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QUANTITATIVE DATA
QUANTITATIVE DATA

QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS USING SPSS Greasley

ANALYSIS USING SPSS
AN INTRODUCTION FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

This accessible book is essential reading for those looking for a short and
simple guide to basic data analysis. Written for the complete beginner, the book
ANALYSIS USING SPSS
is the ideal companion when undertaking quantitative data analysis for the first
time using SPSS.
AN INTRODUCTION
The book uses a simple example of quantitative data analysis that would be FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
typical to the health field to take you through the process of data analysis step
by step. The example used is a doctor who conducts a questionnaire survey of
30 patients to assess a specific service. The data from these questionnaires is
given to you for analysis, and the book leads you through the process required
to analyse this data.

Handy screenshots illustrate each step of the process so you can try out the
analysis for yourself, and apply it to your own research with ease.

Topics covered include:

Questionnaires and how to analyse them

Coding the data for SPSS, setting up an SPSS database and entering the data
Descriptive statistics and illustrating the data using graphs
Cross-tabulation and the Chi-square statistic
Correlation: examining relationships between interval data
Examining differences between two sets of scores
Reporting the results and presenting the data

Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS is the ideal text for any students in
health and social sciences with little or no experience of quantitative data
analysis and statistics.

Pete Greasley is a lecturer at the School of Health Studies,

University of Bradford, UK.

Cover design: Mike Stones

Pete Greasley
Quantitative Data Analysis
Using SPSS
Quantitative Data
Analysis Using SPSS
An Introduction for Health &
Social Science

Pete Greasley
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email: [email protected]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA

First published 2008

Copyright © Pete Greasley 2008
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency
Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street,
London EC1N 8TS.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-10: 0 335 22305 2 (pb) 0 335 22306 0 (hb)
ISBN-13: 978 0335 22305 3 (pb) 978 0335 22306 0 (hb)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data applied for
Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in the UK by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Contents

Introduction 1
1 A questionnaire and what to do with it: types of data and
relevant analyses 5
1.1 The questionnaire 5
1.2 What types of analyses can we perform on this questionnaire? 7
1.2.1 Descriptive statistics 7
1.2.2 Relationships and differences in the data 13
1.3 Summary 16
1.4 Exercises 17
1.5 Notes 18

2 Coding the data for SPSS, setting up an SPSS database and

entering the data 19
2.1 The dataset 19
2.2 Coding the data for SPSS 20
2.3 Setting up an SPSS database 21
2.3.1 Defining the variables 22
2.3.2 Adding value labels 25
2.4 Entering the data 27
2.5 Exercises 28
2.6 Notes 31

3 Descriptive statistics: frequencies, measures of central

tendency and illustrating the data using graphs 33
3.1 Frequencies 33
3.2 Measures of central tendency for interval variables 38
3.3 Using graphs to visually illustrate the data 41
3.3.1 Bar charts 41
3.3.2 Histograms 45
3.3.3 Editing a chart 46
3.3.4 Boxplots 50
3.3.5 Copying charts and tables into a Microsoft Word
document 52
3.3.6 Navigating the Output Viewer 56
3.4 Summary 57
3.5 Ending the SPSS session 58
3.6 Exercises 58
3.7 Notes 60

4 Cross-tabulation and the chi-square statistic 61

4.1 Introduction 61
4.2 Cross-tabulating data in the questionnaire 61
4.3 The chi-square statistical test 63
vi Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

4.4 Levels of statistical significance 67

4.5 Re-coding interval variables into categorical variables 69
4.6 Summary 73
4.7 Exercises 73
4.8 Notes 75

5 Correlation: examining relationships between interval data 77

5.1 Introduction 77
5.2 Examining correlations in the questionnaire 77
5.2.1 Producing a scatterplot in SPSS 78
5.2.2 The strength of a correlation 80
5.2.3 The coefficient of determination 82
5.3 Summary 83
5.4 Exercises 84
5.5 Notes 85

6 Examining differences between two sets of scores 86

6.1 Introduction 86
6.2 Comparing satisfaction ratings for the two counsellors 88
6.2.1 Independent or related samples? 88
6.2.2 Parametric or non-parametric test? 88
6.3 Comparing the number of sessions for each counsellor 95
6.4 Summary 100
6.5 Exercises 101
6.6 Notes 102

7 Reporting the results and presenting the data 103

7.1 Introduction 103
7.2 Structuring the report 103
7.3 How not to present data 107
Concluding remarks 109
Answers to the quiz and exercises 110
Glossary 130
References 133
Index 135
Introduction

I remember reading somewhere that for every mathematical formula, included

in a book, the sales would be reduced by half. So guess what, there are no
formulas, equations or mathematical calculations in this book. This is a
practical introduction to quantitative data analysis using the most widely
available statistical software – SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
The aim is to get students and professionals past that first hurdle of dealing
with quantitative data analysis and statistics.
The book is based upon a simple scenario: a local doctor has conducted a brief
patient satisfaction questionnaire about the counselling service offered at his
health centre. The doctor, having no knowledge of quantitative data analysis,
sends the data from 30 questionnaires to you, the researcher, for analysis.
The book begins by exploring the types of data that are produced from this
questionnaire and the types of analysis that may be conducted on the data.
The subsequent chapters explain how to enter the data into SPSS and conduct
the various types of analyses in a very simple step-by-step format, just as a
researcher might proceed in practice.
Each of the chapters should take about an hour to complete the analysis and
exercises. So, in principle, the basic essentials of quantitative data analysis
and SPSS may be mastered in a matter of just six hours of independent study.
The chapters are listed below with a brief synopsis of their content.
• Chapter 1 A questionnaire and what to do with it: types of data and relevant
analyses. The aim of this chapter is to familiarize yourself with the
questionnaire and the types of analyses that may be conducted on the
data.
• Chapter 2 Coding the data for SPSS, setting up an SPSS database and entering
data. In this chapter you will learn how to code the data for SPSS, set up an
SPSS database and enter the data from 30 questionnaires.
• Chapter 3 Descriptive statistics: frequencies, measures of central tendency and
visually illustrating data using graphs. In this chapter you will use SPSS to
produce some basic descriptive statistics from the data: frequencies for cat-
egorical data and measures of central tendency (the mean, median and
mode) for interval level data. You will also learn how to produce and edit
charts to illustrate the data analysis, and to copy your work into a Microsoft
Word file.
• Chapter 4 Cross-tabulation and the chi-square statistic. In this chapter you
will learn about cross-tabulation for categorical data, a statistical test (chi-
square) to examine associations between variables, and the concept of stat-
istical significance. You will also learn how to re-code interval data into
categories.
• Chapter 5 Correlation: examining relationships between interval data. In this
2 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

chapter you will learn about scatterplots and correlation to examine the
direction and strength of relationships between variables.
• Chapter 6 Examining differences between two sets of scores. In this chapter
you will learn about tests which tell us if there is a statistically significant
difference between two sets of scores. In so doing you will learn about
independent and dependent variables, parametric and non-parametric
data, and independent and related samples.
There is also a final concluding chapter which provides advice on how to
structure the report of a quantitative study and how not to present data.

The approach

Quantitative data analysis and statistics is often a frightening hurdle for many
students in the health and social sciences, so my primary concern has been
to make the book as simple and accessible as possible. This quest for simplicity
starts with the fact that the student has only one dataset to familiarize
themselves with – and that dataset itself is very simple: a patient satisfaction
questionnaire consisting of just five questions.
The questionnaire is, however, designed to yield a range of statistical analyses
and should hopefully illustrate the potentially complex levels of analyses that
can arise from just a few questions. This will also act as a warning to students
who embark upon research projects involving complex designs without fully
appreciating how they will actually analyse the data. My advice to students
who are new to research is always to ‘keep it simple’ and, where possible, to
design the study according to the statistics they understand.
I have taken a pragmatic approach to quantitative data analysis which means
that I have focused on the practicalities of doing the analyses rather than
ruminating on the theoretical underpinnings of statistical principles. And
since actually doing the analyses requires knowledge of appropriate statistical
software, I have chosen to illustrate this using the most widely available
and comprehensive statistical package in universities: SPSS. Thus, by the end
of this book you should not only be able to select the appropriate statistical
test for the data, you should also be able to conduct the analysis and produce
the results using SPSS.

The scope of the book

I have set a distinct limit to the level of analysis which I think is appropriate
for an introductory text. This limit is the analyses of two variables – known as
bi-variate analyses. In my experience of teaching health and social science
students, most of whom are new to quantitative data analysis and statistics,
this is sufficient for an introduction.
Also, I did not want to scare people off with a more imposing tome covering
things like logistic regression and factorial ANOVA. There are many other books
which include these more advanced statistics, some of which are listed in the
references. This book is designed to get people started with quantitative data
Introduction 3

analysis using SPSS; as such it may provide a platform for readers to consult
these texts with more confidence.

The audience: health and social sciences

As an introduction to quantitative data analysis, this book should be relevant

to undergraduates, postgraduates or diploma level students undertaking a
first course in quantitative research methods. I have used these materials to
teach students from a variety of backgrounds including health, social sciences
and management.
It may be particularly relevant for students and professionals in health and
social care, partly due to the subject matter (a patient satisfaction question-
naire about counselling) and the examples used throughout the text, but
also due to the design of the materials. Many students and professionals in
health and social care are studying part-time or by distance learning, or per-
haps undertaking short courses in research methods. This means that their
opportunities for attendance are often limited and courses need to be designed
to cater for this mode of study, for example, attendance for one or two days at a
time.
It is with these students in mind that these materials should also be suitable
for independent study. After the introductory chapter outlining the types of
data and analyses, the book continues with step-by-step instructions for con-
ducting the analysis using SPSS. Furthermore, the practical approach should
suit professionals who may wish to develop their own proposals and conduct
their own research but have limited time to delve into the theoretical details of
statistical principles.
In health studies the emphasis on evidence-based practice has reinforced
the need for professionals to not only understand and critically appraise the
research evidence but also to conduct research in their own areas of practice.
This book should provide professionals with a basic knowledge of the
principles of quantitative research along with the means to actually design and
conduct the analysis of data using SPSS.

For lecturers

This book is an organized course divided into six chapters/sessions which

may be delivered as a combination of lectures and practical sessions on SPSS.
I have delivered this course in three ways:
1 First, as a series of five weekly lectures and practical sessions (two–three
hours) for the first half of a postgraduate module on quantitative and
qualitative data analysis.
The first session primarily consists of a lecture introducing the question-
naire, the dataset and relevant analyses (Chapter 1) before moving on to
enter the data (Chapter 2). Thereafter, each of the remaining four sessions
consists of an introductory lecture discussing the analysis in subsequent
chapters (descriptive statistics and graphs, cross-tabulation and chi-square,
4 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

correlation, examining differences in two sets of scores) before moving

onto SPSS to conduct the analyses and exercises in each chapter. In the final
session I also include discussion of writing up the results and reporting
more generally (Chapter 7).
For a full module of 10–11 sessions this book could either be supple-
mented by additional materials covering more advanced analyses (e.g.,
ANOVA and regression analysis) or students could design (and conduct)
their own study (in groups) based upon the analyses covered in the book.
2 A one/two day course for a postgraduate module on Research Methods. This
starts with formal lecture introducing the questionnaire, the dataset and
relevant analyses (Chapter 1), and then students (in pairs) work through
the materials at their own pace, continuing with independent study. The
practical sessions may be interspersed with brief lectures reviewing the
types of analyses.
3 A half-day workshop on SPSS. Again, this begins with a brief introduction
to the questionnaire, the dataset and types of analyses, with guided instruc-
tion on specific exercises from each of the chapters. Though it has to be said
that a half day is not really sufficient time to cover the materials (in my
view, and according to the student evaluations!) This is especially the case
for students with little prior knowledge of statistics.
Where an assignment has been set for the course, students have been asked
to produce a report for the doctor who requested the analysis. This requires
students to write a structured report in which the ‘most relevant analyses’ are
presented along with some discussion of the results, critical reflections on the
survey and recommendations for further research.

Getting a copy of SPSS

SPSS, as noted above, is the most widely used software for the statistical
analysis of quantitative data. It is available for use at most universities where
staff and students can usually purchase their own copy on cd for £10–£20. The
licence, which expires at the end of each year, can be renewed by contacting
the supplier at the university who will provide the necessary ‘authorization’
code.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the students who have endured evolving versions of this text, to
the publishing people for coping with the numerous figures and screenshots,
and to Wendy Calvert (proof-reader extraordinaire).
 A questionnaire and what to
1 do with it: types of data and
relevant analyses

The aim of this chapter is to familiarize yourself with the questionnaire

and the types of analyses that may be conducted on the data before we go
onto SPSS. By the end of the chapter you should be familiar with: types of data
and levels of measurement; frequencies and cross-tabulation; measures of
central tendency; normal and skewed distributions of data; correlation and
scatterplots; independent and dependent variables.

1.1 The questionnaire

A local general practice (family practice or health centre for those outside the
UK) has been offering a counselling service to patients for over a year now. The
doctor at the practice refers patients to a counsellor if they are suffering from
mild to moderate mental health issues, like anxiety or depression.1
The doctor decided that he wanted to evaluate the service by gathering some
information about the patients referred for counselling and their satisfaction
with the service. So, he designed a brief questionnaire and sent it to every
patient who attended for counselling over the year. The doctor had referred
30 patients to the service and was delighted to find that all 30 returned the
questionnaire.
But then he realized he had a bit of a problem – he did not know how to analyse
the data! That is when he thought of you. So, with a polite accompanying letter
appealing for help, he sends you the 30 completed questionnaires for analysis.
A copy of the questionnaire is provided in Figure 1.1.
The first thing you notice is that he has collected some basic demographic data
about the gender and age of the patients. Then you see that he has asked
whether they saw the male or female counsellor – that might be interesting in
terms of satisfaction ratings: perhaps one received higher ratings than the
other? He has also collected information about the number of counselling
sessions conducted for each patient because, he tells you in the letter, the coun-
sellors are supposed to offer ‘brief therapy’ averaging six sessions. Are they both
abiding by this? Finally, you see that patients were asked to rate their satisfac-
tion with the service on a seven point scale. Will the ratings depend on the sex
or age of the patient? Perhaps they would be related to the number of counsel-
ling sessions or, as noted above, which particular counsellor the patient saw.
Well, you think, that is not too bad – at least it is simple. But what sorts of
analysis can you do on this questionnaire? (See Box 1.1 for a brief discussion
of some questionnaire design issues.)
6 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

Figure 1.1 Counselling service: patient satisfaction questionnaire

Box 1.1 Questionnaires: some design issues

While this is not the place for a full discussion of questionnaire design issues, there are
some cardinal rules that should be briefly noted.
First, make sure the questions are clear, brief and unambiguous. In particular avoid
‘double questions’, for example: ‘Was the room in which the counselling took place
quiet and comfortable? Well, it was comfortable but there was a lot of noise from the
next room . . .’
Second, make sure that the questionnaire is easy to complete by using ‘closed
questions’ with check boxes providing the relevant options that respondents can simply
tick. So, you should avoid questions like: ‘Q79: Please list all the times you felt anxious,
where you were, who you were with, and what you’d had to eat the night before’.
The more you think through the options before, the less work there will be later when
it comes round to analysing the data. As Robson (2002: 245) points out: ‘The desire to
use open-ended questions appears to be almost universal in novice survey researchers,
but is usually extinguished with experience . . .’ Piloting the questionnaire, which is
important to check how respondents may interpret the questions, can also provide
suggestions for closed alternatives.
There are some occasions, however, when ‘open questions’ are necessary to provide
useful information. For example, the question about level of satisfaction with the
service may have benefited from a comments box to allow patients to expand on issues
relating to satisfaction. An alternative strategy may have been to use more scales to
measure different dimensions of satisfaction (for example, relating to the counsellor, the
room in which counselling was conducted, the referral procedure, etc.)
Another issue is the design of the scale used to measure satisfaction. The doctor might
have used a more typical Likert-type format where the respondent indicates the extent
to which they agree or disagree with a statement:
A questionnaire and what to do with it 7

I was satisfied with the service:

Strongly Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
disagree agree
䊐 䊐 䊐 䊐 䊐

Notice that there are only five options here (and they are labelled). The format you use
will depend on the context and the level of sensitivity you require, which may result in a
seven or nine point scale. Also notice that whatever the length of the scale, there is an
option for a ‘neutral’ or ‘undecided’ response.
In the counselling questionnaire you may also notice that the question asking for the
age of patients may have provided a list of age groupings, for example, 20–9, 30–9.
Although categories can make the questionnaire easier to complete, and more
anonymous (some people may not like to specify their age because it may help to
identify them), my advice would be to gather the precise ages where possible because
you can convert them into any categories you want later; the same principle applies to
number of counselling sessions.
A full discussion of questionnaire design issues would require a chapter unto itself.
For further reading Robson (2002) provides a relatively succinct chapter with guidance
on design and other issues.

1.2 What types of analyses can we perform on this questionnaire?

1.2.1 Descriptive statistics

Descriptive statistics provide summary information about data, for example,

the number of patients who are male or female, or the average age of patients.
There are three distinct types of data that are important for statistical analysis:

Types of data (or levels of measurement)

1 Interval or Ratio: This is data which takes the form of a scale in which the
numbers go from low to high in equal intervals. Height and weight are
obvious examples. In our data this applies to age, number of counselling
sessions and patient satisfaction ratings.
2 Ordinal: This is data that can be put into an ordered sequence. For example,
the rank order of runners in a race – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Notice that this gives
no information on how much quicker 1st was than 2nd or 2nd was than
3rd. So, in a race, the winner may have completed the course in 20 seconds,
the runner-up in 21 seconds, but third place may have taken 30 seconds.
Whereas there is only one second difference between 1st and 2nd, there are
nine seconds difference between second and third. Do we have any of this
type of data in our sample? No we do not (though see Box 1.2 for further
discussion).
3 Categorical or nominal: This is data that represents different categories,
rather than a scale. In our data this applies to: sex (male or female) and
counsellor (John or Jane). So, if we were assigning numbers to these cat-
egories, as we will be doing, they do not have any order as they would have
8 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

in a scale: if we were to code male as 1 and female as 2, this does not imply
any order to the numbers – it is just an arbitrary assignment of numbers
to categories.
Making a distinction between these levels of measurement is important
because the type of analysis we can perform on the data from the questionnaire
depends on the type of data – as illustrated in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Type of data and appropriate descriptive statistics

Type of data Descriptive statistics
Categorical data: Frequencies, cross-tabulation.
Interval/ratio data: Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode.

We will now examine each of these in turn.

Box 1.2 Types of data & levels of measurement

Whereas this brief review is really all we need to know for our questionnaire data,
there is in fact a lot more to say about types of data and levels of measurement. For
example, although I have grouped interval and ratio data together, as many textbooks
do (e.g., Bryman and Cramer 2001: 57), there is much debate about the differences
between true interval data and that provided in rating scales.
In our questionnaire, age and counselling sessions are ratio data because there is a true
zero point and we know that someone who is 40 years is twice as old as someone who
is 20 years; similarly, we know that 12 counselling sessions is four times as many as
three; we know the ratio of scores. The problem with interval data is that, while the
intervals may be equal we cannot be sure that the ratio of scores is equal. For example,
if we were measuring anxiety on a scale of 0–100, should we maintain that a person
who scored 80 had twice as much anxiety as a person who scored 40? (Howell
1997: 6.)
This issue could be raised about our satisfaction ratings: can we really be sure that a
patient who circles 6 is twice as satisfied as a person who circles 3, or three times as
satisfied as a person who circles 2? It is for this reason that some analysts would treat
this as ordinal data – like the rank order of runners in a race – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
described above. But clearly, our satisfaction rating scale is more than ordinal, and since
the numerical intervals in the scale are presented as equal (assuming equal intervals
between the numbers) we might say they ‘approximate’ interval data.
For those who wish to delve further into this debate about whether rating scales
should be treated as ordinal or interval data see Howell (1997) or the recent articles in
Medical Education by Jamieson (2004) and Pell (2005).

Descriptive statistics for categorical data

Frequencies. Probably the first thing a researcher would do with the data from
our questionnaire is to ‘run some frequencies’. This simply means that we
would look at the numbers and percentages for our categorical questions,
A questionnaire and what to do with it 9

which we might hereafter refer to as ‘variables’ (because the data may vary
according to the patient answering the question: male/female, old/young, sat-
isfied or not satisfied etc.)
• How many males/females were referred for counselling? Are they similar
proportions? Were there more males or females?
• How many patients were seen by John and how many were seen by Jane?
Did they both see a similar number of patients?
Cross-tabulation. The next step might be to cross-tabulate this data to gain
more specific information about the relationship between these two variables.
For example, imagine that we had collected this information for 200 patients
and, from our frequencies analysis on each variable, we found the following
results:

Table 1.2 Sex of patients

Number Percent
Male 100 50%
Female 100 50%
Total 200 100%

Table 1.3 Counsellor seen by patients

Number Percent
John 100 50%
Jane 100 50%
Total 200 100%

While these tables tell us that 50 per cent of patients were male, and that each
counsellor saw 50 per cent of patients, they do not inform us about the relation-
ship between the two variables: were the male and female patients equally
distributed across the two counsellors or, at the other extreme, did all the
female patients see Jane and all the male patients see John? In order to find this
out we need to cross-tabulate the data. It might produce the following table:

Table 1.4 Cross-tabulation of gender and counsellor

John Jane Total
Male 80 20 100
Female 20 80 100
Total 100 100 200

In this example we can see that there were 100 male and 100 female patients
(row totals). We can also see that the counsellors saw an equal number of
patients: 100 saw John and 100 saw Jane (column totals). However, this cross-
tabulation table also shows us that patients were not equally distributed
across the two counsellors: whereas 80 per cent of males saw John, 80 per cent
of females saw Jane. If the patients were randomly distributed to each of the
10 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

counsellors you would expect a similar proportion seeing each of the

counsellors. So in this hypothetical example it would appear that there is
some preference for male patients to see a male counsellor, and for females
to see a female counsellor.
This might be important information for the doctor. For example, if one of
the counsellors was intending to leave and the doctor needed to employ
another counsellor, this might suggest is it necessary to ensure a male and a
female counsellor are available to cater for patient preferences.

Descriptive statistics for interval data: Measures of central tendency

Having ‘run frequencies’ and cross-tabulated our categorical variables, we
would next turn to the other variables that contain interval data: age, number
of counselling sessions and satisfaction ratings. If we wanted to produce
summary information about these items it would be more useful to provide
measures of central tendency: means, medians or modes.
The Mean. The arithmetic mean is the most common measure of central
tendency. It is simply the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores.
So, to calculate the mean in the following example, we simply divide the sum
of the ages by the number of patients: 355/11 = 32. Thus, the mean age of the
patients is 32 years.

Table 1.5 Calculating the mean age

Patient: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Sum
Age: 46 23 34 25 28 31 23 40 36 45 24 355

The Median. The median is another common measure of central tendency. It is

the midpoint of an ordered distribution of scores. Thus, if we order the age of
patients from lowest to highest it looks like this:

Table 1.6 Finding the median age

Patient: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Age: 23 23 24 25 28 31 34 36 40 45 46

The median is simply the middle number, in this case 31.

If you have an even number of cases – with no singular middle number then
you just take the midpoint between those two numbers:

Table 1.7 Finding the median age in an even number of cases

Patient: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Age: 23 23 24 25 28 31 34 46 40 45

You then simply calculate the midpoint between these two central values:
(28+31)/2 = 29.5
The Mode. The mode, which is generally of less use, is simply the most
frequently occurring value. In our age example above that would be 23 – since
A questionnaire and what to do with it 11

it occurs twice – all the other ages only occur once. As an example, the mode
might be useful for a shoe manufacturer who wanted to know the most
common shoe size of the population.
When should I refer to the mean or the median? In the data above, which
provided the ages of 11 patients (Tables 1.5 and 1.6), we saw that the mean
value was 32 years and the median age was just one year younger at 31 years.
So the two values are very similar. However, in some data the mean and the
median values might be quite different. Consider the following example
which shows the salary of employees at a small company:

Table 1.8 Salary of employees at a small company

Employee: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Salary: 8,000 8,000 9,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 11,000 40,000 45,000 151,000

Here, whereas the median salary is £10,000, the mean actually works out at:
£151,000/9 = £16,777. This is clearly not representative as a measure of central
tendency since the majority of employees (seven out of nine) get well below
the mean salary! From this example, we can see how a couple of extreme
values can distort the mean value of a dataset. In such cases we should cite the
median which is more representative.
Darrell Huff (1991), in his classic short book How to Lie with Statistics, points
out that this ambiguity in the common use of the term ‘average’ (a more-or-
less typical centre value) is a common ploy in the deceptive use of statistics.
For example, a magazine may choose to cite the larger mean (rather than
median) income of their readers to make it look like they have a wealthier
readership, thus encouraging more advertising revenue. In statistical terms the
‘average’ will invariably be used to refer to the arithmetic mean.
The normal distribution. Statistically speaking, the mean should be used when
the data is normally distributed. For example, if we survey 30 people coming
out of a supermarket we might expect that there would be a few very young
and very old shoppers, but most people would be aged between, say, 30–60
years. This is illustrated in Figure 1.2.
Here we can see that most people are aged between 30 and 60, and the mean
value and median value are virtually identical: mean age = 40.5 years; median
age = 40 years.
However, when the data is not normally distributed, when it is skewed towards
the lower or higher end, the mean and the median values are not equivalent.
So, if we turn back to our employee salaries example (with a larger set of
fictitious data), where a few employees get very high salaries, we might find a
distribution like the one illustrated in Figure 1.3.
This is known as a skewed distribution because the data is skewed to one end
of the scale – in this case it is ‘skewed off’ towards the higher end of the salary
scale – whereas the salary for most people, as illustrated by the median value,
is at this lower end of the scale.
It is important that we examine the spread of interval data to see whether the
mean or the median is the most valid measure of central tendency. If we have
12 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

Figure 1.2 Supermarket shoppers: age normally distributed

data that is markedly skewed, then the mean value may not be a reliable meas-
ure. We shall see later that a ‘normal’ or skewed distribution can also dictate
which statistical test we should use to analyse the data.

Section summary
We have thus far considered the various ways of describing the data from the
doctor’s questionnaire. We have seen that categorical data may be described
using frequencies and cross-tabulation, and that interval data may be
described using measures of central tendency: the mean, median and mode.
We have also seen that the validity of citing the mean or the median depends
on the distribution of the data. Where it is normally distributed the mean can
be used, but when data is extremely skewed to one end of the scale, the median
may be a more reliable measure of central tendency.
How might we apply this to our counselling data? Well, we might want to
summarize our interval data to answer the following questions:
• What was the mean age of patients seen for counselling?
• What was the mean number of sessions?
• Were most patients satisfied with the service? What was the mean score?
A questionnaire and what to do with it 13

Figure 1.3 Employee salaries: skewed distribution

Notice that I have referred to mean values in the above questions. The most
appropriate measure of central tendency should of course be used – the mean
or the median – and this will depend on the spread of the data. It is not
unusual to find that both are cited to demonstrate the reliability of the mean –
or otherwise.

1.2.2 Relationships and differences in the data

There are two further types of analyses that we might conduct on interval
data:
• Examine the relationship between variables.
• Examine differences between two sets of scores.

Examining relationships between variables with interval data: correlation

We have already looked at the relationship between items with categorical data
using cross-tabulation. For variables with interval data – such as age – we can
use another technique known as correlation.
14 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

A correlation illustrates the direction and strength of a relationship between

two variables. For example, we might expect that height and shoe size are
related – that taller people have larger feet.
Figure 1.4 shows a scatterplot of height and shoe size for 30 people, where we
can see that, as height increases, so does shoe size. This is known as a positive
correlation: the more tightly the plot forms a line rising from left to right, the
stronger the correlation.

Figure 1.4 Positive correlation between height and shoe size

A negative correlation is the opposite: high scores on one variable are linked
with low scores on another. For example, we might find a negative correlation
between IQ scores and the number of hours spent each week watching reality
TV shows, as illustrated in Figure 5.1 (hypothetical data).
From this scatterplot we can discern a line descending from left to right in the
opposite direction to the height and shoe size plot.
Finally, we would probably not expect to find an association between IQ and
shoe size, as illustrated in Figure 1.6, where there is no discernible correlation
between the two variables.2
In Chapter 5 we will look at how to produce these scatterplots in SPSS.
How might we apply this to our counselling data? Well, first of all we need to
identify two interval variables that might be correlated. We have three
to choose from: age, number of counselling sessions and satisfaction ratings.
So, as one example, we might want to see if patients’ satisfaction ratings
are linked to the number of appointments they had. Perhaps the more
A questionnaire and what to do with it 15

Figure 1.5 Negative correlation between IQ and interest in reality TV shows

Figure 1.6 Scatterplot for IQ and shoe size

appointments they had the more satisfied they were? Or maybe this is wrong:
perhaps more appointments are linked to more unresolved problems and thus
less satisfaction?
16 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

Examining the differences in scores within variables

Finally, we should also be interested in examining any differences in scores
within a particular variable. For example, we might wish to calculate the mean
satisfaction ratings achieved for John compared to those for Jane. If we were to
do this it is useful to categorize variables into two kinds: independent variables
and dependent variables. So, if we think that level of satisfaction depends on
which counsellor the patient saw, we would have the following independent
and dependent variables:
• Independent variable: counsellor (John or Jane).
• Dependent variable: satisfaction rating.
Thus we are examining whether patients satisfaction ratings are dependent on
the counsellor they saw. For example, if each counsellor saw five patients, then
we would calculate the mean score for John and the mean score for Jane and
consider the difference, as illustrated in Table 1.9.

Table 1.9 Comparing mean satisfaction

ratings for John and Jane (hypothetical data)
John Jane
2 5
3 4
4 7
2 6
3 5
Sum 14 27
Mean 2.8 5.4

In Chapter 6 we will use a statistic that tells us whether or not any difference in
the two mean scores is statistically significant, which basically means that it was
unlikely to have occurred by chance.

Summary

That is the end of this first chapter in which you have learned about:
• Different types of data and levels of measurement (categorical, ordinal and
interval data).
• Frequencies and cross-tabulation.
• Measures of central tendency – mean, median and mode.
• Appropriate use of the mean or the median value depending on the
distribution of the data – is it normally distributed or skewed to one end of
the scale?
• Using scatterplots to see if interval data is correlated.
• Categorizing variables into independent variables and dependent variables
to examine differences between two sets of scores.
Having familiarized ourselves with the dataset and the types of analysis we
may conduct on it, we now need to enter the data into SPSS. That is, after you
have completed the exercises . . .
A questionnaire and what to do with it 17

1.4 Exercises

Exercise 1.1 Types of data

Would the following variables yield interval or nominal/categorical data?

(a) ethnic background;
(b) student assignment marks;
(c) level of education;
(d) patient satisfaction ratings on a 1–7 scale.

Exercise 1.2 Measures of central tendency

Which do you imagine would be the most representative measure of central

tendency for the following data?
(a) number of days taken by students at a University to return overdue library
books;
(b) IQ scores for a random sample of the population;
(c) number of patients cured of migraine in a year by an acupuncturist;
(d) number of counselling sessions attended by patients.

Exercise 1.3 Correlation

What sort of correlation would you expect to see from the following variables?
(a) fuel bills and temperature;
(b) ice-cream sales and temperature;
(c) number of counselling sessions and gender.

Exercise 1.4 Independent and dependent variables

Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following research

questions:
(a) Does alcohol affect a person’s ability to calculate mathematical problems?
(b) Is acupuncture better than physiotherapy in treating back pain?

Exercise 1.5 What type of analysis?

What type of analysis would you perform to examine the following?

(a) relationship between gender and preference for a cat or dog as a pet;
(b) relationship between time spent on an assignment and percentage
mark;
(c) relationship between gender and patient satisfaction ratings.
You will find answers to the exercises at the end of the book.
18 Quantitative Data Analysis Using SPSS

1.5 Notes

1 Mental health issues are the third most common reason for consulting a
general practitioner (GP), after respiratory disorders and cardiovascular
disorders. A quarter of routine GP consultations relate to people with a
mental health problem, most commonly depression and anxiety. It has
been estimated that over half the general practices in England (51%)
provide counselling services for patients (for further details and references
see Greasley and Small 2005a).
2 While we might not expect to find a correlation between IQ and shoe size
in a random sample of 30 people, there may be some samples for which we
might find a correlation, for example, relating to age differences.
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
baskets, or treat with bichloride of mercury (see section
Disinfectants).
Belgian Hares and Cavies: Both are vegetable feeders. They
will live in small quarters, but do better in bigger ones. Keep the
quarters clean and sanitary with whitewash and disinfectants. If very
small, have floors of loose boards which can be taken up and
scalded. Feed three times a day with grain, roots, and green stuff.
Be liberal of the green stuff. With a grass run the beasts will supply
most of it themselves. Scatter the food, and give only as much as
will be eaten clean. Suckling mothers need extra feeds, five a day
instead of three.
Dust weekly with sifted ashes, corn starch in powder, and flowers
of sulphur. Use in dry weather, putting on at night. Have hutches big
enough to prevent crowding. Beware letting your pets overrun the
space at command.
Birds: Mocking-birds, cardinals, bullfinches and orioles, all of
which it is wicked to keep in cages, need very roomy cages, perches
with the bark on, much clean sandy earth on the floors, clean grain,
green stuff, ripe fruit, and insects, besides the egg-and-potato
mixture which is their mainstay. Tie heads of wheat, oats, or millet
to the bars, hang lettuce and peppergrass there, also chickweed in
season. Put ripe berries on clean twigs and suspend; force bits of
apple and peach between wires close to the perches. Have a swing,
a roomy bath, with the usual feed and water cups. Change the water
daily, twice in summer. Put one drop of carbolic acid in the bath for
insect prevention. Boil eggs twenty minutes, crush the yolk while hot
with a freshly boiled Irish potato, season with the least grain of salt
and a very little red pepper, and put into the cup. Keep the cage very
clean, scald it every three months. Hang it outside in pleasant
weather, but never so the sun at midday will strike full on the birds.
Give flies, crickets, earth worms, grasshoppers, but not hairy
caterpillars, spiders, nor wasps. Mockers sing almost the night
through in spring. To silence them cover the cage with something
thick, set where it is very dark, then uncover.
 Canaries: A long body and thick smooth plumage are marks of a
good canary. Males only sing. Coat color varies. German canaries
show many shades of yellow besides mottled tints. Yellow-red
Norwich birds owe their giddy coats to red pepper in the food.
Unless it is given liberally at moulting-time their fine feathers come
back dull and pale. Birds are in full song at a year old. Younger, they
have rarely been well taught. The range of life is seven to twenty
years; the last is possible only with exceptional birds and still more
exceptional care.
Teach canaries to deserve the freedom of the room. It helps in
many ways. Leave the cage door open; do not coax him out nor
force him in except as a last resort. Rather let hunger take him back.
He will learn quickly and enjoy flying about.
A metal cage with a movable floor is the one to choose. Wood
invites vermin and harbors it distressingly. Hang where it is neither
hot nor cold, away from draughts, but with air plenty. Feed regularly,
but do not overfeed. Hemp seed are so fattening they must be given
sparingly. The regular bird seed sold in packages is excellent if fresh.
A dull appearance is against it; canary seed when not stale is shiny.
Empty and fill the seed cup daily, clean the floor, and put down fresh
gravel, red and white. Keep cuttlefish bone suspended in the cage,
and put in daily some fresh bit of green. Lettuce will answer, but
chickweed and peppergrass are better. A pod of Cayenne pepper is
good in sharp weather. So is a little hard-boiled egg, lightly dusted
with red pepper, or bread crumbs squeezed out of milk and similarly
dusted. A droopy bird showing signs of diarrhea should have black-
pepper tea to drink, else a strip of fat pork rolled in ground pepper
hung where it can be pecked.
Fill the bath every morning. If a bird picks himself after bathing
put a few drops of rose water or cologne in the bath. Bare spots
from the picking should be rubbed very lightly with sulphur and
butter, putting also a little under the wings and back of the neck.
Ragged plumage may mean a hardened oil gland. It lies just at the
root of the tail and furnishes oil for the coat. Look at it, blowing
aside covering feathers. If swollen and inflamed, drop on warm,
weak suds from a medicine dropper, dry very gently, and apply a
little vaseline. Repeat daily until the gland frees itself of the cake.
Trim nails discreetly, holding to the light so as to miss the tiny vein
in them. If cut, hold the bleeding foot a minute in tepid water, dry,
and touch the cut with vaseline.
If breeding, separate the pair when brooding begins. Afterward let
both feed the young. Provide soft food twice a day—bread crumbs
soaked in milk, scraped apple, mashed hard-boiled egg yolk, in
addition to seed and bird manna. As soon as it is safe move the
whole family into a fresh, clean cage, and scald and fumigate the
other. Mites, the bane of canaries, multiply amazingly. They would
be invisible but for their blood color. Feeding by day, they quit their
prey at night. Throw a sheet of Canton flannel over cages suspected,
remove it quickly by lamplight, and plunge in boiling water. Mites will
show on it after death. If they are plenty, shift to a clean cage at
once and repeat the cloth treatment until all are destroyed. Infested
cages should be, after scalding, drenched with gasolene and aired
for a week. Scalding with bichloride is also effectual; it must be
followed by a scalding in clear, boiling water and a fortnight of airing.
Parrots: If the parrot is for company get a gray African—they
make the best talkers and are best tempered. For decoration get the
scarlet-crested white fellows, or the yellow and green, or blue and
scarlet and yellow. Treatment of either is the same; feed fruit, nuts,
grain, a little meat, insects, bread, especially cornbread, and cereals
cooked stiff. Parrots learn quickly to eat and drink with their owners.
Coffee in moderation is good for them, but they must have water
besides. Some thrive better for drinking milk; indeed, the creatures
are almost uncannily human in many things. Let them bathe at
discretion, provide also a dust bath. Have a roomy cage, a tall,
branchy perch, and a hoop swing. Never tease nor tantalize; parrots
are cross enough without; also jealous. Do not leave free in the
room with a small child. Their beaks are cruelly sharp. Lacking
insects, give small lumps of raw mutton fat. Keep everything about
them very clean.
 XII

IN EMERGENCIES

Chimney Blazes: Smother blazing chimneys by throwing salt,

damp if possible, on the fire, and setting something flat against the
chimney breast.
Blazing Fat: Throw on salt, sand, or ashes; water makes the
flame fiercer. Prevent draughts if possible; keep doors and windows
shut tight. Turn out oil or gas flames underneath, and keep
everything inflammable away from the blaze.
Gas Leaks: Open doors and windows, let accumulations blow
out, then hunt for the broken pipe—not with a lamp or candle—and
clap on it when found either a blanket of putty or flour dough wet
very stiff. Tie in place with broad tape, then wrap with a cloth so as
to withstand pressure. But first of all call for the repair man. With a
leak undiscoverable, shut off from the rest of the house and leave
windows wide open.
Asphyxiation: Whether from gas or drowning, lay flat, the head
a little higher; permit no crowding; resort to artificial respiration—
lifting the arms and pressing on the chest systematically, holding the
tongue out all the while; rub with alcohol, especially feet and hands;
keep in air, and work gently but quickly. In cases of drowning, empty
lungs of water first thing by laying face down over a bench or barrel
and working the arms.
Fainting: Lay flat, the head lower than the body, loosen clothes,
especially about the neck, dash cold water gently in the face, hold
ammonia under nostrils, rub wrists and temples with camphor or
cologne water, and if the faint persists put mustard at the back of
the neck and to the soles of the feet. Insensibility from shock or
falling needs slightly different treatment. It may mean concussion;
hence, let the head be highest and apply vigorous friction along the
spine as well as to the extremities. Stimulate as soon as swallowing
is possible, and move with caution.
Burns: Anything which excludes air without tainting the wound or
irritating it further helps a bad burn. Carron oil—a creamy mixture of
lime water and sweet oil—applied with a feather, then covered with
cotton, either batting or absorbent, gives a measure of relief and is
also healing. Soft old linen coated with fresh egg-white laid on and
allowed to dry soothes pain. Even a covering with dry flour, if
nothing else is handy, is better than leaving the burn bare. But if at
all serious, or even is shallow and wide spread, call a doctor
instantly, meantime keeping up heart action with stimulants in small
doses often repeated.
Breaks and Dislocations: Lay a broken bone straight in a
natural position upon a stout cardboard splint shaped to the limb
and covered with cotton batting. Bandage limb and splint firmly
together, working toward the trunk and keeping the bandage smooth
but not too tight. Wet with arnica. This keeps down pain and
inflammation, making the surgeon’s work when he arrives easier for
himself and his patient. Reduce dislocations as quickly as possible by
stretching the hurt joint steadily and letting another person
manipulate the hurt. Often the bone head will snap back in place at
a touch; it remains then only to keep it in place. An hour’s delay
would mean swelling to render the replacing much harder. Wrist and
elbow joints in particular are kittle cattle if left to swell. First aid to
them means many times preserving use and saving from lifelong
disfigurement. But this first aid by no means suffices to make
surgical care unnecessary.
Sprains and Strains: Bandage tight, wet the bandages with cold
water, and hold in an easy position. A sprained or strained ankle may
be almost cured by plunging it into running water and keeping it
there some time. Lift out occasionally, then replunge. Strains require
rest and bandages. Wet the bandages with arnica. If there is muscle
shrinkage later, rub morning and night with chloroform liniment after
bathing with hot water and wiping dry.
Chloroform Poisoning: Keep in motion in open air, dose with
aromatic spirits of ammonia well diluted, and hold it undiluted to
nostrils. Apply electricity to spine; this if conscious. If fallen into a
stupor put ice to spine and top of head, hot water to feet, give hard
friction with alcohol, or camphor on legs and arms. Use artificial
respiration and stimulate gently. Friction or a mustard plaster over
the heart is helpful. Let nothing bind or constrict anywhere, and do
not cease your efforts at the first signs of lessening stupor.
Narcotic Poisoning: For laudanum, morphine, or opium the
treatment is the same. First a strong emetic—mustard and water as
thick as pea soup is among the best. Follow it with black coffee as
strong as possible. Give all the patient can be made to swallow at
short intervals, keep him walking briskly, stripped to the waist, dash
ice water on the spine, and tie ice to the back of the neck. Flagellate
lightly on shoulders; the tingles help to rouse. Hold aromatic
ammonia to his nose every half minute. If the coffee nauseates, give
clear hot water after to make vomiting easy, then after ten minutes
more coffee not quite so strong. Permit no stop for several hours; if
excretories act properly the danger will then have been past.
Electricity is useful, but not indispensable. In desperate cases use
every means at hand.
Acid Poisoning: Emollients are the antidotes for acids; emetics
wrench and tear seared stomach tissues. No matter what the acid—
sulphuric, carbolic, nitric, or oxalic—give something soft and smooth
—raw eggs, cream, starch wet as thick as cream, melted lard or
butter, olive oil, or even flour and water, followed after a few minutes
with magnesia stirred thick in tepid water. Let the patient rest easily,
hold ammonia to the nostrils, and put hot-water bags to the feet.
Aim to keep up vitality under the shock to vital tissues. In such cases
a minute means often the difference between life and death.
Iodine Poison: Use emollients—the very best is thick cooked
starch; it has a specific power to neutralize the drug. Olive oil is next
best; it protects the coating of the stomach. But use anything above
named rather than nothing. To let a case of poison go by default is
against reason and humanity.
Arsenic: Arsenic in all its forms is best fought with raw eggs,
especially the whites, and sweet milk or cream. Give a strong emetic
afterward, then, when it has acted, more eggs or milk. This should
suffice unless the poison has been freely absorbed.
Ptomaine Poisoning: Give an active emetic, followed by a
cathartic; keep the patient warm, stimulate with brandy—a
teaspoonful every hour; put mustard to wrists, ankles, back of neck,
and pit of stomach—this particularly if there is severe pain, cramps,
or continued retching. Pains in the head indicate the need of an ice
cap.
Mercury Poisoning: Bichloride needs as antidote raw eggs and
cream, or oil, with the same external treatment as for ptomaines.
Strong emetics are inadvisable, but if the stomach frees itself
naturally of the emollients much poison will come with them.
Replace them in smaller quantities, but give nothing else until the
doctor comes.
Bites and Stings: Stings from wasps, bees, and ants need
treatment with fruit acids—bathe in vinegar or apply a slice of raw
apple or peach or a crushed grape. Instant sucking removes part of
the poison and relieves the pain to a degree. Always suck bites, as
of spiders, unless there are abrasions of tongue and lips. After
sucking bathe freely with fresh peroxide of hydrogen, boracic acid,
or sugar-of-lead water. A leaf of green plantain, well bruised, bound
on a bite or sting when nothing else is at hand keeps down
inflammation and mitigates pain. In case of stings make sure the
sting proper has not been left in the wound, since its presence might
induce blood poisoning.
 INDEX

Acid poisoning, 197.

Adaptation of old garments, 108.
Antidotes, 196-198.
Antique furniture, care of, 66;
restoring, 62-65.
Ants, how to get rid of, 177.
Aprons, laundry, 11.
Arsenic, antidote for, 198.
Asphalt spots, 122.
Asphyxiation, 193.

Bandages, 21-22.
Basting clothes, 101.
Bed bugs, to prevent, 170.
Bed clothes, mending, 85.
Beef, how to choose, 134.
Bichloride of mercury, 165.
Birds, care of, 185.
Bisulphide of lime, 166.
Bites and stings, 199.
Blanket box, 175.
Blazing fat, how to put out, 192.
Bleaching, 2-3.
Blood, to stanch, 22-23.
Bluestone, 164.
Books, mending, 80.
Borax, 163.
Bordeaux mixture, 165.
Buckwheat flour, 131.
Burlaps, 34.
Burns, 194.
Butter, how to choose, 133.
Brass, care of, 67, 126.
Breaks and dislocations, 194.
Bric-à-brac, mending, 79.
Brick dust, 46.
Bronze, care of, 126.
Brooms, 42.
Broom bags, 42.
Brushes, 42, 46.

Cake, how to keep, 143.

Calcimine, 39, 50.
Canaries, care of, 186.
Canning, 139.
Carpets, cleaning, 29-30;
mending, 90.
Cats, care of, 183.
Cavies, care of, 184.
Ceilings, 30, 38-39.
Cement, 53-54.
Charcoal, 163.
Cheese, how to choose and keep, 134.
Chimney blazes, how to put out, 192.
China, mending, 75;
washing, 56.
Chloride-of-lime water, 55.
Chloroform poisoning, 196.
Cleaning floors and rugs, 28-30.
Cloth, washing, 105.
Clothes drainer, 45.
Coarse mending, 84.
Coffee, how to choose and keep, 132.
Collars, how to do up, 5-7.
Contagion, 19-20.
Copper, care of, 126.
Copperas, 163.
Copperas water, 55.
Cornmeal, 130.
Cottons, testing, 97.
Cracks, filling, 27.
Cretonne, 34.
Cuffs, how to do up, 5-7.
Curtains, how to do up, 8-9.
Cutting out clothes, 99.
Cuttings, to start plant, 158.

Darning, 81, 88.

Disinfection, 20.
Disinfectants, 55, 163-178.
Dogs, care of, 179.
Dust cloths, 43.
Dust swabs, 43.
Dyeing, 103.

Earth worms, 157.

Eggs, how to test, 144.
Emergencies, what to do in, 192-199.
Enameled iron, 71.

Fainting, 193.
Ferns, 151.
Fertilizers, 153.
Fillers for new wood, 47.
Fleas, how to prevent, 170.
Flies, how to prevent, 168.
Floors, 24-30.
Floor pad, 41.
Flour, how to test, 129.
Flowers, how to keep and arrange cut flowers, 159.
Foot pad, 41.
French polish, 49.
Frocks, how to wash, 4.
Fruit, dried, 142.
Fruit stains, 119.
Fruit storage, 139.
Furniture, mending, 74;
polish, 49.
Furs, mending, 88;
cleaning, 93.

Garden pests, 166.

Gas leak, 192.
Gasolene-cleaning, 104.
Gelatine spots, 119.
Gilt, to clean, 128;
frames, 69;
furniture, 68.
Glass, annealing, 61;
mending, 79;
preserving in, 138;
washing, 58-61.
Glazing, 37.
Gloves, care of, 92.
Glue, 50.
Grass stains, what to do for, 123.
Grease spots, what to do for, 113.
Grits, how to test, 131.
Gum arabic, 52.

Hares, how to keep, 184.

Hominy, how to test, 131.

Ice, to keep in sickroom, 18.

Ice-cream spots, 119.
Ink stains, 121.
Insects, 154, 163-178.
Insecticides, 154, 163-178.
Iodine poison, 197.
Iron, rust, 123;
care of, 125.
Irons, 13.
Ironstone, 58.
Ironing-boards, 43.
Ironing-tables, 11.

Javelle water, 54.

Kerosene emulsion, 165.

Knee pad, 41.
Knives and forks, how to clean, 61.

Lace and embroidery, how to wash, 10;

how to mend, 87;
how to freshen, 105.
Lamps and candlesticks, mending, 80.
Lard, how to test, 133.
Larkspur, 167.
Laundry cabinet, 45.
Lead swab, 45.
Lime water, 54.
Linen, testing, 97.

Mahogany stain, 48.

Majolica, how to wash, 58.
Materials, appliquéd, 102.
Matted floors, 29.
Matting, mending, 90.
Meat, how to keep fresh. 138.
Melons, keeping, 143.
Mending, 74-91.
Mercury poisoning, 198.
Mildew, 123.
Millinery, 109.
Mission furniture, care of, 68.
Mordants, 3-4.
Mosquitoes, 168.
Moths, 172.
Mucilage, 52.
Mustard plasters, 21.
Mutton and lamb, 135.

Narcotic poisoning, 196.

Nursing, clothes for, 23.

Oak furniture, care of, 68.

Oak stains, 48.
Oatmeal, 131.
Oil stains, 47.
Old garments, ways to use, 108.
Ornaments for millinery, 112.
Oxalic acid, 55.

Pads, 41.
Paint, to remove, 26, 118.
Palms, how to care for, 151.
Pantries, outdoor, 141.
Paper dough, 53.
Papering, 31-32, 38.
Parrots, care of, 190.
Paste for paper-hanging, 52.
Perspiration marks, 124.
Pets, care of, 179-191.
Pewter, how to clean, 127.
Piano polish, 49.
Pine needles, 46.
Plants, care of, 148;
for window boxes, 150.
Plaster, 53.
Poisons, 196-198.
Polish, 49.
Porch furniture, 71.
Pork, how to choose, 136.
Pots, 145.
Potting, 146.
Poultices, 21.
Poultry, 137;
how to keep, 138.
Precautions, 72.
Pressing, 101.
Ptomaine poisoning, 198.
Putty, 54.

Quicklime, 163.

Roaches, how to get rid of, 158, 176.

Road stains, 115.
Roses, 151.
Rugs, cleaning, 30;
mending, 90.
Rust, 123.

Salt fish, how to keep, 138.

Salt meats, how to choose, 136.
Sand, 53.
Saving pieces of material, 107.
Sawdust, 46.
Scrubbing, 24.
Shellac, 25.
Shirts, how to do up, 5-6.
Sickbed, 15.
Sickroom, care of, 13-23.
Silk, testing, 95;
washing, 105.
Silk wall covering, 34.
Silver tarnish, 127.
Size, glue and vegetable, 50.
Smoke stains, 124.
Soap, 1-2.
Soil for house plants, 145.
Spots, how to get rid of, 113-119.
Sprains and strains, 195.
Sprinklers, 44.
Stains, oil, 47;
 mahogany, 48;
walnut, 48;
oak, 48;
road, 115;
fruit, 119;
wine, 120;
ink, 121;
grass, 123;
smoke, 124.
Staining floors, 24-25.
Starches, 7-8.

Table linen, how to wash, 4-5.

Tar spots, 122.
Tea, how to choose, 132.
Tile floors, how to clean, 29.
Tool box, 44.
Trimmings, care of, 106.

Upholstered furniture, care of, 69.

Varnish, to remove, 26;

spots, 118.
Vegetable storage, 139.
Velvet, freshening, 107.
Vitriol, white, 164.

Walls, 30-36.
Wall mop, 46.
Wall paper, 31-33.
Walnut stain, 48.
Washing, 1-12.
Washing, china and glass, 56-61;
knives and forks, 61.
Washing fluids, 2.
Washing-soda, 163.
Water, to soften, 1.
Water bugs, 176.
Water wagon, 42.
Wax, dancing, 49.
Wax board, 45.
Wax finish, 48.
Wax spots, 124.
Waxing floors, 25.
Whitewash, 39, 51.
Whitewashed walls, 36.
Wicker furniture, care of, 70.
Windows, 30, 37.
Window boxes, 146, 149.
Wine stains, 120.
Woolens, how to wash, 9.
Woolens, testing, 96.

THE END
Transcriber’s Notes:
Some chapter headings had the word CHAPTER
before the roman numeral, some didn’t.
Missing or obscured punctuation was silently
corrected.
Typographical errors were silently corrected.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were
made consistent only when a predominant
form was found in this book.
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