Re: finding which commands go with which options in v16 [was Re: Likert Scales Analysis - CATPCA]

[Steve-41]

Alex,

Thanks for the tip.  That GUI help would definitely come in handy at times.

As for CATPCA, I found out that I didn't have Categories installed when I
tried the command in syntax and got an error message informing me of the
lack of a Categories license. :(    I guess I'll have to work around it or
analyze the Likert data some other way.

- Steve


On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:11:24 -0500, Reutter, Alex <[hidden email]> wrote:

>This may not be well known, so note that v16 includes help for all options,
even the ones that are not licensed.  So if you go to Help > Topics... then
>
>A) If you know the name of the command or type of analysis but are not sure
of the option:
>
>On the Index tab, type catpca; by the time you get to "catp", it will have
found the entry for CATPCA (command).  Click on the "syntax chart" subentry
and it will take you to the main page for the CATPCA syntax help.  Right
under the heading the text notes: "CATPCA is available in the Categories
option."
>
>Below the syntax chart (just above the release history) the text notes:
"Syntax for the CATPCA command can be generated from the Categorical
Principal Components Analysis (CATPCA) dialog."  The link takes you to the
main page for the GUI help.
>
>Open the "To Obtain a Categorical Principal Components Analysis"
collapsible block and that will show you how to navigate the menu system to
get to the dialog.  If that item doesn't appear on the menu, then you know
that option isn't licensed.
>
>There is also a "Show me" link just below the "Statistics and plots"
paragraph that shows some examples of how to use the procedure (these are
the same as those in the Categories PDF on the Manuals CD).
>
>
>B) If you know the option but not the name of the command, or just want to
browse the options, on the Contents tab, open up the Categories option and
browse through the subfolders and topics.
>
>
>The Search tab is also a good tool, especially for terms that fall through
the indexing cracks, but it's a big help system and can return a lot of hits
(i.e., searching on CATPCA isn't as useful as checking the index).

>
>Cheers,
>Alex
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steve
>Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:57 AM
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: Likert Scales Analysis - CATPCA
>
>On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:23:05 -0600, John Fiedler <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>>Hi Steve.
>>
>>Yes, it is part of Categories. Not sure of the version history, maybe only
>>13 and later. However it may be available outside SPSS.
>>
>
>Thanks John.  I have version 16 and I think it is part of "Categories".
>What did you mean by "it may be available outside SPSS"??  As an addon? Or
>you mean as a stand alone application?
>
>
>>Yes, it can be done mostly in point and click though not every option is
>>available that way.
>>
>I couldn't see any point and click options under Analyze so am assuming that
>it would be visible only if I had Categories - which I'm afraid I do not.
>Going to check up with the IT people but I think that wasn't included in our
>license. :(
>
>
>>Yes, it is probably as good or better than any other approach.
>>
>Any opinions about OLS regression?
>
>
>>Lastly, one neat thing is that you can see the scale values calculated for
>>each point of ordinal Likert scale which will confirm that it is not an
>>interval scale.
>>
>That's good.  I did not want to analyze it as an interval scale although the
>person this data belongs to was quite confident that the spread would be
>uniform between each Likert value.  I know there's a lot of stuff out there
>as to when one can and cannot assume that a Likert is an interval scale but
>I wanted to stick to an ordinal scale.
>
>Thanks again for your help.  Again, if someone has an idea for good
>resources (online or print) for Likert analysis I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
>
>- Steve
>
>
>
>
>>Good luck!
>>
>>JOHN
>>
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Steve" <[hidden email]>
>>To: <[hidden email]>
>>Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 6:22 PM
>>Subject: Likert Scales Analysis
>>
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> A simplified explanation of the project I'm working on is that I'm
>>> evaluating the association between the level of stress and depression in
>>> individuals and the severity of and handicap due to their terminal
>>> illness.
>>> Both the independent (disease characteristics) and dependent
>>> (psychological
>>> status) variables are assessed via questionnaires involving Likert scales
>>> (1-5 scaling).  There are separate set of questions for stress and for
>>> depression.
>>>
>>> I've been going over all the posts related to analysis of Likert scales
>>> and
>>> am even more confused than I started. :)  Suggestions for analysis has
>>> been
>>> to use CATPCA.  Is this performed using syntax only or is there a
>>> point-and-click method in the menubar?  Also, can this be performed
>>> without
>>> the SPSS Categories Add-on??
>>>
>>> Would CATPCA be the best method to analyze this dataset?  Should I try to
>>> get some overall "psychological status score" and "disease severity score"
>>> and try to perform a regression?  I worry about doing the latter due to
>>> the
>>> ordinal nature of the each of the scales.
>>>
>>> Also, if someone knows of some good resource for Likert Scale Analysis,
>>> please let me know.  I've been browsing different websites for a week and
>>> am
>>> no closer to an answer than before. Thanks to all in advance.
>>>
>>> - Steve
>>>
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