Click Close to return to your scatter plot. Ensure that the default option Linear is selected as the Fit Method. If you want to add a line of best fit/regression line to your scatter plot, double click on the scatter plot in your Output Viewer to open the “Chart Editor.” Then click Elements -> Fit Line at Total. However, the relationship between these variables is not linear.Īdding a Line of Best Fit to Your Scatter Plot

Negative Monotonic Relationship Between Variables.Īs the value of one variable increases, the value of the other value decreases. However, the relationship between these variables is not linear. Positive Monotonic Relationship Between Variables.Īs the value of one variable increases, the value of the other value also increases. Negative Linear Relationship Between VariablesĬurvilinear Relationship Between Variables Some of the other relationships between variables that your scatter plot may indicate are illustrated below. Therefore, we cannot conclude that high mid-term exam scores cause high final exam scores on the basis of the scatter plot above. It is important to note that a scatter plot cannot prove a causal relationship between variables. In other words, lower mid-term exam scores tend to be associated with lower final exam scores, and higher mid-term exam scores tend to be associated with higher final exam scores. The scatter plot above indicates that there is a positive linear relationship between mid-term and final exam scores in this Statistics course. Each dot’s position on the X (horizontal) axis represents a student’s mid-term exam score, and its position on the Y (vertical) axis represents their final exam score.Īfter we create a scatter plot, we need to review it to assess the nature of the relationship – if any – that exists between our variables. The SPSS Output Viewer will pop up with the scatter plot that you’ve created.Įach student in our hypothetical study is represented by one dot on our scatter plot. To do this, click the Titles button, add your title, and click Continue to return to the “Simple Scatterplot” dialog box. It is a good idea to give your scatter plot a title. In these cases, it doesn’t matter which variable you move to the X Axis box and which variable you move to the Y Axis box. If your data is from a simple correlation study, as is the case with our example, there may not be obvious predictor/independent and criterion/dependent variables. Then select the criterion/dependent variable, and use the arrow button to move it to the Y Axis box. If your data is from a regression study, select your predictor/independent variable, and use the arrow button to move it to the X Axis. The next step is to move your variables into the X Axis and Y Axis boxes. We recommend that you click the Reset button to clear any previous settings. This brings up the “Simple Scatterplot” dialog box below. Select Simple Scatter and then click Define. This brings up the Scatter/Dot dialog box: Note, however that in newer versions of SPSS, you will need to click Graphs > Scatter/Dot. Create a Scatter PlotĬlick Graphs -> Legacy Dialogs -> Scatter/Dot as illustrated below. We want to create a scatter plot to visualize the relationship between the two sets of scores. This hypothetical data set contains the mid-term and final exam scores of 40 students in a Statistics course (the first 20 records are displayed above). (Check out our tutorials on importing data from Excel or MySQL into SPSS). The starting assumption for this tutorial is that you have already imported your data into SPSS, and that you’re looking at something like the data set below. Click X in the top right corner of the Chart Editor to save your edits.Ensure that Linear is selected under Fit Method.Double-click on your scatter plot to open the Chart Editor.Your scatter plot will appear in SPSS Output Viewer.Select Titles to add a title (recommended), then click Continue.Select the criterion/dependent variable and move it into the Y Axis box.Select the predictor/independent variable and move it into the X Axis box.Click Graphs -> Legacy Dialogs -> Scatter/Dot (in older versions of SPSS) ORĬlick Graphs > Scatter/Dot (in newer versions of SPSS).

Linear scatter plot