If you use this exercise in the context of a learning site using Eurobarometer data, just read on. If not and if you wish to perform the exercise, please load the example data file using the menu

This example uses only SPSS command language  (syntax)

Ronald Inglehart in his The Silent Revolution (Princeton 1977) formulates a theory that postulates a irreversible change of value priorities in post-industrial societies, i.e. we are, as he says, moving from a society based on materialistic values towards a society, where postmaterialistic values are becoming more important.

He proposes to measure whether people tend to be more materialistic or postmateralistic by asking people about the priorities in what their country/government should do in the future and build, from the answers, an index (scale).

In the questionnaire used for the example here (Eurobarometers in Switzerland) the following priorities were proposed:

1. Maintain order in the country
2. Give people more to say in important government decisions
3. Fight raising prices
4. Protect freedom of speech

Respondents were asked to select their first priority from the list and then a second. The first and third items are considered materialist, items 2 and 4 as post-materialist. A respondent selecting both materialist items is qualified as materialist; if the first item is materialist and the second post-materialist, the person is "rather materialist, and so on.

• As always you should start with a diagnosis of the variables to be included in the scale, i.e. produce frequency tables for both priority variables( q11a and q11b) as well as a crosstab showing the relationship between both. Check the frequencies, are there cells that contain (too) few values?

In order to build the scale we need to create a new variable that reflects, for each individual, his or her position on the "post-materialism" scale, i.e. one out of four possible scores:

• Score of 4: "Postmaterialist", i.e. a person how chooses two post-materialist items as first and second priority.
• Score of 3 "Rather post-materialist", for a person who chooses a post-materialist item as first priority and a materialist as second
• Score of 2 "Rather materialist", for a person who chooses a materialist item as first priority and a post-materialist as second
• Score of 1 "Materialist", i.e. a person how chooses a two materialist items as first and second.

The following table shows this in a more concise form (the scores for all combinations of rows and columns are shown in the table)

This table tells you in fact what you have to do, just translate, for instance:

• IF
• The answer to question q11a is 1 ("maintain order" )
• AND at the same time the answer to question q11b is 2 ("More to say")
• then assign a code (score) of 2 on the scale (PM) to all individuals having answered this way.

This condition translates readily into an SPSS command:

IF q11a=1 AND q11b=2  PM=2.

The highlighted part corresponds to a logical expression.  Instead of using the IF command you can of course use the menu instead. Show corresponding menu operation

This has to be repeated for all cells in the table above, i.e. you need to write a sequence of conditions (either write a command in a syntax window or call up a dialog using Transform > Compute Variable ).

Produce a frequency table for PM; you should see codes of 1,2,3 and 4, as well as a number of System missing values.
Do you know why there are SYSMIS  (system missing) values? [Need help?] 

IF q11a=3 AND q11b=1 pm1=1.
IF q11a=1 AND q11b=3 pm1=1.
IF q11a=1 AND q11b=2 pm1=2.
IF q11a=3 AND q11b=2 pm1=2.
IF q11a=1 AND q11b=4 pm1=2.
IF q11a=3 AND q11b=4 pm1=2.
IF q11a=2 AND q11b=1 pm1=3.
IF q11a=4 AND q11b=1 pm1=3.
IF q11a=2 AND q11b=3 pm1=3.
IF q11a=4 AND q11b=3 pm1=3.
IF q11a=2 AND q11b=4 pm1=4.
IF q11a=4 AND q11b=2 pm1=4.

You can specify the conditions in a more compact form, an expression for each of four the PM values.

• Learn to do this