PSYC 355 LAB PROJECT PHASE 2: RAW DATA SCORING

LAB PROJECT PHASE 2: RAW DATA SCORING INSTRUCTIONS
How to Create SPSS Data File
Open a new data file in SPSS. You will create a file containing 1 variable for each item on the
survey (for a total of 10). You will score each individual survey and enter the values into the
appropriate column of the SPSS data file for later analysis.
How to Score Survey and Enter Results into Data File
All questions on the survey except the last one are written as Likert-type items, with choices
ranging from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree. In order to enter these into the data file for
analysis, each of the answer choices will be given a corresponding score ranging from 1 to 5.
NOTE: It is important to pay attention to the following directions, as some of the items will be
reverse-scored (see below).
1. Gather your completed surveys. It will be necessary to enter data from each individual

survey into SPSS. If you have used the online method, you must follow these steps to
access each individual survey:
a) Sign into your account and go to My Surveys. Your survey title will appear with 3

icons to the right: Design, Collect, and Analyze. Click on the pie graph under
Analyze. This will take you to a Response Summary page.
b) On the menu bar to the left, click on Browse Responses. This allows you to view

each individual survey, which is necessary in order to enter and analyze data in SPSS.
Within Browse Responses, you can move from one individual survey to the next by
clicking on the Next and Prev arrow buttons at the top.
2. All items on the survey will be scored from 1 to 5 except for item 10. You will enter the

scores for each survey into your SPSS data file under the corresponding variable, case by
case. If you have 10 surveys, you will have 10 cases (rows); if you have 25 surveys, 25
cases (rows), etc.
a) Scores for items 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are as follows:

Strongly agree = 5
Agree = 4
Neither agree nor disagree = 3
Disagree = 2
Strongly disagree = 1
b) Scores for items 4 and 6 are reversed. This is because, in opposition to the other

items, these items indicate a fundamentally different worldview than the Christian
worldview, so the scoring must be reversed; this allows higher scores on all items to
reflect an understanding of Christian doctrine, while lower scores indicate
misunderstanding or disagreement. This is a method commonly used in survey
research.

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PSYC 355

c) Scores for items 4 and 6 are as follows:

Strongly agree = 1
Agree = 2
Neither agree nor disagree = 3
Disagree = 4
Strongly disagree = 5
d) For item 10, you will simply enter the exact number that the respondent filled in on

the survey (for example, 10 or 63, etc.) under the appropriate variable in the SPSS
data file.
3. Remember that the original research question is about the relationship between church

attendance and understanding of Christian doctrine. We have one variable that represents
church attendance (item 10), but we do not have one sole variable to compare it toa
total score that represents doctrinal understanding. Based on what you have learned, how
do you think we should create this variable?
Answer: After you have entered all of your survey data, create a new variable called
Tot_Und (which is shorthand for total understanding). Define this variable as the sum
of items 19; see Lesson 19 in Green & Salkind (2011) to review this procedure.
Refer to the Lab Project Overview and Instructions in addition to this document when
completing this phase.