Activity 18.5
Editing Tables in SPSS and Exporting Them to Word Processing Documents

The objective of this activity is to create a bivariate percentage table using SPSS, edit the table so that is in a form appropriate for a research report, and then export the table to a document created by word processing software.

Go to SPSS and open the data file containing General Social Survey for 2000; the file name is GSS2000depr (download / help downloading). Create a bivariate percentage table in which the dependent variable is attitude on allowing incurable patients to die ("letdie1") and the independent variable is political views recoded to three values ("ideology"). As in Activity 14.3, remember to click on the "Cells" button and choose "Columns" to be sure you have the percentages running down the columns. When the Output Viewer appears, place the cursor within the table and double-click. A squiggly line will appear around the table. This mode is necessary for editing SPSS output.

You can begin by deleting unwanted or unnecessary parts of the table. Click on "Count," and you will see that all occurrences are highlighted. Touch your Delete key, and the labels are deleted. Now click on the part of the table titled "% within POLVIEWS RECODED TO THREE CATEGORIES." Touch Delete to eliminate that label. You probably are not interested in including the row totals and percentages in your final table, so place your cursor on the right border of the table. When the double arrow appears, click and drag the left border toward the column labeled "Conservative" until the two vertical lines merge. Lift your finger, and the Totals column will be deleted. Now place your cursor on the vertical line to the right of the variable labels "Yes" and "No." Drag the line to the left to eliminate space and reduce the size of the table.

You can also edit text. Double-click on the column heading title POLVIEWS RECODED TO THREE CATEGORIES, and it will be highlighted. Type "Political Views" to replace the original heading. Click within the table, and the new heading will be centered. Now double-click on the table's title. Replace the original title with "Table 1. Should Incurable Patients Be Allowed to Die by Political Views?" Click inside the table. Double-click outside the table to get an idea of how the table will look in a research report.

You can also choose from among a wide variety of table styles. Double-click on the table again and make sure that it is surrounded by a squiggly line. Click on "Format," then on "Table Looks." Click on "Academic 2," then on "OK." You can see that the style of the table has changed, but the substance and labels remain the same. Click on "Format" near the top of the page; then from the drop-down menu, click on "Table Looks." From the box titled "TableLook files," choose "Hot Dog," then click "OK." This colorful scheme illustrates the wide variety of table looks offered by SPSS. Return to "Table Looks" and change the style back to "Academic 2." This time click on "Save Look," then on "OK." There are many other ways tables can be edited. For example, you can change fonts, colors, labels from horizontal to vertical, and vice versa. Use the help menus to experiment.

Finally, it is important to learn how to export your table to a Word or WordPerfect document. Click only once on your table. This table will be boxed with a solid (not squiggly) line. Click on "Edit," then "Copy." Open Word or WordPerfect. Click on "Edit," then on "Paste Special." Choose "Picture," and click "OK." Your table will appear in your Word or WordPerfect document. Now return to SPSS. Create a bivariate percentage table similar to the one constructed earlier, but replace "letdie1" with "fefam-opinion about whether it is better for men to work and women to tend to the home. Edit the resulting table and export it to a Word or WordPerfect document. Write a short essay interpreting the table.