Activity 9.4 Instructions Document
Name: 9.4 SPSS Activity: Calculating and Interpreting Results for a Chi-Square Goodness of Fit
Using SPSS
The following activity will present an opportunity to put into practice what you have learned and read
about regarding Chi-Square Goodness of Fit. The narratives supplied in these exercises will provide all
the information you will need to determine what main effects and interactions are to be analyzed. Please
read the following narrative and then use the Excel spreadsheet provided to import the data into SPSS to
construct a dataset that SPSS can use to perform the proper calculations.
Problem Narrative 9.4:
A Graduate Student Research Assistant (RA) wishes to verify the age-old M&M Chi-Square Goodness of
Fit problem that was first presented to him many years ago when he first took a statistics course in
college. The RA goes out and buys a bag of M&M candy randomly off the shelf at his neighborhood
grocery store and brings it back to the lab for analysis. He brings his bag of M&Ms back to the lab and
opens the bag to count his M&Ms.
The expected percentages as published by the M&M company are as follows:
Blue – 24%; Orange – 20%; Green – 16%; Yellow – 14%; Red – 13%; Brown – 13%
The RA then separates his M&Ms and sorts them by color. The obtained percentages for the purchased
bag of M&Ms is as follows: (input your actual percentages from your hand calculated worksheet here for
documentation):
Blue – xx%; Orange – xx%; Green – xx%; Yellow – xx%; Red – xx%; Brown – xx%
Part I: Setting up your SPSS data input file:
Download the Excel spreadsheet “9.4 Data Input” and import the spreadsheet into SPSS for subsequent
analyses
Part I: Import Data into SPSS:
Use the spreadsheet you just downloaded “9.4 Data Input” and import the data in this spreadsheet into
SPSS for subsequent analyses. Name your SPSS data file “9.4 SPSS MandM Chi Square Dataset” with
the “.sav” extension. Your SPSS data file should be ready to use for analysis.
Part II: Short Answer Questions:
Create an MSWord document to answer the short answer questions from part II and III of this exercise.
The name of the file will be “9.4 SPSS Exercise – Short Answer Questions”. Save this for subsequent
upload as one of your deliverables for this exercise.
Answer the following based on the narrative and data provided:
1. What are the expected percentage of M&M color distribution for M&Ms in general?
2. What are the actual percentage of M&M color distribution for your purchased M&M bag?
3. Are the expected and actual percentages different? What does this mean?
4. What is your null (H0) and alternative (H1) hypotheses?
Part III: Running the Appropriate Analysis in SPSS:
Using the “9.4 SPSS MandM Chi Square Dataset” you created previously in this exercise, and run the
Chi Square Goodness of Fit Analysis through SPSS as described in the video provided.
Add the following to your list of short answer questions as information obtained from your SPSS output
file.
7. What are your numerical results for your Chi Square analysis? Make sure to report your results
in proper APA format.
8. Are your results significant?
9. Briefly state what your results mean (regardless of whether your results were significant or not).
Save the Chi Square output as “9.4 SPSS MandM Chi Square Output” as an “.spv” file to upload as a
deliverable at the conclusion of this exercise.
Part IV: Results Write Up:
Write up the results of your data analysis in standard APA format being sure to mention all relevant
variables and findings in your write up. Make sure your format adheres to APA format and guidelines.
Save the document as “9.4 SPSS Results Write Up”.
(If you have questions about what a complete results write up for a Chi Squate looks like, either look up
conference and journal articles that use t-tests as their statistical analysis, or contact your instructor for
specific guidance.)
Your deliverables for this SPSS exercise will be:
1. The IBM SPSS data file “9.4 SPSS MandM Chi Square Dataset”.
2. The IBM SPSS viewer file “9.4 SPSS MandM Chi Square Output”.
3. The Short Answer document “9.4 SPSS Exercise – Short Answer Questions”.
4. The APA formatted results write up “9.4 SPSS Results Write Up”.
Upload all four of these files as your submission for this exercise to be considered for full credit.