Purpose:

This exercise is designed to give you practice in analyzing data in terms of bivariate procedures. You will do descriptive statistics ("Frequencies") for the variables and will use the "Crosstabs" procedure within SPSS to generate tables for analysis.

Data set:

The data for this exercise come from work done by Julie Adkins at The Stewpot in downtown Dallas, TX.. There are nearly 7,000 cases, each of which was the result of her participant observation and interaction with homelessness clients at the front desk of The Stewpot. A codebook is being provided to you in class. In addition, the "Variable View" in SPSS will show you how the data are coded. You will receive a CD containing the basic data file (titled StewpotClients.sav) to be used for this exercise.

Procedures:

First, in "Variable View" examine the entire data file and look at the way in which variables have been handled (i.e., their values and characteristics).

Second, in "Data View" click the mouse on "Analyze" and then on "Descriptive Statistics" and then on ""Frequencies." Using appropriate options, look at the frequencies for all of the variables and their values.

Third, again go to "Analyze" and then on "Descriptive Statistics" and then go to "Crosstabs." Select the variables "Weekday," "Sex," "Ethnicity," "Age," "Need1," and "Disposition1" for analysis. Take each in turn as part of a pair of variables and generate crosstabs with appropriate statistics, cells, and formats. When you have done all of these 2x2 tables you will have a total of 15 cross-tabulations.

Fourth, look at the "observed" and "expected" frequencies for each of these variables and, in light of these data, calculate the ChiSquare values and significance for these 2X2 tables.

Fifth, do some data reduction by clicking on "Transform" in the top menu, then selecting the "Recode into Different Variables" option. Recode the five-year age ranges into ten-year ranges by selecting the appropriate options in the dialog boxes. Once the new variable has been created, run a cross tabulation against the other variables (except age) analyzed above. This will generate 5 more tables.