Using SPSS and PASW/Understanding the Variable View

The Variable View tab is another tab in the Data Editor window in addition to the Data View tab, which was discussed in the last chapter. Again, you can select between the tabs at the bottom left corner of the Data Editor Window:

In Variable View, the rows correspond to variables, not cases. This view does not show raw data but rather metadata, information/settings/characteristics of the variables included in the data set. The metadata of two variables:

The columns provide information about the various characteristics of the variables. The "name" column with part of the "type" column:

There are 10 metadata columns total. Each explained:

Every variable in your data set should have all columns that are relevant for it filled out. An example of an irrelevant column would be "Values" for an ID column, as that has a unique value in each row.

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