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A Crosstab in SPSS can be created by selecting the “Analyze” tab and then choosing “Crosstabs.” This will open a dialog box where the user can select the variables they want to compare and the desired output format. For example, if we want to compare the relationship between gender and favorite color, we would select “Gender” as the row variable and “Favorite Color” as the column variable. The resulting Crosstab table will show the frequency and percentage of each color chosen by male and female respondents, allowing us to easily identify any patterns or differences between the two groups.
A crosstab is a table that summarizes the relationship between two variables.
To create a crosstab in SPSS, you can use Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs.
The following example shows how to do so in practice.
Example: How to Create a Crosstab in SPSS
Suppose we have the following dataset in SPSS that contains information about various basketball players:
Suppose that we would like to create a crosstab to summarize the frequency of each occurrence of Team and Position.
To do so, click the Analyze tab, then click Descriptive Statistics, then click Crosstabs:
In the new window that appears, drag the Team variable into the Rows panel, then drag the Position variable into the Columns panel:
Once you click OK, the following output will be generated:
The first table shows the total number of valid observations and missing observations in the dataset.
We can see that there are 12 total valid observations and 0 missing observations (or “cases”).
The next table displays the crosstab of Team * Position.
Here is how to interpret the values in the crosstab:
- A total of 6 players are on team A
- A total of 6 players are on team B
Column Totals:
- A total of 3 players have a position of Center
- A total of 4 players have a position of Forward
- A total of 5 players have a position of Guard
Individual Cells:
- 1 player has a position of Center on team A
- 3 players have a position of Forward on team A
- 2 players have a position of Guard on team A
- 2 players have a position of Center on team B
- 1 player has a position of Forward on team B
- 3 players have a position of Guard on team B
By creating this one table, we can understand how frequently each combination of Team and Position occurs in the dataset.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in SPSS: