EDMS 646: Quantitative Research Methods II

Jeffrey Harring

APA Tables in SPSS

1. Making an APA-Style Correlation Table Using SPSS

First, open a data file, I am currently using some HSB (High School & Beyond) data. Run a bivariate
correlation by going to Analyze > Correlate > Bivariate
Correlations

math achievement test

scholastic aptitude
test - math
motivation scale

visualization test

Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N

math
achievement
test
1

scholastic
motivation
aptitude
scale
test - math
.788**
.316**
.000
.006
75
75
73
.788**
1
.289*
.000
.013
75
75
73
.316**
.289*
1
.006
.013
73
73
73
.423**
.356**
.047
.000
.002
.695
75
75
73

visualization
test
.423**
.000
75
.356**
.002
75
.047
.695
73
1
75

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

In the SPSS output window, move your mouse pointer over the table and then Right-Click your mouse
button. Go to SPSS Pivot Table Object and select Open.

University of Maryland

EDMS 646: Quantitative Research Methods II

Jeffrey Harring

APA Tables in SPSS

This new window is called the SPSS Pivot Table Editor window. Click on Format > Tablelooks

In the next window, scroll down and select

Academic, then OK

You should now see the changes made in the

SPSS Pivot Table editor

University of Maryland

EDMS 646: Quantitative Research Methods II

Jeffrey Harring

APA Tables in SPSS

Although this looks closer to APA-style, its not quite there yet. Lets make more changes. Click on
Format > Table Properties and you should see:

Change Maximum width of labels

to 120. Then click on the Cell
Formats tab. Now change
everything to Times New Roman
and 12-point font and flushed-left.
Go to the next Aera and do the
same thing. Keep doing this until
you have changed all Areas.
After making the changes, click on
the Borders tab. In this window,
change border line size:

You need to change the following borders to

the smallest line size [its the one right after
(None)]:
Top inner frame
Bottom inner frame
Data area top
Click (None) for Horizontal dimension
border
Click OK.
You should now see the Pivot Table editor
again:

Now lets permanently save this design as a template Go to Format > TableLooks
Click on Save As and save it to your personal folder. Name it whatever, e.g., APA Table. After
saving it, click OK.
Now lets make this new APA design the SPSS default output. In the SPSS data editor go to Edit >
Options then click on the Pivot Table tab:

University of Maryland

EDMS 646: Quantitative Research Methods II

Jeffrey Harring

APA Tables in SPSS

Click on Browse and find the file you saved the template as and open it. Click OK. Now, your
default output will be your new APA-style table. Try running the Bivariate Correlation again.

2. Exporting Table to Microsoft Word

Before we put the table into a Word document, lets clean it up a bit. Remember, APA-style is
supposed to be simple and clean:
Heres the final edit

Go ahead and click X to close the SPSS Pivot Table window. Now you should be back in the
Output window. Right-click mouse and Copy the new chart. Open you document and paste it in.

University of Maryland

EDMS 646: Quantitative Research Methods II

Jeffrey Harring

APA Tables in SPSS

Correlations

math achievement test

scholastic aptitude test math
motivation scale
visualization test

math
achievement test
1

scholastic aptitude
visualization
test - math
motivation scale test
.788**
.316**
.423**

.788**

.289*

.356**

.316**
.423**

.289*
.356**

1
.047

.047
1

** p < 0.01 level.

* p < 0.05 level.

It may at first look quite ugly like this above. Adjust the lines, adjust the column sizes. Remove
the parentheses () around the asterisk *. Now you might see something like this:
Table 1.
Correlations Among Study Variables
Scholastic
aptitude

Math achievement

Math
achievement
____

Motivation
scale

Scholastic aptitude

.788**

____

Motivation scale

.316**

.289*

____

Visualization test

.423**

.356**

.047

Visualization
test

____

** p < 0.01 level.

* p < 0.05 level.

Now erase the upper-right side correlations and replace the 1s with underline (_). Now, just
highlight everything with your mouse and click Flush-left, then capitalize the first letter of each
variable and give it a title. Italicize the title and the p for the correlation significance. Then
double-space the table.

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