Quantitative data analysis using spss: an introduction for health and social sciences

"This is an ideal introductory book for budding researchers who are embarking on the development and then analysis of data, and in this case, more specifically questionnaires using partly or exclusively closed questions amenable to statistical analysis."
Primary Health Care Research and Development

"The text is a welcome addition for nursing students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level research. Having reviewed the text I can only inform you how a student described a chapter in the book recently when she borrowed it. 'The language is clear and unambiguous'. I will be strongly encouraging students to either purchase the text ... with the purpose of giving them a foundation in statistics."
William Evans, Institute of Technology Tralee, Ireland

This accessible book is essential reading for those looking for a short and simple guide to basic data analysis. Written for the complete beginner, the book is the ideal companion when undertaking quantitative data analysis for the first time using SPSS.

The book uses a simple example of quantitative data analysis that would be typical to the health field to take you through the process of data analysis step by step. The example used is a doctor who conducts a questionnaire survey of 30 patients to assess a specific service. The data from these questionnaires is given to you for analysis, and the book leads you through the process required to analyse this data.

Handy screenshots illustrate each step of the process so you can try out the analysis for yourself, and apply it to your own research with ease.

Topics covered include:

• Questionnaires and how to analyse them
• Coding the data for SPSS, setting up an SPSS database and entering the data
• Descriptive statistics and illustrating the data using graphs
• Cross-tabulation and the Chi-square statistic
• Correlation: examining relationships between interval data
• Examining differences between two sets of scores
• Reporting the results and presenting the data

Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS is helpful for any students in health and social sciences with little or no experience of quantitative data analysis and statistics.

Pete Greasley is a lecturer at the School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, UK.