Albany State University Analyze Central Tendency & Variability Worksheet

Instructions

This assignment includes four variables that indicate the students’ performances on an SPSS exam. You will find the information in the SPSS file named SPSSExam.sav. You can find this file from your resources used in Week 2.

The four variables measured were:

1. exam (first-year SPSS exam score as a percentage)
2. computer (measure of computer literacy in percent)
3. lecture (percentage of SPSS lectures attended)
4. numeracy (a measure of numerical ability out of 15)

In the data, there is a variable called Uni. This variable indicates the university the students attended. The four universities are World University, Universe University, Planet University, and Cosmos University.

NCU SOE faculty have created a helpful video to guide you through this assignment. Please see this week’s resources to view the video.

The goal of this assignment is to explore the concepts related to central tendency and variability for both categorical and continuous variables. Furthermore, another goal is for you to explore the various tools for data analysis in the SPSS software.

1. Split the file by sex. Calculate the mean and standard deviation of exam and lectures for males and females. Hint: use Explore found under the ANALYSIS => Descriptive tabs, exam and lectures will be the dependent variable and sex will be the factor.
2. Compute the mean, median, and mode for computer (computer literacy).
   1. What value is the most representative measure of the central tendency for this variable and why?
3. Calculate the range and the standard deviation for computer (computer literacy).
   1. What does the range tell you about the data?
   2. What does the standard deviation tell you about the data?
4. Create a frequency distribution table and a graph for Uni (university).
   1. What is the most appropriate measure of central tendency?
   2. Please provide a rationale for why you selected this measure of central tendency for this variable.

Remember that there are additional Supplemental Resources available for each week in the Course Resources linked at the top of your course.

Length: Complete responses to all parts of all four questions. Please include the question prompts along with your responses in your assignment submission. In addition to a WORD (.doc) file with the answers to the assignment questions, also include the output (.spv) file. (NOTE: SPSS automatically generates the .spv file as you work in SPSS. When you close your SPSS main window, SPSS will ask you if you want to save the output file. Click ‘yes’, then save to your computer and upload with your assignment.)

References: No references are required, though any sources used other than those provided within the assignment should be cited and referenced in APA format. This assignment is due on 3/27.