Descriptive data for ordinal variables

[Katina Dimoulias]

Hello members,

I have a question that is not strictly about spss, however was hoping I
could get some advice.  I have several research questions along the lines
of  - What are young people's perceptions of the physical and design
features of the youth centre?  The variables are measured on a 5 point
likert scale.  Am I correct in my understanding that the descriptive data I
present are medians (not means, SD's).  Do I present any other descriptives
in the same table .g. range etc. ?

Thanks,

Katina

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

[Spousta Jan]

Hi Katina,

I believe that it is good to present means and SDs, too. It is not exactly correct, but

* It is much more fine-tuned (medians are only whole numbers and halves, but means can have any value in the interval 1 - 5)

* People understand it well

Ranges are not very stable (can depend on a single "extremist" respondent), do not present them.

Best regards

Jan


-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Katina Dimoulias
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 9:11 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Descriptive data for ordinal variables

Hello members,

I have a question that is not strictly about spss, however was hoping I could get some advice.  I have several research questions along the lines of  - What are young people's perceptions of the physical and design features of the youth centre?  The variables are measured on a 5 point likert scale.  Am I correct in my understanding that the descriptive data I present are medians (not means, SD's).  Do I present any other descriptives in the same table .g. range etc. ?

Thanks,

Katina

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the command. To leave the list, send the command SIGNOFF SPSSX-L For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command INFO REFCARD



_____________
Tato zpráva a všechny připojené soubory jsou důvěrné a určené výlučně adresátovi(-ům). Jestliže nejste oprávněným adresátem, je zakázáno jakékoliv zveřejňování, zprostředkování nebo jiné použití těchto informací. Jestliže jste tento mail dostali neoprávněně, prosím, uvědomte odesilatele a smažte zprávu i přiložené soubory. Odesilatel nezodpovídá za jakékoliv chyby nebo opomenutí způsobené tímto přenosem.

Jste si jisti, že opravdu potřebujete vytisknout tuto zprávu a/nebo její přílohy? Myslete na přírodu.


This message and any attached files are confidential and intended solely for the addressee(s). Any publication, transmission or other use of the information by a person or entity other than the intended addressee is prohibited. If you receive this in error please contact the sender and delete the message as well as all attached documents. The sender does not accept liability for any errors or omissions as a result of the transmission.

Are you sure that you really need a print version of this message and/or its attachments? Think about nature.

-.- --

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

[Kornbrot, Diana]

Neither are good measures
Medians are uninformative because there are only 5 alternatives
Means are a shorthand but incorreft in that they assume equal intervals
between scale point
Most useful and easy to interpret measures are proportions
E.g. Proportion [or %age] of respondents thinking sports facilities were
good or excellent
+ Proportion of of respondents thinking sports facilities were poor or very
poor.

Mnay people implement Likert as strongly agree > strongly disagree
If that is what you/ve already got then UNDESIRABLE because if someone
thinks facilities are superb, then they may NOT agree with statement
facilities are good. They are not good they are superb.
If you can, design survey with magnitude positive /negative words like good,
excellent, poor, etc.
If you already have the data, then best descriptives are:
E.g. Proportion [or %age] of respondents agree or strongly agree
+ Proportion of of respondents disagree or strongly disagree.

If you wish to compare different facilities, then you can use crosstabs to
get a chi-square for contingency table.
Take one of the ordinal measures, as Likert scales are ordinal

Best

Diana

On 6/5/08 08:10, "Katina Dimoulias" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hello members,
>
> I have a question that is not strictly about spss, however was hoping I
> could get some advice.  I have several research questions along the lines
> of  - What are young people's perceptions of the physical and design
> features of the youth centre?  The variables are measured on a 5 point
> likert scale.  Am I correct in my understanding that the descriptive data I
> present are medians (not means, SD's).  Do I present any other descriptives
> in the same table .g. range etc. ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Katina
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD

Professor Diana Kornbrot
 School of Psychology
 University of Hertfordshire
 College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK

 email:  [hidden email]
 web:    http://web.mac.com/kornbrot/iweb/KornbrotHome.html
 voice:   [phone]
 fax:      [phone]
Home
 19 Elmhurst Avenue
 London N2 0LT, UK
   
    voice:   [phone]
    mobile: [phone]
    fax:      [phone]

====================To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD