1) The document discusses generating frequency tables and univariate charts in SPSS. It explains how to produce frequency tables, pie charts, bar charts, and histograms in SPSS. 2) It provides examples of frequency table components and properly formatted univariate charts. 3) The document concludes by summarizing religious, educational, and family background information learned about young adults in the 1980 GSS based on frequency tables.

1. Chapter 3:
Frequency Tables &
Univariate Charts
Stephanie Dodson
July 16, 2013

2. Frequency TablesFrequency Tables
Frequency tables show the number of times
attributes are observed in a data set.
To generate a frequency table in SPSS, use the
following steps:
1) Pull down Analyze menu.
2) Move cursor over Descriptive Statistics.
3) Click on Frequencies.
4) Move one of more variables from
alphabetical list on left to “Variable” list in the
center.

3. Generating a frequency table in SPSS
1) Select analyze,” descriptive“ “
statistics,” frequencies.”“
1) Select analyze,” descriptive“ “
statistics,” frequencies.”“
2) Add variables from
left to list in center.

4. Questions About 1980Questions About 1980
GSS Young AdultsGSS Young Adults
What percent of GSS young adults had no religious
affiliation?
How strong were the attachments to organized religion
of 1980 GSS young adults?
What percent of 1980 GSS young adults grew up in two-
parent households? In one-parent households? In no-
parent households?
What was the most common number of siblings reported
by 1980 GSS young adults? How many were only children?
What kinds of educational degrees did 1980 GSS young
adults have?

5. Questions About 1980 GSSQuestions About 1980 GSS
Young AdultsYoung Adults
How did they break down in terms of sex and race?
What percent grew up in rural areas? In small towns? In
big cities?
What percent were working full-time?
Were most already married? Were some already
divorced?

6. Parts of a Frequency TableParts of a Frequency Table
Frequency Column- Shows the number of cases
that had the attribute named at beginning of row.
Percent Column- Shows the percent of all cases in
the data that have a particular value on this
variable.
Valid Percent Column- Shows the percent of all
cases that have a particular valid value.
Cumulative Percent Column- Gives a running total
of valid percents by showing the percent of valid
cases that are in that row or the rows above.

8. Univariate ChartsUnivariate Charts
Univariate charts display results for a single
variable.
Using SPSS Frequencies procedure, we can
request a pie chart, bar chart, or histogram:
1) Click the “Charts” button on the
Frequencies dialogue.
2) Select type of chart.
3) For bar and pie charts, select frequencies
or percentages.
4) Click “Continue.”

9. Pie ChartsPie Charts
Pie charts are nominal charts, which means they
can be used to illustrate distribution of cases on
nominal, ordinal, or interval/ratio variables.
Attributes must be different from one another.
Pies with too many variables are difficult to
comprehend and are therefore less useful.

10. Useful...

11. Less useful...

12. Bar ChartsBar Charts
 Bar charts, like pie charts, are nominal charts. They communicate
information using height of bars.
 Most frequently used to visually show distribution of cases on nominal or
ordinal variables.
 Because bars appear along horizontal line, bar charts can communicate
order of attributes better than circular pie charts.
 Horizontal axis does not represent a numeric scale. Thus, distance
between bars does not reflect difference between attributes.
 No gap needed for unused attributes.
 In SPSS, Chart Editor can be used to add data labels.

13. Bar Chart with numbers

14. Bar Chart with percentages

15. HistogramsHistograms
Unlike bar charts, the base represents a numeric scale.
Thus, they are only used for interval/ratio variables.
Provide a visual sense of the distribution of cases on a
variable.
Bars are referred to as bins. Each bin covers a part of the
number line, and every case falling on that part of the
number line is counted in the bin.
Gaps are left for ranges of values with no cases.
SPSS displays the variable's mean, standard deviation,
and number of valid cases to the right of the histogram.
Chart Editor can be used to add data labels.

16. Histogram

17. Other Univariate ChartsOther Univariate Charts
SPSS can generate a range of charts, including line charts,
area charts, scatterplots, dot plots, high-low charts,
boxplots, and dual y-axis charts.
To produce a chart in SPSS, pull down “Graphs” menu
and select “Chart Builder.”
Box Plot
Line Chart
Scatterplot

18. 1980 GSS Young Adults:1980 GSS Young Adults:
What do we now know?What do we now know?
RELIGION:
 89.3% belonged to some religion, while 10.7% reported no
religious affiliation.
 Protestantism and Catholicism were the most common
religions.
 31.9% reported strong religious affiliation, while 57.2% said it
was not very strong.
 Only 1.5% belong to a non-Judeo-Christian religion.

19. 1980 GSS Young Adults:1980 GSS Young Adults:
What do we now know?What do we now know?
EDUCATION:
 Two thirds of twenty-somethings had only a high school
degree at time of survey.
 About one in seven had a bachelors or graduate degree.
 Some were still in school when they took the survey.

20. 1980 GSS Young Adults:1980 GSS Young Adults:
What do we now know?What do we now know?
RELIGION:
 89.3% belonged to some religion, while 10.7% reported no
religious affiliation.
 Protestantism and Catholicism were the most common
religions.
 31.9% reported strong religious affiliation, while 57.2% said it
was not very strong.
 Only 1.5% belong to a non-Judeo-Christian religion.

21. ReferencesReferences
Szafran, R. (2012). Answering questions with
statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.