Last week we worked on Worksheet #3 in Pollock’s SPSS book. In Chapter 3 we worked on Recoding, meaning we can now create a new variable that collapses respondents into multiple categories. We did this by running Frequencies, transforming the old variables into new variables. We also learned that we can do this on multiple different kinds of variables like Categorical and Interval-level variables. However, for collapsing interval-level variables, SPSS’s more obscure Visual Binning procedure provides an attractive alternative to recoding. Chapter 3 also shows readers how to use Compute to create new variables.

This week, we worked on Chapter #4, Making Comparisons. Although the logic of comparison is always the same, the appropriate method depends on the levels of measurement of the independent and dependent variables. This chapter shows readers how to address two common hypothesis-testing situations: those in which both the independent and dependent variables are categorical and those in which the independent variable is categorical and the dependent variable is interval level. We used line charts and bar charts while finding the data which was super helpful because in enabled me to be able to understand the data a little bit easier. I felt like I had a really good grasp on this chapter overall and liked comparing variables.

HR: Pollock Chapters 3 and 4