Guide SPSS How to: Calculate ANOVA

Here’s a step-by-step guide for 1st year students on how to calculate ANOVA in SPSS:

Step 1: Prepare Your Data

1. Open SPSS and enter your data into the Data View.
2. Create two columns: one for your independent variable (factor) and one for your dependent variable (score)
3. For the independent variable, use numbers to represent different groups (e.g., 1, 2, 3 for three different groups)

Step 2: Run the ANOVA

1. Click on “Analyze” in the top menu.
2. Select “Compare Means” > “One-Way ANOVA”
3. In the dialog box that appears:

• Move your dependent variable (score) to the “Dependent List” box.
• Move your independent variable (factor) to the “Factor” box

Step 3: Additional Options

1. Click on “Options” in the One-Way ANOVA dialog box.
2. Select the following:

• Descriptive statistics
• Homogeneity of variance test
• Means plot

1. Click “Continue” to return to the main dialog box.

Step 4: Post Hoc Tests

1. Click on “Post Hoc” in the One-Way ANOVA dialog box
2. Select “Tukey” for the post hoc test
3. Ensure the significance level is set to 0.05 (unless your study requires a different level)
4. Click “Continue” to return to the main dialog box.

Step 5: Run the Analysis

Click “OK” in the main One-Way ANOVA dialog box to run the analysis

Step 6: Interpret the Results

1. Check the “Test of Homogeneity of Variances” table. The significance value should be > 0.05 to meet this assumption
2. Look at the ANOVA table:

• If the significance value (p-value) is < 0.05, there are significant differences between groups

1. If significant, examine the “Post Hoc Tests” table to see which specific groups differ
2. Review the “Descriptives” table for means and standard deviations of each group

Remember, ANOVA requires certain assumptions to be met, including normal distribution of the dependent variable and homogeneity of variances

Always check these assumptions before interpreting your results.