Peer Review

Exercises Using the 2014 General Social Survey and SPSS: Statistics

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Reviewed:: Feb 14, 2016 by Sociology

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Overview:: These exercises (16 in all) were written for instructors teaching an introductory class in statistics. They were written so each exercise is independent of the others and any one exercise can be used even if the other exercises are not used. The exercises also serve to introduce students to SPSS which is a commonly used statistical package used in many classes. A good reference on using SPSS is SPSS for Windows Version 22.0 A Basic Tutorial by Linda Fiddler, John Korey, Edward Nelson (Editor), and Elizabeth Nelson. The online version of the book is at (http://ssric.org/node/459" rel="nofollow">http://ssric.org/node/459. Students are referred in the exercises to appropriate places in this book. The data set used in this exercise is gss14_subset_for_classes_STATISTICS.sav which is a subset of the 2014 General Social Survey. Each exercise consists of five files all of which can be downloaded: the exercise itself as a Word (docx) file, notes to instructor as a Word (docx) file, the data file in SPSS format, the SPSS syntax necessary to carry out the exercise as a SPSS syntax file, and the SPSS output for the exercise as a SPSS output file. Users have permission to use these exercises and to revise them to fit their needs. Each exercise has a set of keywords to give the reader a quick view of what is covered.
Type of Material:: Assignment.
Recommended Uses:: These 16 exercises can be used in methods/stats courses for homework or review assignments. Some of the exercises could be used with other courses to review basic statistical procedures and assist students in learning to read statistical data.
Technical Requirements:: Browser and any version of SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Each exercise lists the learning objectives/goals and provides detailed instructions on completing the exercises. The goals of the exercises are to learn to use basic statistical techniques using data from the General Social Survey and develop a basic familiarity with SPSS which is a commonly used statistical computing package in the social sciences.
Target Student Population:: College-level statistics or research methods courses.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Understanding of basic research terminology and SPSS.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The exercises are clearly explained and there are step by step instructions for completing the statistical procedures. They provide training on basic statistical tools and on using SPSS. Students get to use valid, reliable data sets to explore statistical measures.
Concerns:: SPSS software is required.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: These exercises are ready to use. They can be easily accessed and adapted to the needs of individual instructors. The material is self-directed (students may complete at their own pace). The exercises are an effective tool to measure student learning. Each exercise aligns with basic statistical concepts required in introductory courses.
Concerns:: Students must complete or review an SPSS tutorial to ensure progression and efficiency of learning statistical operations and tools.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: The material is very easy to use -- click, read, complete. Data sets provide practical applications of basic statistical measures. Learners are introduced to the uses of statistical software.
Concerns:: Learners have to change file extensions. Students must be familiar with SPSS operating procedures.

Other Issues and Comments:: Effective teaching tool for introductory statistics and research method courses requiring computer data analysis
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