Introduction to SPSS in Psychology
Purpose of the Paper
The purpose of this research proposal is to introduce the SPSS technology in the field of psychology. The methodology used would be through the BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY and the results obtained would establish theta who is more under depression men or women and at what age.
Introduction
In 1968, the first version of the SPSS or the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was introduced and since them it has been the most widely accepted and popular program for the statistical analysis of social sciences like psychology. The SPSS found applications in a diverse range of fields and was used by professionals from various backgrounds including the health researchers, the government, the survey companies, education providers and many others. In the field of psychology, the SPSS program offers a huge range of functionalities, which is yet to be completely exploited by the users.
The Methodology Used
Hypothesis
The hypothesis used in this paper is that the BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY would be analysed using the SPSS and the degree to which the patient is under depression would established through quantitative study.
The SPSS includes the following four steps:
- s: At the first step, the SPSS creates a data set and maintains it. The dataset refers to a file that stores all the data, the variable names and other important attributes of the required data in the form of tables. For the purpose of collecting the data the BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY would be used. The inventory is a 21-item self-scored questionnaire that gives the degree to which the patient needs psychological or medical help.
- Analysing the Data: The SPSS then analyses the data on the basis if the score and data obtained from the questionnaire. The BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY is self-scored on the scale of 0-3 on the basis of the option chosen by the patient.
- Output: The SPSS then gives the result of each analysis it performs in the output window. The output of the BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY is the degree to which the patient needs the help of psychologist. An average score of 17 would mean that the patient needs medical help.
Results
The BECK 'S DEPRESSION INVENTORY results in giving the scale on which it can be decided whether the patient is under depression or not. And who is more prone to depression man or woman. The SPSS provides complete quantitative analysis of the data collected by the questionnaire.
References
- Argyrous, G. (2005) Statistics for Research: With a Guide to SPSS. London: Sage.
- Bowling, A. (1997) Research Methods in Health. Buckingham: Open University Press.
- Bryman, A. and Cramer, D. (2001) Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS Release 10 for Windows.London: Routledge.
- Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Coolidge, F. L. (2006) Statistics: A Gentle Introduction. London: Sage
