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Introduction to Research Methods in Political Science: |
T TESTS
Paired-samples t tests
From the menu bar, click on “Analyze,” then on “Compare Means,” and on “Paired-Samples T Test..." In the left window, select both of the variables you wish to compare, then click on the right arrow. Click on additional pairs of variables if you wish to do additional comparisons. Click on "OK."
Independent-samples t tests
From the menu bar, click on “Analyze,” then on “Compare Means,” and on “Independent-Samples T Test..." In the left window, select the variable or variables you wish to test, then click on the top right arrow. In the left window, select the variable that will define your two groups, then click on the second right arrow. Click on "Define Groups." Enter the values used to define each group. (For example, if you have a variable that classifies people by political party, and you wish to compare Republicans, coded as "1," and Democrats, coded as "5," enter these values.) To define the two groups, you may wish to recode a variable before doing a t test. Click on "OK.
Except where indicated, © 2003-2012 John L. Korey
Last Updated: December 18, 2012