SOC 321 Methods of Social Research I: Quantitative Research

 Just heads up guidelines to ALL our the labs: 

SPSS Lab Assignment Guidelines:

1. Select three variables from the DEMO or EXER data set. You can look at the available variables by opening DEMO.sav and EXER.sav in SPSS and browsing through the Variables view, or by looking at the codebook provided at the end of your textbook in Appendix A. (If you want to go beyond the textbook, you can use the GSS2016.sav data file, which has many more possibilities of variables to choose from.)

2. You need to select all three variables from the same data set. One variable, and only one, should be a demographic variable (age, sex, race, income, education, marital status, religion, party ID). You should have both continuous and discrete variables (see Chapter 2 for a definition of those terms)—ideally one variable for each level of measurement.

3. When selecting your variables, think about a hypothesis that you could test with them. Think about items that could be related, or think about how an item may influence another. This will help you produce meaningful analysis. You are also encouraged to pick something that you are interested in, maybe even a topic you have explored earlier in one of the practice exercises for Modules 1 or 2, or one of your other sociology courses.

4. Recreate the table below in a Word file and fill it out for the three variables that you have selected.

5. Depending on the type of variable, you may not be able to get all the information. Tables 5.1 and 5.2 in your textbook tell you which descriptive statistics are used for each type. When it is not available, write “Not applicable” in the cell.

6. Write a 400- to 600-word paper describing the information you have just found out for all the variables. Use Writing Box 5.1 in your textbook for an example of how to write it. Pay attention to the phrasing of the statements and the formatting of the numbers. You need to respect these conventions. Make sure to assess how each variable is distributed (Is it very dispersed or are the responses very concentrated?) and to provide analytical statements about the data.

7. For instance, Writing Box 5.1, last paragraph, states that “some respondents separate their spirituality from formal religious organizations.” This puts the data in perspective for the reader. You may want to engage in careful speculation to explain the patterns you see, but be careful that your speculations are plausible.

8. You do need to include a header with your name, the date, the assignment number on the first page, and page numbers. You do not need to include a title page.