EDD611 Inquiry I Lab 3

Lab 3 covers fundamental data management and analysis skills,  including recoding variables, internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha, and computing new variables.

By the end of Lab 3, students will be able to:

  • Recode variables
  • Assess the reliability of a scale using Cronbach's Alpha
Expand or collapse content Getting Started - Loading Data

Before starting your exercises, ensure that your SPSS is open.

For instructions on how to download and/or open the SPSS software, please see the following guide: EDD611 Inquiry I Getting Started

Exercises

Expand or collapse content Recode a New Variable

When you want to create a new variable from an existing one using a simplified coding scheme, this exercise can be used to create that new variable. This method is especially useful for social identities and in cases where you want to determine if someone belongs to a group or not. 

Learning Objective: Transform an existing variable into a new variable.

Step 1:

Click on Transform and Recode into Different Variables

SPSS Data Editor screen highlighting the Transform, Recode into Different Variables options

Step 2:

Select the Race/Ethnicity Group [RACEGROUP] variable

Highlight of a variable on the Recode into Different Variables window

Step 3:

Click on the arrow button to move the variable into the Input Variable -> Output Variable fields

Arrwo pointing to Input Variable arrow button

Step 4:

A) Enter BIPOC in the Name field

B) Enter Identifies as BIPOC in the Label field

Highlights of the Name and Label fields

Step 5:

Click the Change button

Arrow pointing to the Change button

Step 6:

Enter 1 in the Old Value field and 1 in the New Value field

Highlight of the Old Value and New Value button

Click the Add button

Highlight of the Add button for the Old New field

You will see it added to the Old --> New: field

Highlight of the data entered in the Old New field

Step 7:

Continue to add the following items:

Curren code Variable Name New Code
2 Asian/Pacific Islander 1
3 Black 1
4 Latina/o/x 1
5 White 0
6 Other Race/Ethnicity 0
7 Two or More Races/Ethnicities 1

Step 8:

Select the System-missing option under Old Value and the System-missing under New Value

Highlight of the System-missing options

The update will show in the Old --> New variable field.

Highlight of the data entry

Step 9:

Click the Continue button to proceed

Arrow pointing to the Continue button

Optional: If you would like to check, follow the steps below

Step 1:

Click on Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, then Frequencies

SPSS Data Editor screen highlighting the Analyze, Descriptive Statistics, and Frequencies options

Step 2:

Scroll down to the bottom the of the variable tables. You should see your renamed variable BIPOC there.

Arrow highlighting the scroll bar

Step 3:

Select the Identifies as BIPOC [BIPOC] variable

Highlight of the selected variable and the Variable arrow button

Step 4:

Click the OK button 

Arrow pointing to the OK button

The frequency table should show your new recoded variables.

Overview of the Output window
Expand or collapse content Cronbach's Alpha

Cronbach's alpha is useful when you want to check on reliability of a question. Depending on the results you may adjust your scale. 

Learning objective: Calculate Cronbach's alpha and analyze the results.

Step 1:

Click on Analyze, Scale, the Reliability Analysis

SPSS Data Editor screen highlighting the Analyze, Scale, and Reliability Analysis option

You can drag the bottom right corner of the window to make the variable field larger

Arrow pointing to the bottom right hand corner (to expand the window)
Highlight of the variable codes

Step 2:

Select the variable Self Rating: Academic ability [RATE01]

Highlight of a variable selected

Step 3:

Click on the Arrow button to move it to the Items field

Arrow pointing to the Items arrow button

Step 4:

Repeat that step for the following variables:

  • RATE05
  • RATE13
  • GOAL14
  • GOAL19
  • GOAL20
  • GOAL23

Step 5:

Under Model, ensure that the Alpha option is selected.

Highlight of the Model option Alpha selected

Step 6:

Click the Statistics button 

Arrow pointing to the Statistics button

Step 7:

Under Descriptives for, check the Scale if item deleted checkbox

 

Arrow pointing to the Scale if item deleted option

Step 8:

Click the Continue button 

Arrow pointing to the Continue button

Step 9:

Click the OK button to proceed

Arrow pointing to the OK button

The results will appear below your previous results in the output window

Highlight of the Output window
Expand or collapse content Analysis of Cronbach's Alpha

Step 1:

Looking at the Reliability Statistics table

Highlight of the Reliability Statisticstable

Measure the Cronbach's Alpha against this table

Excellent a > 0.9
Good a > 0.8
Acceptable a > 0.7
Questionable a > 0.6
Poor a > 0.5
Unacceptable a > 0.5 and below

Step 2:

Review the Corrected Item-Total Correlation column.

This column shows how strongly each item correlates with the scale, if the item behaves like the other items. It measures the item's consistency with the rest of the scale (number of items you are testing). 

 

Highlight of the Correlated Item-Total Correlation
Guidelines for Intepretation
>.50 Strong relationship
.30-.50 Acceptable
<.30 Weak relationship

Step 3:

Review the Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted column.

This column tells you how the alpha would change if the item was removed. If the 

Highlight of the Cronbach's Alpha column
Expand or collapse content Compute New Variable

This is best used after you have completed Cronbach's alpha and confirmed reliability of the variables. This allows you to create a composite variable to work with versus assessing individual scores.

Learning Objective: Calculate responses

Step 1:

Click on Transform, then Compute Variable

SPSS Data Editor screen highlighting the Transform, and Compute Variable options

Step 2:

Enter 'STEM' in the Target Variable field

Highlight of the Target Variable field

Step 3:

Select the Self-Rating: Academic ability [RATE01] variable

Highlight of a variable

Step 4:

Click the arrow button to move the variable to the Numeric Expression: field

Arrow pointing to the Numeric Expression field

Step 5:

Click on the + sign

Highlight of the + button

Step 6:

Follow steps 4 and 5 for the following variables

  • RATE05
  • RATE13
  • GOAL13
  • GOAL14
  • GOAL19
  • GOAL20
  • GOAL23

The variables should look like the example below after you are done

Highlight of the varaibles entered in the Numeric Expression field

Step 7:

Click the OK button to proceed

Arrow pointing to the Ok button

The results will appear below your previous results in the output window.

Highlight of the Output window

Optional: If you would like to check, follow the steps below

Step 1:

Click on the Data View tab

Arrow pointing to the Data View tab

You should see the STEM column you created as the last column on the right.

Highlight of the STEM column

Questions? Need Help?

Contact your professor: Dr. Newman at [email protected]