SPSS for Social Workers (with CD-ROM)

This well-illustrated text is specifically designed and class-tested for use with social work students who are taking their first course in statistics and SPSS.

Through a step-by-step, engaging instruction of SPSS, this text gives students the skills needed for foundational statistical analysis, based on actual data from social work research projects. With relevant examples of practice and policy throughout the text, instruction focuses on the creation, organization, manipulation and transformation of data sets. The text covers statistical material on topics including, but not limited to: normal distributions, cross-tabulations and chi-square analysis, correlations, introductory regression, and tests involving group comparisons. A tabular, instructional format is used throughout, with one column for instructions and another for explanatory notes/comments, allowing students to readily track their progress and check each step once undertaken. The instructions are liberally supported with screen shots, charts and sample output (Chs. 2-8). References are made to SPSS 12.0 throughout the text, but it also can be used with earlier versions.

Although not designed as a statistics text, it includes sufficient statistical material to assist students without prematurely burdening them with information too far beyond the scope of an introductory course. The text aims to engender familiarity and confidence in the tasks of quantitative analysis.

Each chapter concludes with “Endnotes.”

Foreword.

Preface.

1. THE SPSS FOR WINDOWS PACKAGE 1.

Why This Workbook?

An Excursion Through the SPSS 12.0 Terrain.

The Data Editor - Data View.

The Data Editor - Variable View.

The menu bar.

The SPSS Viewer.

The SPSS Syntax Editor (optional).

Switching and manipulating windows.

Printing Output.

Saving Data Files.

Changing Options.

Help!

Global help.

Local help.

2. PRODUCING DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.

Social Work Issue: Children of Divorcing Couples.

Reviewing the Data File Variables.

Displaying the Data.

Exploring a Data File.

Means Procedure: Descriptive Statistics for Nested Subgroups.

 ‘Splitting’ the File.

Bar, Line and Area Charts - Clustered, Stacked and Multiple.

Creating related charts from scratch.

Creating related charts directly from a clustered bar chart.

Other types of multiple charts.

Editing of Charts for Printing (Optional).

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

3. DATA TRANSFORMATION.

Social Work Issue: Children ‘Drifting’ in Foster Care.

Using the Compute Feature of SPSS.

Creating an identification variable.

Creating tentative placement history variables.

Two variables resembling ‘summated scales’.

Recoding Variables.

Recoding into the same variable.

Recoding into different variables.

Exploratory Descriptive Analysis of Placement History.

Selecting Cases According to a Given Criterion.

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter 3.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

4. NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS.

Social Work Issue: Poverty and Income.

Graphs of Normal Distributions.

Producing ‘graphs’ of normal distribution from syntax (optional).

Characteristics of normal distributions.

Testing Data for Normality.

Normal distribution random variable RV.NORMAL.

Producing statistics and charts.

Checking for normality.

Distribution of Disposable Income for Sample and Subgroups.

Sampling Distribution of the Mean (Optional).

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter 4.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

5. CROSSTABULATIONS OF CATEGORICAL DATA.

Social Work Issue: Parenting Practices and Related Adolescent

Adjustment.

Producing Crosstabulations.

Variables Reflecting ‘Disciplinary Style’.

Chi-Square Statistics and Their Interpretation.

Some Cross-Regional Variations in Self-Assessed Competency.

Tentative Investigations into Parental ‘Disciplinary Style’.

Stratified Crosstabulations - Controlling for Variables.

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter 5.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

6. LINEAR REGRESSION AND CORRELATION.

Social Work Issue: Childhood Sexual Abuse - its Legacy.

Scatterplots for Effects Attributed to Sexual Assault.

Contents v.

Matrix of Scatterplots for Effects Attributed to Sexual Assault.

Partial Correlation Coefficients.

Linear Regression (the Simple or Bivariate Case).

Multiple Linear Regression (Optional).

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter 6.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

7. GROUP COMPARISONS.

Social Work Issue: Youth Suicide.

One-Sample T Test.

Independent-Samples T Test.

Paired-Samples T Test.

One-Way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance).

A Comment About Nonparametric Tests.

Output Summary and Exercises for Chapter 7.

Chapter Summary and Implications for Practice.

8. CREATING SPSS DATA FILES.

Data Sources and Questionnaires.

A practice questionnaire.

Defining Variables in the Data Editor.

 ‘Customizing’ the data file.

Entering data.

Editing and shifting variables and data.

Customizing SPSS Data Files in Earlier Versions.

Exercises for Chapter 8.

Appendix 1 Variable Information for Included Data Sets.

Appendix 2 List of Figures.

References.

Index.