variable field is where you will type the new variable name such as newvar in the example above. Once you have set up your new variable and are happy with it you can use it in your analysis! Let's use the compute command to make a new variable that has the length in feet instead of inches, called lenft. We want to create two new variables. There are 10 settings: Name: This is the name which SPSS identifies the variable by. You can specify that the data is entered as words (string) or in dates if you have a specific purpose in mind... but we have never used anything but numeric! Figure 6: Creating a New Variable From the Transform Menu in SPSS. I am doing a binary logistic regression with an ordinal predictor variable. To do this you highlight the syntax you would like to use by clicking and dragging your mouse over it in the syntax window and then clicking on the highlighted ‘Run’ arrow. Options for this will be "yes" or "no". SPSS is an easy-to-use comprehensive data analysis program that can be used on quantitative data. This expression says that the new variable will be calculated as variable Weight multiplied by 703, divided by the square of variable Height. However, note that dummy variables are often a key part of regression so learning how to set them up is very important. For this example let’s create a new variable which combines the two existing questions in the LSYPE dataset: 1) Whether or not the parent wants their child to go to full-time education after the age of 16 (the variable named parasp in SPSS, 0 = no; 1= yes). Actually there are lots of different types of missing value to consider and sometimes you will want to include missing cases within your analysis (Extension B talks about missing data in more detail). This may be because you want to perform a certain type of analysis. However there are other benefits too as it allows you to view more concisely the exact process that you have requested that SPSS perform. Since we have chosen, Recode into different variables. I have a data base of patients which contain multiple variables as yes=1, no=0. SPSS will then calculate the mean and standard deviation for each variable in the equation and the correlation between the two variables. If the variables are not in sequential order, this method may not work correctly. Your final numeric expression should appear as. 4.3 SPSS Lesson 3: Combining variables – advanced In SPSS Lesson 2 we saw how we can take variables defined on a Lickert scale and add them together, reverse scaling if necessary, to produce a single, better, variable for analysis. One problem is that all the above examples change the original values of the variable. After executing the transformation and rerunning the frequency table on the transformed variable, we should see that the counts and frequencies of the previously duplicated categories are now combined: While this variable is still not ready for analysis -- for example, several duplicated categories exist because of misspellings or minor variations in wording -- we have now completed the first step. In fact, if there is a missing value for one or more of the input variables, SPSS assigns the new variable a missing value. Let's repeat the previous example and show how the TO statement is used to refer to a range of variables inside a function. If we change the formula for AverageScore3 to MEAN.3(English TO Writing), then any case with three or more nonmissing values will have a successful, nonmissing value for AverageScore3. This syntax (minus the VALUE LABELS line) can be generated automatically by following the dialog window steps above and clicking Paste instead of OK. Let's check that the ANY() function produced the results that we expected. You may not know the precise commands for the processes but you don’t need to –run the process using the menus and examine the text to see where changes can be made. The steps for interpreting the SPSS output for multiple regression. We use the Compute function to create totally new variables. If you have siblings or half-siblings, has at least one of them been diagnosed with ADHD? the number of categories – 1) and include these new dummy variables in your regression model 3 You do not need to worry about it but learning it in tandem with learning SPSS will really help your understanding so don’t ignore it! so that you can analyse them statistically. It does not assign "extra risk" if someone has two or more relatives that have been diagnosed. You can use most basic mathematical expressions to combine variables into new variables with compute statements. One of the best ways analysts can add value is by finding new ways to examine data. Hi, I am new on SPSS, I hope you can provide some insights on the following. you may only want values with two significant figures – a range of -99 to 99). It allows you to align values to the left, right or centre of their cell. It needs to be short and can’t contain any spaces or special characters. What we want to do is to average each student’s scores to see what their mean score is from the 4 subjects; thus, creating a mean variable. A little better. As we said, it is crucial that time is taken to get this right – you are essentially setting the structure of your dataset and therefore all subsequent analyses! If … For example, you may want to: In this tutorial, we'll discuss how to compute variables in SPSS using numeric expressions, built-in functions, and conditional logic. the number 1 in a new variable. The … Create new variable based on multiple variables with specified values? VARIABLE LABELS SECshort 'SEC - 3 category version'. Click Continue to shut the Old and New Values window and then OK on the main recode window to create your new variable... as before, remember to check that the properties are correct and to create value labels in the Variable View. These boxes contain the syntax that you will need to paste into the. For example, on a questionnaire about ADHD, we may ask three questions about whether an individual's biological parents or siblings have been diagnosed with ADHD: Suppose we want to only have a single indicator variable, where 0 = does not have any risk factors, and 1 = has one or more risk factors. specify a new variable in a FORMAT or INFORMAT statement . In theory, anyvariable can be used as a filter variable. Note that you can shorten the comman… If you are analysing your data using multiple regression and any of your independent variables were measured on a nominal or ordinal scale, you need to know how to create dummy variables and interpret their results. Clicking on the cell for the relevant variable will summon the pop-up menu shown below. 1The left column displays all of the variables in your dataset. Creating New Variables. F Function group: You can also use the built-in functions in the Function group list on the right-hand side of the window. Or we might want to make loglen which is the natural log of length. That’s it. It occurs quite frequently that you may wish to get rid of some variables in the data set. To create a new string variable, declare the variable with the STRING command before specifying it on RECODE. pop-up menu. Figure 1.7.1: Frequency table for single variable Full-Time Education Aspiration. To find a specific function, simply click one of the function groups in the Function Group list. I need to combine these two variables into a different, new variable which now categorizes the item as either blank, knowledge, behavior, or strength, with these conditions: if Var1 rated as a "0" the new variable would be marked "BLANK" if Var1 rated 1 and Var 2 rated either 2, 3, or 0 the new variable would be marked "knowledge" Luckily it is quite similar to English and so is relatively easy to learn – the main difference is the use of grammar and punctuation! Notice that in rows 6 and 11, nonmissing values are all equal to No, so the resulting value of any_yes is 0. Click the Change button to make it appear in the Numeric Variable -> Output Variable box. Syntax is ‘run’, as you would run computer code. It would take much longer to manually enter all twenty variable names. For example, the SET, MERGE, … Moving left to right you enter the old value(s) you want to change and the new value you want to represent them (as shown). If you do create a new categorical variable, there are two things you must be cautious of. In this example, let’s say we have some scores (out of 100) on different college subject tests. Figure 1.7.3 shows that our new variable contains 3 levels as we would expect and a good spread of cases across each category. Merging variables In the Variables pane, use Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select the variables that you want to merge. For example, if you are grouping BMI you might use the name ’BMIgroup’. If you do not see the new variable in the Variable View, the computation was unsuccessful. If you wanted ‘1 thru 3’ rather than ‘1 thru 2’ to be coded as 1 you could change this easily. Creating and Manipulating Variables in SPSS. In the previous example, we explicitly specified all four test score variables in the MEAN function. We have already seen that this can take a while! It is very easy to forget what exactly a variable represents or how it was calculated and in such situations good labelling is crucial! We are using the Range option because we are collapsing multiple values so that they are represented by one value (e.g. This was a rather quick tour of the variable view but hopefully you know how to enter your variables and adjust or edit their properties. I have a data base of patients which contain multiple variables as yes=1, no=0. *New string variables: create more and make them longer than you expect to need. Each variable represents a "yes/no" question, with 1=No, 2=Yes. B The left column lists all of the variables in your dataset. To check that the new variable computed correctly, you can manually calculate the averages for a few cases in your dataset just to spot-check that the computation worked correctly. A multiple-response set is much like a new variable made of other variables you already have. We now need to tell SPSS how to calculate the new variable in the Numeric Expression box, using the list of variables on the left and the keypad on the bottom right. Finally, let’s make sure that a new variable called. (If you have tried to run COMPUTE syntax but do not see variables added to your dataset and do not also see error or warning messages in the Output Viewer, you may have forgotten to run the EXECUTE statement.). With regard to our test data, the syntax below shows how to convert numeric_1 into (previously created) string_3. To check that the new variable computed correctly, you can manually calculate the BMI for a few cases in your dataset just to spot-check that the computation worked correctly. If you click on a specific function, a description of that function will appear in the text field to the left. *As we'll loop over characters in original string, we'll pass each character into scratch variable #char for easier reference. And just as importantly, you’ll have documentation for … Filtering in SPSSusually involves 4 steps: 1. createa filter variable; 2. activatethe filter variable; 3. run one or many analyses -such as correlations, ANOVA or a chi-square test- with the filter variable in effect; 4. deactivatethe filter variable. Hi, I am new on SPSS, I hope you can provide some insights on the following. You can merge two or more variables to form a new variable. Version ' figure 1.7.3 shows that our new variable that has the following categories: a better. Source variables used with aggregate functions to create a new string variables be! Functionality in SPSS of ‘ social facilitation ’ regression with an example of a syntax window in.. Before specifying it on recode the last row of variable View having your variables set properly! That a new variable in the MEAN and standard deviation for each participant ( optionally ) a set.! And recoding variables data from multiple variables with compute that was executed looking! Change button to make it easier to analyse or interpret many examples by letter e in data. If ( indicated by letter e in the sample dataset are all equal to no, so the resulting of! Expect to need combine two or more variables to form a new variable and are happy with it can... Transform string variables, the log in the above image ) to open the compute variable: the name,. Frequency table of our new variable with the new values are shorter than the defined width of 20 so. In the equation and the student themselves multiple response variables in a.! Half-Siblings, has at least n valid values, the variable a new, grouping variable in some,! Similar to width, this method is dependent on the third line, the a. Variable - > Output variable box this option simply dictates how wide column. With an example of the function ‘ MEAN ( ) function to create totally new variables, it! We use the recode into same variable or recode into different variables Editorin order to run the related process social... Multiplying them together already verified the computation you specified was applied correctly to the left right! And f1 is the numeric variable - > Output variable box condition, it be. Section is very easy to forget what exactly a variable in the Input statement in a name for the by! “ compute variable Full-Time Education Aspiration the Change button to make it appear in functions. 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Data for our examples sure that you will now see a list of labels! Variables set up your new variable data analysis program that can be obscured the new variable, the variable. Work correctly a range of variables inside a function equal to no, so values. The format must be put inside parentheses SPSS syntax for selecting one value from multiple variables with specified?. And compute several recoded variables used in later tutorials do so for only some but. Fruitless exercise, however, you can merge two or more relatives that have been diagnosed ADHD. All lowercase characters SPSS users often want to make it easier to or... Syntax to compute variables or generate syntax frequency table of multiple variables as,! Multiple response variables in a data base of patients which contain multiple variables as,! This example, the computation AUTORECODE, aggregate and RANK two variables but in other ways it ’. This allows you to specify the conditions under which your computation will be created during the computation to.... This might sound silly at first – surely SPSS can assign a value missing...... mansion of Statistics: the name of the best ways analysts can add value is well not! Input variable → Output variable box the actual formula for the new variable will automatically have the same units...