RESEARCH METHODS IN TOURISMNicos Rodosthenous PhD

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25/4/2013 1Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

1.Introduction This chapter is organized as a step-by-step

introductory manual for operating the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software package for survey analysis.

2. Cases and variables SPSS-and any other statistical analysis package-deals

with data which are organized in terms of cases and variables.

25/4/2013 2Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

A case is a single example, such as an individual who has been interviewed, an employee of a company, a visitor to a country. So a sample is made up of a number of cases.

A variable is an item of information such as the gender of an individual, male or female, the number of staff of a company; the population of a country.

25/4/2013 3Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

2.1. Specifying variables: In order to communicate with the SPSS program

it is necessary to identify each item of data in the questionnaire by a variable name, such as : name, type, width, decimal places, label, values, missing, columns, alignment, measure and attitude.

3. SPSS procedures 3.1. Frequencies: the procedure can be run for

one variable at a time or for a number of variables

25/4/2013 4Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

3.2. Checking for errors: after obtaining the frequencies printout for all variables it is necessary to check through the results for possible errors.

3.3. Multiple response: are single questions with a number of possible responses.

3.4. Recode: is a procedure which can be used to change the codes of variable values.

3.5. Means: is the same as an average, such as ages, incomes or expenditure.

25/4/2013 5Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

4. Presenting the results: statistical summary Cross-tabulation, rows and columns,

percentages, weighting, graphics (bar graph, stacked bar graph, pie chart and line graph)

5. Preparing a research report The preparation of what is generally the final

outcome of a research project is a written report. It considers the varying demands of three types

25/4/2013 6Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

of report: 1) the management, planning, research project report, 2) the academic journal article 3) the thesis, each with different audiences.

The report includes the various ancillary components of a report, such as the cover , cover page, title page, list of contents, synopsis, abstract, executive summary, preface , foreword, and acknowledgements.

It then includes the main body of the report in terms of technical aspects, largely to do with

25/4/2013 7Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

format and structure and content. Structure is emphasized as the key feature of

research reports, particularly in their longer formats.

Writing of a good research report is an art and a skill which develops with practice.

An important point to bear in mind is the obvious fact that the audio-visual presentation is not the same as a written report.

25/4/2013 8Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Survey analysis: defining variables; SPSS; the analysis process. Preparing a research report.

25/4/2013 9Dr Nicos Rodosthenous