SPSS Exercises

[GSS10SSDS] 

1. Recall that the GSS sample includes men and women from 18 to 89 years of age. Does it matter that we may have responses from men and women of diverse ages? Would our results change if we selected a younger sample of men and women?

  1. To take the SPSS demonstration one step further, use the Select Cases procedure to select respondents based on the variable AGE who are less than or equal to 35 years old. Do this by selecting Data and then Select Cases. Next, select If Condition is satisfied and then click on If. Find and highlight the variable AGE in the scroll-down box on the left of your screen. Click the arrow next to the scroll-down box. AGE will now appear in the box on the right. Now, tell SPSS that you want to select respondents who are 35 years of age or less. The box on the right should now read AGE <= 35. Click Continue and then OK.
  2. Using this younger sample, repeat the Explore procedure that we just completed in the demon­stration. What differences exist between men and women in this younger sample on the ideal number of children? How do these results compare with those based on the entire sample?

2. Calculate the 90% confidence interval for the following variables, comparing lower, working, middle, and upper classes (CLASS) in the GSS sample. First, tell SPSS that we want to select all cases in the sample by selecting Data, Select Cases, and then All Cases, and then OK. Then, use the Explore proce­dure using CLASS as your factor variable (Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, Explore). Make a summary statement of your findings.

  1. CHILDS (Number of children in the household)
  2. EDUC (Respondent’s highest year of school completed)
  3. PAEDUC (Father’s highest year of school completed)
  4. PRESTG80 (Respondent’s occupational prestige)
  5. MAEDUC (Mother’s highest year of school completed)