SPSS syntax for checking data entry

California Inventory for Family Assessment (CIFA)

by Paul D. Werner, Ph.D. and Robert-Jay Green, Ph.D.

Data Entry Instructions for Computer Scoring

(182 item -- 4 point response format)

ASCII (Text) entry

An SPSS syntax program

for checking ASCII (text) data entry and saving the resulting file in SPSS format

At the link indicated we provide an SPSS syntax program that will check the ASCII (text) data entry of the CIFA data file that you specify and then convert the data file into SPSS format. Save the program onto your disk with the name Txt_to_Spss_por.sps.

To use the syntax program, do the following:

1. Open SPSS and then click File->Open->Syntax. Navigate to the syntax file and open it.

2. In the syntax file, in the first line of the Data List command, enter the location and name of the data file to be checked. Then save the syntax file (File->Save or File->Save as)

3. Run the syntax file: Run->All

4. The output window will provide the information to help you identify errors in your text data file. Click this link for a description of the output.

5. Find the problems in data entry that the syntax file has identified and fix them.

6. Run the syntax on the corrected text file, until you find no more problems. At that point, resave the SPSS file that is in the data editor, using a file name that signifies your project number, the CIFA version (e.g., HGW) and the fact that this is a file of item responses (e.g., HGW001_items.por). We recommend that you save your file in SPSS portable file format, for compatibility among versions.

7. Beware: This syntax program will not “catch” data entry errors that do not look “weird.” Here are some examples of errors that the program will not catch:

· you enter a respondent’s answer to questions 1, 2, and 3 in the entry spaces for questions 2, 3, and 4

· you enter an incorrect but “reasonable appearing” age or education code

For this reason you must take responsibility for checking each element of your data entry very carefully.

Return to the CIFA SPSS Data Entry page

Return to the California Inventory for Family Assessment home page

Contact information for the authors of the California Inventory for Family Assessment