Using SPSS to Understand Research and Data Analysis.
  • 2.3c Entering Data in the Data Editor

Now we are ready to enter the data, or scores, for each student in the rows of this spreadsheet. To do this, simply type the scores shown in Table 2.1 into the appropriate cells. To begin, simply click the upper-most cell on the left and

  • Enter the data in the first column
    • Type a 1 for the first Student ID; press enter.
    • Type a 2 for the second ID, press enter.
    • Continue typing the remaining ID numbers in this column.
  • Enter the data in the second column
    • Click on the first cell of the column titled Sex; type a 1 for the first student's Sex.
    • Press enter and continue typing the remaining codes for student sex.
  • Enter the data in the third column
    • Click on the first cell of the column titled Courses; type a 2 the number of courses.
    • Press enter and continue typing the remaining number of courses taken.

Alternatively, you could enter your data across each row rather than down the columns. That is, after typing the first student ID, you could use your right-arrow key to stay on that row and enter that student's sex; press the right-arrow again and type the number of courses for the first student. Then click on the first cell of the second row and enter the data across that row for the second student in the same way. When you have finished entering your data from Table 2.1, your Data Editor window should look like the one shown in Figure 2.10.

To view a video of these steps, click Play below:

^^ Click Play
 

While data entry can be tedious, it is a critical first step in analyzing the results of research, so it is important to be careful to avoid text entry errors. If you are not careful in entering data, the results of your analyses will be meaningless, so it is important to be careful and accurate in entering data. Further, after you have entered data, you should always double-check your file for accuracy. We cannot overemphasize the importance of accurate data entry. This is what the phrase, “garbage in, garbage out" is all about.