Value labels not registering in Data View window

[Ultima]

Hello SPSS experts

I am a total noob at SPSS as this is my first time using it or any other program for statistics, so please forgive me if I explain things poorly.

I have assigned value labels to every single value in my dataset, that is, I have been in the "Value Label" window an written stuff like "1="Strongly disagree"" and then copy and pasted the 4 or 5 different scales in the appropriate cells in the Variable View window. I am thinking this should mean that pressing the "Value Label"-button at the top of the screen should make the cells shift between the values and the value labels in the Data View window, but it doesn't. Instead I have to triple click every single cell in the dataset to sort of make the program register the value labels. I have 48 variables and 117 respondents in my dataset, so this means a lot of clicking. I can't believe it's supposed to be this time consuming, and watching tutorials on Youtube didn't show me anything similar to this. What am I missing?

I think I have the newest version of SPSS, because I downloaded it recently from my University's homepage.

I'll really appreciate it if you can help.

[David Marso]

Save yourself a painful RSI and look into learning the Syntax for the VALUE LABELS command.
---

Ultima wrote

Hello SPSS experts

I am a total noob at SPSS as this is my first time using it or any other program for statistics, so please forgive me if I explain things poorly.

I have assigned value labels to every single value in my dataset, that is, I have been in the "Value Label" window an written stuff like "1="Strongly disagree"" and then copy and pasted the 4 or 5 different scales in the appropriate cells in the Variable View window. I am thinking this should mean that pressing the "Value Label"-button at the top of the screen should make the cells shift between the values and the value labels in the Data View window, but it doesn't. Instead I have to triple click every single cell in the dataset to sort of make the program register the value labels. I have 48 variables and 117 respondents in my dataset, so this means a lot of clicking. I can't believe it's supposed to be this time consuming, and watching tutorials on Youtube didn't show me anything similar to this. What am I missing?

I think I have the newest version of SPSS, because I downloaded it recently from my University's homepage.

I'll really appreciate it if you can help.

[Jon K Peck]

You might find it much easier to use Data >Define Variable Properties.

Ultima wrote
>
> Hello SPSS experts
>
> I am a total noob at SPSS as this is my first time using it or any other
> program for statistics, so please forgive me if I explain things poorly.
>
> I have assigned value labels to every single value in my dataset, that is,
> I have been in the "Value Label" window an written stuff like "1="Strongly
> disagree"" and then copy and pasted the 4 or 5 different scales in the
> appropriate cells in the Variable View window. I am thinking this should
> mean that pressing the "Value Label"-button at the top of the screen
> should make the cells shift between the values and the value labels in the
> Data View window, but it doesn't. Instead I have to triple click every
> single cell in the dataset to sort of make the program register the value
> labels. I have 48 variables and 117 respondents in my dataset, so this
> means a lot of clicking. I can't believe it's supposed to be this time
> consuming, and watching tutorials on Youtube didn't show me anything
> similar to this. What am I missing?
>
> I think I have the newest version of SPSS, because I downloaded it
> recently from my University's homepage.
>
> I'll really appreciate it if you can help.
>


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=====================

Jon Peck (no "h") aka Kim
Senior Software Engineer, IBM
[hidden email]
new phone: [phone]

[Veena Nambiar]

I am currently away from the office and have limited access to email. I will return your message on May 17th.

[John F Hall]

Like David says, check out the syntax.  Click on help, then on the command
syntax reference, then slide down to VALUE LABELS.

I taught SPSS to noobs like you for more than twenty years.  I have now
converted and updated most of the basic course materials and uploaded them
to my website.  They're all in syntax, but many of the exercises and
examples are replicated using the GUI.  If you use PASTE from the GUI you
don't get syntax errors, but you get far more syntax than you really need.

My tutorials start from absolute scratch with a pencil and paper exercise to
complete a short questionnaire, then proceed gently step-by-step, with full
colour screenshots at each step, through getting data into SPSS, adding all
the dictionary information and then doing basic analysis, mostly tabulation,
but with some graphics.  There are already more than 450 pages and as yet
not a single equation.

My data entry examples are all from ASCII files (80-column Hollerith card
images) but if your data are in Excel or already in the SPSS Data Editor, it
will be quite simple to follow the process and logic.  On the home page,
click on Survey Analysis Workshop.  Have fun.

I can give you more detailed help off-line: if it's a course assignment I
can point you in the right direction and show you a trick or two, but you'll
have to do all the thinking and work for yourself.

Let me know how you get on.


John F Hall (Mr)

Email:    [hidden email]
Website: www.surveyresearch.weebly.com





-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Ultima
Sent: 16 May 2012 00:31
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Value labels not registering in Data View window

Hello SPSS experts

I am a total noob at SPSS as this is my first time using it or any other
program for statistics, so please forgive me if I explain things poorly.

I have assigned value labels to every single value in my dataset, that is, I
have been in the "Value Label" window an written stuff like "1="Strongly
disagree"" and then copy and pasted the 4 or 5 different scales in the
appropriate cells in the Variable View window. I am thinking this should
mean that pressing the "Value Label"-button at the top of the screen should
make the cells shift between the values and the value labels in the Data
View window, but it doesn't. Instead I have to triple click every single
cell in the dataset to sort of make the program register the value labels. I
have 48 variables and 117 respondents in my dataset, so this means a lot of
clicking. I can't believe it's supposed to be this time consuming, and
watching tutorials on Youtube didn't show me anything similar to this. What
am I missing?

I think I have the newest version of SPSS, because I downloaded it recently
from my University's homepage.

I'll really appreciate it if you can help.

--
View this message in context:
http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Value-labels-not-registering-i
n-Data-View-window-tp5710439.html
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=====================
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[ViAnn Beadle]

It seems to me from the poster's description that the problem is not the
definition of value labels but their display in the data editor window in
place of the data values. One clarifying question here: are you providing
entering data into an empty cell with Value Labels turned on? If so, it
takes one click to move to the cell and a second click on the highlighted
cell to select a label from the drop-down list. If the cell has focus but
you don't see the drop-down of defined labels, you can enter any legal value
into that cell whether or not a label is defined for it.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
John F Hall
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 10:12 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Value labels not registering in Data View window

Like David says, check out the syntax.  Click on help, then on the command
syntax reference, then slide down to VALUE LABELS.

I taught SPSS to noobs like you for more than twenty years.  I have now
converted and updated most of the basic course materials and uploaded them
to my website.  They're all in syntax, but many of the exercises and
examples are replicated using the GUI.  If you use PASTE from the GUI you
don't get syntax errors, but you get far more syntax than you really need.

My tutorials start from absolute scratch with a pencil and paper exercise to
complete a short questionnaire, then proceed gently step-by-step, with full
colour screenshots at each step, through getting data into SPSS, adding all
the dictionary information and then doing basic analysis, mostly tabulation,
but with some graphics.  There are already more than 450 pages and as yet
not a single equation.

My data entry examples are all from ASCII files (80-column Hollerith card
images) but if your data are in Excel or already in the SPSS Data Editor, it
will be quite simple to follow the process and logic.  On the home page,
click on Survey Analysis Workshop.  Have fun.

I can give you more detailed help off-line: if it's a course assignment I
can point you in the right direction and show you a trick or two, but you'll
have to do all the thinking and work for yourself.

Let me know how you get on.


John F Hall (Mr)

Email:    [hidden email]
Website: www.surveyresearch.weebly.com





-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Ultima
Sent: 16 May 2012 00:31
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Value labels not registering in Data View window

Hello SPSS experts

I am a total noob at SPSS as this is my first time using it or any other
program for statistics, so please forgive me if I explain things poorly.

I have assigned value labels to every single value in my dataset, that is, I
have been in the "Value Label" window an written stuff like "1="Strongly
disagree"" and then copy and pasted the 4 or 5 different scales in the
appropriate cells in the Variable View window. I am thinking this should
mean that pressing the "Value Label"-button at the top of the screen should
make the cells shift between the values and the value labels in the Data
View window, but it doesn't. Instead I have to triple click every single
cell in the dataset to sort of make the program register the value labels. I
have 48 variables and 117 respondents in my dataset, so this means a lot of
clicking. I can't believe it's supposed to be this time consuming, and
watching tutorials on Youtube didn't show me anything similar to this. What
am I missing?

I think I have the newest version of SPSS, because I downloaded it recently
from my University's homepage.

I'll really appreciate it if you can help.

--
View this message in context:
http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Value-labels-not-registering-i
n-Data-View-window-tp5710439.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
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

=====================
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

=====================
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[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
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INFO REFCARD

[Ultima]

You are right, the problem is not to define value labels. I went into the "Value label" window and "translated" the labels (strongly disagree, disagree and so on) to values (numbers). I then went in to the variable view window and copy/pasted these values onto all the similar scales. Then went in to the "Value Label" window again and "translated" (or coded or what it is called) some other scales that were somehow similar but not quite the same (more or fewer items, different wordings) and then also copy/pasted those in the variable window too to assign them to all the relevant variables. Now, all my variables should have a worded Likert-scale with numbers assigned to each item. BUT the problem is, that the data view window will only show the labels and not the values. That is I can't see the numbers that are equivalent to the respondents' answers, but only the worded labels. And tutorials tell me, I should be able to switch between labels and values in the data view window using the "Value Labels" button just above the sheet, but nothing happens, when I press it. To make it work and show the values when I press that button, I have to triple click every single cell in the data view window. I have done so with some of my 48 variables and 117 responses now, and it does make the darned button work. But it means a lot of clicking and my deadline is closing in... Long explanation, I know. To answer your question (I think?), I got my dataset into SPSS via Google Documents and then an Excel-sheet, so all the labels were in there to begin with and I just needed to assign the numeric values to them. But thanks for trying to help. As I don't even really know what syntax means in this context (that is how much of a noob I am), I guess I'll just get on with the clicking. Thanks again for your time, everybody :)

[ViAnn Beadle]

Let's start from the beginning here. The label is displayed in place of the
number in any analysis you run. The analysis is run on the actual data and
not the label. In the usual case, a value label is a descriptive textual
label applied to a number. Typically labels are used to provide a meaningful
description for an arbitrary number. For example you might have a likert
item that has descriptive labels such like very much, somewhat like,
neutral, somewhat dislike, and dislike very much. You might set the scale up
so that 1 is used for like very much and 5 is used for dislike very much or
1 is used for dislike very much and 5 is used for like very much. You can
run an analysis such as a frequency count and ask for the median. The median
is based upon the 1 to 5 scale. Labels are labels and not data that you can
do arithmetic operations on. Why don't you run through the basic tutorials
first so that we all have a common language to communicate with.

Now within the data editor, you can display either a value label or the
actual value within a data cell. You can NOT get both at the same time.
Typically what you do is to first enter your numeric values into the data
window. You then define value labels for those numbers in the variable
window. You can go back to the data window and switch the view from values
to labels and labels to values.

It is extremely difficult to diagnose your problem without actually seeing
it happening.  I am not quite sure what three clicks are doing. Since there
is no such thing as a triple click as a gesture, what you are doing is a
double-click followed by a single click. What do you see when you do a
double click in the data cell? Do you have some local colleague who knows
more about SPSS than you do and can see what you are running into?

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Ultima
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 1:21 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Value labels not registering in Data View window

You are right, the problem is not to define value labels. I went into the
"Value label" window and "translated" the labels (strongly disagree,
disagree and so on) to values (numbers). I then went in to the variable view
window and copy/pasted these values onto all the similar scales. Then went
in to the "Value Label" window again and "translated" (or coded or what it
is called) some other scales that were somehow similar but not quite the
same (more or fewer items, different wordings) and then also copy/pasted
those in the variable window too to assign them to all the relevant
variables. Now, all my variables should have a worded Likert-scale with
numbers assigned to each item. BUT the problem is, that the data view window
will only show the labels and not the values. That is I can't see the
numbers that are equivalent to the respondents' answers, but only the worded
labels. And tutorials tell me, I should be able to switch between labels and
values in the data view window using the "Value Labels" button just above
the sheet, but nothing happens, when I press it. To make it work and show
the values when I press that button, I have to triple click every single
cell in the data view window. I have done so with some of my 48 variables
and 117 responses now, and it does make the darned button work. But it means
a lot of clicking and my deadline is closing in... Long explanation, I know.
But thanks for trying to help. As I don't even really know what syntax means
in this context (that is how much of a noob I am), I guess I'll just get on
with the clicking. Thanks again for your time, everybody :)

--
View this message in context:
http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Value-labels-not-registering-i
n-Data-View-window-tp5710439p5711067.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
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[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

=====================
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[Rich Ulrich]

I get the crazy notion that you may have managed to put

TEXT into the file as the data values, and then you
inserted the numbers as corresponding Labels.

 - You can check on that by looking at the Format for
a variable, and that should be numeric, like (F2.0); and
never  (A<some number>) .   - If you *have* put them
in as text, you can correct this by using RECODE ... /into=
  and dropping the Text vars when you Save.

 - It is not too late, I think, to go to the syntax window
and put in ALL your variables, for several scales, with
no more than a few lines per scale.  This is what David M.
recommended.  Then you EXE  and SAVE.

VALUE LABELS  item1 to item10  (1) "low" (2) "mid" (3) "high" (9) "N.A."
   /item11 to item50 (1)"last week" (2) "today" (3) "tomorrow".

--
Rich Ulrich

> Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 12:21:01 -0700

> From: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: Value labels not registering in Data View window
> To: [hidden email]
>
> You are right, the problem is not to define value labels. I went into the
> "Value label" window and "translated" the labels (strongly disagree,
> disagree and so on) to values (numbers). I then went in to the variable view
> window and copy/pasted these values onto all the similar scales. Then went
> in to the "Value Label" window again and "translated" (or coded or what it
> is called) some other scales that were somehow similar but not quite the
> same (more or fewer items, different wordings) and then also copy/pasted
> those in the variable window too to assign them to all the relevant
> variables. Now, all my variables should have a worded Likert-scale with
> numbers assigned to each item. BUT the problem is, that the data view window
> will only show the labels and not the values. That is I can't see the
> numbers that are equivalent to the respondents' answers, but only the worded
> labels. And tutorials tell me, I should be able to switch between labels and
> values in the data view window using the "Value Labels" button just above
> the sheet, but nothing happens, when I press it. To make it work and show
> the values when I press that button, I have to triple click every single
> cell in the data view window. I have done so with some of my 48 variables
> and 117 responses now, and it does make the darned button work. But it means
> a lot of clicking and my deadline is closing in... Long explanation, I know.
> But thanks for trying to help. As I don't even really know what syntax means
> in this context (that is how much of a noob I am), I guess I'll just get on
> with the clicking. Thanks again for your time, everybody :)
>
> --

...

[David Marso]

"I got my dataset into SPSS via Google Documents and then an Excel-sheet, so all the labels were in there to begin with and I just needed to assign the numeric values to them. But thanks for trying to help."

This should take about 5-10 minutes in SYNTAX.
RECODE
      var1 to var43 ("strongly disagree"=1)
                           ("disagree"=2)
                           ("don't give a damn"=3)
                           ("agree"=4)
                           ("strongly agree"=5)
         INTO N_var1 TO N_var43.
VALUE LABELS N_var1 TO N_Var43
  1 "strongly disagree"
  2 "disagree"
  3 "don't give a damn"
  4 "agree"
  5 "strongly agree".

[Ultima]

Everybody: Thanks for your time. I really appreciate you trying to help!

Rich: You are right in your "crazy notion", I think that is what has happened. I see both text and numbers in the value column of the Define Value Properties window. . I have PM'ed you.

David: Thanks for your suggestion. I might give Syntax a go then, even though the thought almost scares me a little bit - I might break something in there... ;)

[Ultima]

ViAnn: Thanks a lot for your answer. I have PM'ed you (sorry the mail got so long).

[David Marso]

"David: Thanks for your suggestion. I might give Syntax a go then, even though the thought almost scares me a little bit - I might break something in there... ;)"

No way to possibly break anything and it is an automatic audit trail providing a means of reproducing the results you obtain.  As soon as you start clicking/typing around in the data window all bets are off!  
OTOH, what you are presently doing puts your physical and mental health in jeopardy (RSI, tendonitis, losing your sanity...)
--

Ultima wrote

Everybody: Thanks for your time. I really appreciate you trying to help!

Rich: You are right in your "crazy notion", I think that is what has happened. I see both text and numbers in the value column of the Define Value Properties window. . I have PM'ed you.

David: Thanks for your suggestion. I might give Syntax a go then, even though the thought almost scares me a little bit - I might break something in there... ;)

[Bruce Weaver]

I'll just add to David's comments that you won't break anything so long as you don't overwrite the data file after recoding or computing new variables etc.  Generally speaking*, you want to safeguard the original data file (you could set it to read-only, for example), and save syntax to carry out any transformations needed for analyses you wish to perform.  Think of the syntax as a program that carries out some instructions on the data file (the input) to produce the desired output.  

One other comment:  Syntax files are just text, and are relatively small.  Data files take up a lot more room, so saving multiple versions not only causes confusion about which version to use, but it needlessly eats up space on your hard disk.

* There may be exceptions, such as when you are working with a HUGE data file, and it takes a long time for all the transformations to run.  In that case, I might run the transformations once, and save only the new variables along with key identifiers so that I can MATCH FILES later.

Art K has probably said all of this much more eloquently in an old post.  ;-)

HTH.

David Marso wrote

"David: Thanks for your suggestion. I might give Syntax a go then, even though the thought almost scares me a little bit - I might break something in there... ;)"

No way to possibly break anything and it is an automatic audit trail providing a means of reproducing the results you obtain.  As soon as you start clicking/typing around in the data window all bets are off!  
OTOH, what you are presently doing puts your physical and mental health in jeopardy (RSI, tendonitis, losing your sanity...)
--

Ultima wrote

Everybody: Thanks for your time. I really appreciate you trying to help!

Rich: You are right in your "crazy notion", I think that is what has happened. I see both text and numbers in the value column of the Define Value Properties window. . I have PM'ed you.

David: Thanks for your suggestion. I might give Syntax a go then, even though the thought almost scares me a little bit - I might break something in there... ;)