Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences by Frederick J. Gravetter, Larry B. Wallnau ISBN 10: 1305504917 ISBN 13: 9781305504912

SPSS ® 521
SPSS ®
General instructions for using SPSS are presented in Appendix D. Following are detailed
instructions for using SPSS to perform the Pearson, Spearman, point-biserial, and partial
correlations. Note: We will focus on the Pearson correlation and then describe how slight modifications
to this procedure can be made to compute the Spearman, point-biserial, and partial
correlations. Separate instructions for the phi-coefficient are presented at the end of this section.
Data Entry
1. The data are entered into two columns in the data editor, one for the X values
(VAR00001) and one for the Y values (VAR00002), with the two scores for each
individual in the same row.
Data Analysis
1. Click Analyze on the tool bar, select Correlate, and click on Bivariate.
2. One by one, move the labels for the two data columns into the Variables box. (Highlight
each label and click the arrow to move it into the box.)
3. The Pearson box should be checked but, at this point, you can switch to the Spearman
correlation by clicking the appropriate box.
4. Click OK.
SPSS Output
We used SPSS to compute the correlation for the data in Example 15.3 and the output is shown
in Figure 15.15. The program produces a correlation matrix showing all the possible correlations,
including the correlation of X with X and the correlation of Y with Y (both are perfect
correlations). You want the correlation of X and Y, which is contained in the upper right corner
(or the lower left). The output includes the significance level (p value or alpha level) for the
correlation.
Correlations
VAR00001
VAR00002
VAR00001 Pearson Correlation
1 .875
Sig. (2-tailed)
.052
N
5 5
VAR00002
Pearson Correlation
.875
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.052
FIGURE 15.15
The SPSS output for the
correlation in Example 15.3.
N
5 5