In article <970407095231_607604458@emout06.mail.aol.com>, Vivian Martin <VBMARTIN@AOL.COM> wrote: >Hello, > >Well, I plunked down the $185 for the 7.5 Windows grad student pack. I'm in >awe of its capabilities, much as I am in awe of the many power users who >participate in this discussion group. I see that this SPSS pack is a great >bargain, even as I'm beginning to fear it may be more power than I need or >can handle right now. >I've spent the last week or so reading up on nonparametric tests and the 7.0 >manuals I purchased when I took a stat course and was introduced to SPSSat >another school. I've put 164 cases , each with 41 variables, in my new >at-home system, but am not a little confused about whether my nonprobability >purposive sample really meets he standards for nonparametric tests as I'd >assumed. > >I'd never expected to have to get as deep into stats etc as I have. I'm doing >a grounded study attempting to blend multimethods around the issue of layoffs >and individuals investment in core American values. As a journalist by day ( >student by night), my training has been to use numbers and live voices, so I > wanted some of the strengths of quantitative analysis and qualitative >research in my study. I developed a survey with questions from GSS, another >national survey, and a couple of open-ended questions that helped point the >way to subjects for in-depth interviews ( I'm doing 20-25 on top of the >survey data). One segment of my survey group came from job search >centers/workshops in the Greater Hartford area, the other 90+ are mainly mid >managers from the same Hartford insurance company who'd put together a >support group/networking club.( I did a mailing and got more than 60 percent >response.) So I was in deeper than I'd planned, but one of the aspects of the >inquiry-based grad program I'm in ( Vermont College/Norwich University is >that you have to pick up all the interdisciplinary strands, no matter where >they lead. > >For me, all roads led to SPSS, but it appears, from manual reading, that >there is an assumption of randomness for all the tests, even ones that some >textbooks would indicate can be used for purposive nonprobability samples >with nominal and rank orders, which is where I fit in. Am I misreading the >manual, or are there manuals/Internet articles that might clarify this for >me? I am definitely not a power user, but would hate to think I need to go >out and buy some sort of Stats for Poets package. Thanks in advance, and >sorry for my dumbness. > >Vivian Martin

All significance tests in SPSS are based on an assumption of simple random sampling from infinite populations. This is the standard way that things are done in statistics packages, and what should be assumed unless something is specifically stated about the package or procedure being designed for other situations.

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