How do you find the width in SPSS?

On the SPSS Statistics Variable View tab, the third column provides a spot to set the width for your variables and the fourth column is where you indicate the number of digits that appear to the right of the decimal point when the value appears onscreen. Width and Decimal settings on the Variable View tab.

What is decimal and width in SPSS?

The Width and Decimals columns in the Variable View let you change the display format of a variables; display formats tell SPSS how to display data values in lists and tables. When selecting a cell a spinner appears that lets you modify the corresponding value; but you can also type in the value directly.

How do I change a variable from nominal to scale in SPSS?

You can change the level of measurement by clicking the menu arrow and choosing the desired measurement level from the listed options: Scale, Ordinal, Nominal. You can also see the suggested level of measurement for your selected variable.

How do I change variable values in SPSS?

Running the Procedure

  1. Click Transform > Recode into Different Variables.
  2. Double-click on variable CommuteTime to move it to the Input Variable -> Output Variable box. In the Output Variable area, give the new variable the name CommuteLength, then click Change.
  3. Click the Old and New Values button.
  4. Click OK.

What are scale variables in SPSS?

SPSS measurement levels are limited to nominal (i.e. categorical), ordinal (i.e. ordered like 1st, 2nd, 3rd…), or scale. Essentially, a scale variable is a measurement variable — a variable that has a numeric value. Variables with numeric responses are assigned the scale variable label by default.

What is the variable view in SPSS?

The Variable View tab displays information about the variables in your data. You can get to the Variable View window in two ways: In the Data Editor window, click the Variable View tab at the bottom. In the Data Editor window, in the Data View tab, double-click a variable name at the top of the column.

What does width refer to in SPSS?

Changing Variable Width in SPSS For string variables, width refers to how many characters a value can hold. An exception are multibyte characters as explained in SPSS Unicode Mode. Somewhat confusingly, “width” is not the width of a variable’s column as displayed on screen, which is referred to as columns.

What is the difference between numeric and string variables?

Numeric variables contain only numbers and are suitable for numeric calculations such as addition and multiplication. String variables may contain letters, numbers and other characters. You can’t do calculations on string variables -even if they contain only numbers.

Does width matter in SPSS?

For numeric variables, “width” refers to how many digits should be displayed. However, SPSS will often override the specified width is it’s insufficient. If not, FORMATS can be used for increasing it.

How do I change the variable type in SPSS syntax?

Changing Variable Type in SPSS Starting from SPSS version 16, one can use ALTER TYPE in order to change a variable’s type. Keep in mind that it overwrites the original variable and results in system missing values if it can’t apply the requested conversion.