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Lab 2 Notes

Displaying Variable Names Alphabetically

Choose Edit > Options... and click on the General tab.  In the Variable Lists field, select the option, Display names.  Click OK.  You may have to re-open the dataset before the option takes effect.

Obtaining Frequency Distributions

Click Statistics > Descriptive Statistics > Frequencies...  Select the variables you'd like to analyze.  You can select multiple variables by holding the Ctrl button as you click on additional variables.  Move the variable(s) to the Variables in: field by clicking on the right arrow button.  You can also select and move each variable one at a time.

Obtaining a Simple Bar Chart

Click Graphs > Bar... > Simple > Define.  Select the variable name and click on the right arrow pointing to the Category Axis box.  Choose an option in the Bars Represent box (e.g., % of cases).  Click Options... and decide whether you want do include a bar for groups defined by missing values.  Click Continue, then OK.

Recoding a Variable

Click Transform > Recode > Into Different Variables...  Select the name of the variable you'd like to recode and click the right arrow button.  In the Output Variable window, type the name of the new variable and then click Change.  Type the label for the new variable.  Then, click Old and New Values.  Enter old values (or specify a range), enter new values, and click Add.  Continue until all old values are recoded.  Click Continue and then OK.  Finally, define the new variable using the steps we learned in Lab 1.