1. What company developed and sells ScreenCam?

Lotus Development Corporation

2. What is the ScreenCam Player, and how do you make it appear on an SPSS Student Assistant movie screen?

This is the control panel for ScreenCam. Press the space bar to make it appear.

3. Indicate two different wants to pause and resume playing as SPSS Student Assistant movie.

Either press the space bar to stop and start, or use the pause/play button on the ScreenCam control panel.

4. What should you do if the ScreenCam player covers a part of the window that you want to view?

Use the cursor to grasp and move the player control panel.

5. How can you make the help menu for the ScreenCam player appear on your computer monitor screen?

Click on the icon in the upper left-hand corner of the control panel, and select Playback Quickhelp.

 

1. How is data organized in the SPSS for Windows data editor?

It is arranged by rows and columns. The rows are subjects, observations, or respondents, and the columns are the variables or questions in the survey.

2. What menu command contains operations to save a data file, open a data file, and exit SPSS?

These are under the File command.

3. What menu item would you use for cutting, copying, and pasting in the SPSS data editor?

Use the Edit command.

4. Suppose you find that a variable had been left out of the middle of an SPSS data set. What menu command would you use to insert that variable in its proper place in the data set?

Use the Data-Insert Variable command sequence.

5.  A researcher has obtained the present age of the oldest child in the family and the present age of that child's father. What menu command would the researcher use in order to compute a new variable to determine the father's age at the child's birth?

He or she would use the Transform-compute command and create a new variable such as age equal to DadAge-OldestChildAge.

 

1. What menu item is used the most by those who rely on SPSS for Windows to do various types of statistical analysis?

The Analyze menu command has all statistical analysis commands under it.

2. If a person wanted to do some simple summaries of frequencies or to build a table with SPSS, what menu item would than person use?

Use the Analyze-Descriptive Statistics-Frequencies command sequence.

3. Name three types of graphs that can be created by SPSS.

The graph types are: bar, line, area, pie, high-low, Pareto, control, boxplot, error bar, scatter, histogram, pp, qq, sequence, and time series. (Only 3 are needed to answer the question.)

4. If you wanted information about the data file appearing in the SPSS data editor, what menu item would you click on to obtain "File Info"?

The File Info command is part of the Utilities commands.

5. What, if any Help is available for SPSS for Windows?

The Help command leads to topics, tutorial, SPSS home page, statistics coach, technical support, Ask Me, and about (SPSS).

 

1. What are the three dog biscuit brands in the Milk Bone survey, and what is each one's code number?

They are Milk Bones (1), Pooch Plus (2), and Beggar’s Bits (3).

2. What are the three "rules" about a variable name in SPSS?

A variable name: (1) must begin with a letter, (2) must be only letters and numbers, and (3) must be no longer than 8 characters.

3. How do you enter a variable name into an SPSS data set?

Double click on the "var" bar and enter the variable name in the Define Variable window.

4. There is a "default" variable name build into SPSS. What is the nature of this default variable name?

The default variable is in the form of "var0000x" where x is a number such as var00001.

5. How are numerical codes entered into the SPSS data editor?

Keystroke them directly in the cells in the data editor matrix.

6.  How do you save an SPSS data set?

Use the File-Save As to initially save it as a .sav file and File-Save to automatically save it in that file name.

 

1. How do you open a saved SPSS data set?

Use the File-Open command, or click on the file folder icon. Click on the data file folder and then click on Open or double click on the file folder.

2. How many different Variable Types are permitted by SPSS, and name 3 different types of variables.

There are 8 types: numeric, command, dot, scientific notation, date, dollar, custom currency, and string.

3. How do you specify the number of decimal places for a variable in an SPSS data set?

In the Define Variable Type window, use the Decimal Places box.

4. How does a Variable Label differ from a Value Label?

A Variable label identifies the variable with a single sentence or designation, while a value label indicates the label for the code numbers used for a variable.

5. What is the procedure for entering in value labels for a variable?

Use the Define labels window to type in the code number and associated label.

6. What appears in the SPSS data editor for a variable that has no value labels defined when you click the View-Value Labels buttons?

The View-Value Labels command makes all labels that have been defined appear in the data editor cells. If a variable has no labels, the code numbers remain in view.

7. What appearance options are available in the SPSS data editor?

The grid lines can be turned on or off with View-Grid Lines; the value labels can be shown with View-Value Labels, and font type, style, and size can be changed with View-Fonts.

 

1. How do you make the value labels appear on an SPSS for Windows data editor window, and what appears if the value label is too long to fit in the variable column?

Use the View-Value Labels command to make them appear. The column width can be changed by double clicking on the variable label at the top of the data editor, and then using the Column Format feature of the Define Variable window.

2. Under what SPSS menu command will you find the command to "insert case?" What is a case, and how do you insert it in the data editor?

Use the Data-Insert Case command sequence to insert a case. A case is an observation or respondent that is represented by a row in the data editor. Simply position the cursor on the row where the case is to be inserted and use the Data-Insert Case command. A blank row will be inserted. Data must be entered into the cells of that row.

3. If you happen to forget to include a variable in your SPSS data editor data set, do you need to start over and re-enter all the variables? If not, what can you do?

There is no need to start over. Use the Data-Insert Variable command with the cursor anywhere in the column where you want the variable to be placed.

4. What happens when you sort an SPSS data set based on the code numbers for a particular variable. How does an ascending sort differ from a descending sort?

The Data-Sort Cases will rearrange the data to be lowest-to-highest (ascending) or highest-to-lowest (descending) in the rows of the data editor.

5. If you thought that you might have made a data entry error by keystroking a "7" instead of a "2" for a particular variable, how could you find out if the error was in your data set?

Use the Edit-Find command sequence and instruct SPSS to search for a 7.

1. What are the file names of the four SPSS data sets provided to you by Burns and Bush? With which chapter is each one associated?

They are Nfo.sav (7), Internet.sav (15), Lipton.sav (16), and Friendly.sav (17). The associated chapters are in parentheses.

2. Where are these data sets stored on your computer's hard disk drive?

They are found in the C:\SPSSSA\DATA directory

3. What is the file name extension used to identify an SPSS data set?

SPSS saves a data set file with the extension of .SAV.

4. If your computer became infected with the coffee bean virus and it erased your Lipton SPSS data file, would you need to drop your marketing research class? Explain.

No, you can stay in the class. Just reinstall the SPSS Student Assistant using the CD-ROM. (You could also obtain the file from the instructor or a fellow student and copy it to the c:\spsssa\data directory.)

5. Is it possible to access one of your SPSS data files without using your computer's hard disk drive storage areas? Explain.

Not possible unless you copy the file onto a floppy disk. (This is not discussed in the movie, however.) The important point is that the data files are not accessible from the CD-ROM.

6. Why have these four SPSS data been provided as part of your SPSS Student Assistant software?

Students are expected to have meaning learning experiences by using them.

 

1. Describe how National Family Opinion is an example of a syndicated data company.

NFO is described in Chapter 7 of the textbook. It maintains a household panel of over 500,000 households matched with the U.S. population. Its panel members agree to mail and telephone surveys so response rate is 70-75%. NFO maintains a database of its panel members, and sells this information service to a wide variety of clients.

One NFO service is its omnibus survey is where a client pays for a few questions to be asked of panel members, and the client’s gains access to all of NFO’s data base information.

2. What are some of the demographic variables and possessions variables that are contained in the NFO data base?

These variables include geographic region, market size, wife’s age, income, household size, zip code, family size, dwelling, home ownership, race, Hispanic origin, wife’s employment, wife’s occupation. Possessions data includes: dog ownership, cat ownership, dishwasher, motorhome, IBM pc, coffeemaker, contact lens, denture, basic cable, premium cable, arthritis asthma, high blood pressure, migraine headaches, ulcers, business trips, and pleasure trips.

3. Characterize what is meant by a "basic graph" that SPSS for Windows can produce. What features are included and what are missing in the case of pie charts?

A basic graph is the initial raw graph made by SPSS for Windows. With pie charts, a basic graph includes colored slices and labels for the slices, but no percentages.

4. Describe what is the SPSS Output Window and how to use it.

The SPSS output window is a window separate from the one showing the SPSS data set. It has a tree diagram listing of SPSS output on the left and the output on the right side. Clicking on the item in the left output window causes it to appear in the right output window.

5. What is a "comparative bar chart" and how is it useful with an omnibus survey service such as that provided by NFO?

A comparative bar chart presents two variables together and may reveal patterns that are insightful with respect to marketing strategy implications. The client’s question(s) on the omnibus survey can be cross-compared with any question in the NFO data base, and the marketing strategy insights may well prove to be very valuable.

6. How would you characterize the marketing implications of each of the following:

Mastercard Gold card ownership and household income

There is greater ownership of the Mastercard Gold card with higher income, so the higher income groups are a good target market for Mastercard Gold.

Personal computer ownership and household income

PC ownership is about 1/3 for medium and high income groups, but nil with the lowest income group that probably cannot afford a computer. Personal computer marketers have a strong foothold in all but the lowest income groups.

Premium cable television subscription and family life stage.

Premium cable television subscription is highest in those families that are in a "parent" stage (young, middle, or older), so the cable companies should target parents.

 

1. Use the National Family Opinion panel data set to answer the following questions. For each one, you will need to construct a graph using the simple graphing routine in SPSS for Windows.

Note: This test requires your students to access the NFO data set we have provided and to make simple SPSS for Windows graphs. They will need to copy and paste the graphs to turn them in; however, if they do not have access to a color printer, the black and white versions will look quite crude. The graphs are found in the Instructors Manual where we have used the SPSS graph editor features to make the graphs more readable in black and white.

2. How many geographic regions are represented in the NFO panel data set? Which is the largest region, and which is the smallest region?

There are 9 regions with the East North Central region the largest and the New England region the smallest.

2. What are the market sizes represented in the NFO panel data set? What is the largest market size, and what is the smallest?

There are 4 sizes with 2 million plus the largest and 100K-500K the smallest.

3. What are the husband occupation levels in the NFO panel data set? What is the largest occupational category, and what is the smallest?

Here are the occupation types with retired/student/other the largest and technical/sales/administrator the smallest.

4. What is the pattern of cat ownership by household size, and does it differ from the pattern of dog ownership by household size?

More people own dogs than cats, and dogs are more likely to be owned by larger households.

5. If Black & Decker was considering launching a new type of coffee maker into the coffee maker market, what income group(s) should it target?

Ownership is high is almost all income groups, so if the new coffee maker was a replacement of the old type, Black and Decker should target the mass market (all groups).

6. What age groups of married women should a contact lens marketer target?

Contacts are owned more by younger women. Targeting married women who are 50 and older is less sensible from a market size standpoint than targeting married women who are 49 or younger.

 

1. Briefly describe the notion of "data mining."

Data mining refers to the "drilling down" of large sets of data in order to see meaningful or relevant patterns. For instance, with data mining, one can find the largest geodemographic market segment based on usage rates.

2. What does "OLAP" stand for, and were do you find the OLAP cubes command in SPSS for Windows?

OLAP stands for "online analytical processing," and the command is found under the "Reports" menu item under the "Analyze" menu item.

3. Distinguish a summary variable from a grouping variable in an OLAP cube.

A summary variable is the variable of interest such as usage rate, while grouping variables are geodemographic and other segmentation variables used to categorize types of consumers.

4. What summary statistics are the "default" for OLAP cubes?

These are: sum, number of cases, mean, standard deviation, percent of total sum, and percent of total N.

5. How does a pivoting tray relate to a summary table with OLAP cubes?

When the pivoting tray first appears, the grouping variables are layers are listed in the summary table with selection buttons to select any category of any grouping variable. The row(s) at the bottom of the summary table contain the summary variable(s) selected, and the columns of these rows contain the summary statistics such as mean and percent of total N selected.

Note: if students experiment with the pivoting tray, they will learn that the grouping variables, summary variables, and statistics can be moved into virtually any configuration of layers, rows, and columns.

6. Describe how the OLAP cube summary table can be used to mine data.

Use the selection button to select various combinations of the categories of the grouping variables (for example older couples without children), and look at the variables of interest (such as the mean). By doing this for several combinations, the largest or smallest value will be identified.

Note: OLAP cubes have a great deal more power than is implied with this movie and simple test. Instructors may wish to learn about these features and teach them to students as an introduction to SPSS data mining. For more information, see the data mining web pages at www.spss.com.

 

1. When is it useful to use the templates routine of SPSS for Windows?

It is useful when you have several variables with the same response categories.

2. Refer to the 5 menu items that were tested in the Piccadilly Cafeteria survey. Using only the respondents whose answers you can see, what is,

a. The least appealing?

Vegetable club sandwich – quest5

b. The most appealing?

Chinese noodle soup – quest2 - has 4 great and 4 much appeals, more than British stew – quest3.

3. In addition to value labels, what other aspects of variables can be handled in with the "templates" command?

The template allows changes in Type, Value labels, Missing values, and Column format.

4. List the steps you should use in establishing the value labels for a set of 10 questions in an SPSS data set where the answers can only be "yes," "no," or "no opinion."

Block the 10 question column in the data editor with the cursor

Use the Date-Templates command to bring up the templates window

Enter the template description name, if a new name is necessary

Check the apply value labels box

Click on the Value Labels button

In the Define Labels window enter in the numbers and the associated labels and use "Add" or "Change" as needed for each one.

Click on Continue to close the Define Labels window

Click the Change button

Click on the OK button to close the window

5. Ten students have been asked to indicate how valuable they think each of the following is in securing a good first position upon graduation:

a. High grade point average

b. Many extracurricular activities

c. An internship experience

The students answers are coded as follows: (1) not valuable, (2) slightly valuable, (3) valuable, (4) very valuable, and (5) no opinion.

They are also asked to what extent they agree or disagree with the following statements.

Create an SPSS data set with variable labels for these variable by using the templates command. Print out your data set with the value labels.

This exercise will require students to make an SPSS data set, enter in the data, and use the Templates command to establish the variable labels for the agree-disagree response categories.