SPSS Statistics

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  • 1.  Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Fri July 16, 2021 09:56 AM

    Hello, I am new to SPSS so I'm asking a very general question

    For my project, I am analyzing the results of a survey. In our survey, we asked several questions where we had a great number of multiple responses. So for a one question there was maybe 20 possible check marks which you could select if you the condition applied to you. When downloaded into SPSS, the file gave 20 yes/no rows for each possible yes/no response. 

    Is this something that is to be expected, or should I try to recode the file?  Will simply using the multiple responses box under analysis? 

    Any tips or suggestions would go a long way.

    Thank you in advance. 



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    Nathanael Sovitzky
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    #SPSSStatistics


  • 2.  RE: Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Fri July 16, 2021 10:44 AM
    Hello.

    Look at the MULT RESPONSE command for handling such variables when you want FREQUENCIES or CROSSTABS, and the MRSETS command if you want to analyze those data in Custom Tables (aka CTABLES)

    If you want to use other procedures, then some amount of recoding/creating new variables may be called for.

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    Rick Marcantonio
    Quality Assurance
    IBM
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  • 3.  RE: Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Sat July 17, 2021 12:11 AM

    Dear Rick

     

    It has been very useful.

    Too bad you can't use the new variable for regression.

     

    Thanks

     






  • 4.  RE: Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Mon July 19, 2021 08:35 AM
    Well, I'm not sure how one would account for the lack of independence among responses within a subject in such a model. You could of course create a composite variable using the SPSS transformation language.

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    Rick Marcantonio
    Quality Assurance
    IBM
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  • 5.  RE: Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Mon July 19, 2021 08:57 AM
    In the context of regression analysis, you would just include the individual 0/1 multiple response variables.  They would be dummy variables.  With 20 categories, though, you would use up your degrees of freedom pretty quickly if you include several multiple category sets.  You might want to group some categories if that makes theoretical sense.

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    Jon Peck
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  • 6.  RE: Handling Multiple Response questions

    Posted Fri July 16, 2021 11:33 AM
    Rick gave you a good answer for the usual multiple response structure. but you said 
    "the file gave 20 yes/no rows for each possible yes/no response."

    If you meant columns in the Data Editor Data View, i. e., variables, then all is well,  Otherwise, the situation is more complicated and the data would need to be restructured.  Please clarify.

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