This exchange (and pouring rain) has prompted me to explore CTABLES with some of the examples in my tutorials. The CSR, whilst thorough in listing everything CT can do, is less than helpful for working out how to do what the user wants: the Help tutorials for CT inside SPSS are uninformative and sparse.

Looks like 1972 all over again when Jim Ring and I had to write a series of new handouts (effectively a manual to the manual) for researchers who came to SSRC Survey Unit for advice and assistance. These detailed, in simple language, the various stages of survey data capture, file management and statistical analysis and explained how to do this with SPSS. We even joked about writing a “Clod’s Guide to Survey Analysis Using SPSS” They formed the basis for teaching notes on our Summer Schools in Survey Methods (1970-76) and, eventually, for my Survey Analysis Workshop (1976 – 92) at the then Polytechnic of North London. Apart from workshop exercises and supplementary explanations, we used Maria Norusis wonderful book from 1987 onwards (bought in bulk and sold at cost to students).

Unless I can find a downloadable CT explanation and workthrough for the kind of tables I need, it seems I’ll have to write something myself. I’ve been playing with CT on some of my course data and noted that it is very, very fast. What I need to do now is work backwards from the output I used to get using BREAKDOWN (always caused a laugh from my students when it was first mentioned). . . /CROSSBREAK (now superceded) to see if CT can produce it. I’m looking for a way to get this table:

sexism2 * sex * ethnic

sexism2

sex	ethnic
	White		Other		Total
	Mean	N	Mean	N	Mean	N
Boys	13.41	22	11.90	20	12.69	42
Girls	9.17	30	8.64	14	9.00	44
Total	10.96	52	10.56	34	10.80	86

Into a format which matches this blank table:

Sexism

Mean

(n)

All

White

Other

All

( )

Boys

( )

Girls

( )

[This one is for means, but it applies equally to percentages for elaboration.]

A quick search for SPSS CROSSBREAK produced this 2009 correspondence from Jon Peck:

http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0909&L=spssx-l&P=24774 from which I hope to be able to produce:

Sexism

Mean

(n)

All

White

Other

All

10.8

(86)

11.0

(52)

10.6

(34)

Boys

12.7

(42)

13.4

(22)

11.9

(20)

Girls

9.0

(44)

9.2

(30)

8.6

(14)

The main point about such tables is that the sample statistic appears top left, first order statistics in the 1^st row/ column and second order statistics in the 2^ndand 3rd rows/columns: right-to-left language users may prefer the table to be flipped horizontally. I would normally do this with percentages, following on from CROSSTABS, as it is a relatively simple way of demonstrating analysis by breaking down a statistic into constituent parts, forcing students to think about explanations for the emerging pattern and about other variables which might be introduced as 3^rd order controls. Once the concept of a mean is introduced and understood, using similar summary tables, students can progress to further statistical tests.

There are three international rugby matches on BBC this afternoon, so I’ve got less than two hours to modify Jon’s syntax and see what I come up with (and fit a sandwich in for lunch: just like being back at work!).

John Hall

Email: johnfhall@orange.fr

Website: www.surveyresearch.weebly.com

Skype: surveyresearcher1

Phone: (+33) (0) 2.33.45.91.47