Descriptives (frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion)

To run a frequency distribution

From the Analyze pull down menu

Select:

Descriptive Statistics

Frequencies

Select variable:

Select variable

Variable name should move to the box on the right hand side

Select statistics:

Click on Statistics box in lower left-hand corner

Select statistics that are appropriate for describing the variable

Highlight circle next to statistics

Click Continue

Click OK

Output will appear in output window

Alternative way to get measures of central tendency and dispersion

From the Analyze pull down menu

Select:

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptives

Select variable:

Select variable

Variable name should move to the box on the right hand side

Select statistics:

Click on Options box in lower right-hand corner

Select statistics that are appropriate for describing the variable

Highlight circle next to statistics

Note: Can only run mean from here; cannot run mode or median

Click Continue

Note: Can select multiple variables at the same time.