SPSS Chapter 21 Example 1 - Randomized Block

Filby, R. and Guzzaniga, M., Splitting the Normal Brain with Reaction
Time, Psychonomic Science, 1969, 70, 29-30, examined differences in right and
left brain functioning. The left side of the brain controls language therefore one
should react faster to a stimulus delivered to the left than the right side. Eight
people were examined and reaction times were recorded to the presence or
absence of a dot that was randomly presented.
We are interested in comparing the three locations using Subject as the
blocking variable. We are testing:

Ho: µL = µR = µB (all of the means are equal)

Ha: µL ≠ µR ≠ µB (at least one of the means is different from the others)

After opening the file, the data appear in the SPSS Data Editor window just like
the following (please note that for the variable entitled Location, left = 1, right =
2, and blank = 3):
Follow these steps to perform a Randomized Block:

1. Click Analyze, Click General Linear Model, and Click Univariate. The
following window will appear.

2. Click “rt” (reaction time) and Click the arrow to move “rt” into the box entitled
Dependent Variable.

3. Click “subject” (block) and “location” and Click the arrow to move each of
them into the box entitled Fixed Factors.
4. Click the Model button. The following window will appear.

5. Click the circle beside the word Custom to build the model. Since we are
not interested in the interaction between the blocking variable (subject) and
the independent variable (location), only move “location” and “subject”
into the box entitled Model. Do this by Clicking on the term and then Clicking
on the arrow in the Build Terms box. Click Continue.

6. To create a means plot, Click the button entitled Plots and the following
window will appear.
7. Click “subject” and click the arrow to move “subject” into the box entitled
Horizontal Axis. Click “location” and Click the arrow to move “location”
into the box entitled Separate Lines. Click Add and click Continue.

8. To gather some useful information Click Save; the following window will
appear. Choose the information you require (e.g., Cook’s Distance,
Leverage, etc.) by clicking on the box beside it. Click Continue.
9. For summary statistics Click the Options box. The following window will
appear.
10. Click “location” and Click the arrow to move “location” into the box
entitled, Display Means.

11. Click Descriptives, Homogeneity, Residual Plot, Observed Power, and

Lack of Fit. Click Continue.

12. Click OK.

The SPSS example for this example of a Randomized Block Design is the
following:

Univariate Analysis of Variance

Between-Subjects Factors

Value
Label N
location 1 left 8
2 right 8
3 blank 8
SUBJECT 1 3
2 3
3 3
4 3
5 3
6 3
7 3
8 3
 Descriptive Statistics

Dependent Variable: RT
Std.
location SUBJECT Mean Deviation N
left 1 482.0000 . 1
2 388.0000 . 1
3 337.0000 . 1
4 569.0000 . 1
5 368.0000 . 1
6 422.0000 . 1
7 397.0000 . 1
8 390.0000 . 1
Total 419.1250 73.7650 8
right 1 438.0000 . 1
2 342.0000 . 1
3 284.0000 . 1
4 565.0000 . 1
5 359.0000 . 1
6 374.0000 . 1
7 330.0000 . 1
8 388.0000 . 1
Total 385.0000 85.4317 8
blank 1 458.0000 . 1
2 419.0000 . 1
3 368.0000 . 1
4 592.0000 . 1
5 344.0000 . 1
6 402.0000 . 1
7 364.0000 . 1
8 412.0000 . 1
Total 419.8750 78.4063 8
Total 1 459.3333 22.0303 3
2 383.0000 38.7427 3
3 329.6667 42.4774 3
4 575.3333 14.5717 3
5 357.0000 12.1244 3
6 399.3333 24.1109 3
7 363.6667 33.5012 3
8 396.6667 13.3167 3
Total 408.0000 77.6172 24
 Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Dependent Variable: RT
Type III
Sum of Mean Eta Noncent. Observed
a
Source Squares df Square F Sig. Squared Parameter Power
Corrected Mod32850.250b 9 14761.139 36.181 .000 .959 325.628 1.000
Intercept 3995136.0 1 3995136.0 9792.429 .000 .999 9792.429 1.000
LOCATION 6350.250 2 3175.125 7.783 .005 .526 15.565 .895
SUBJECT 26500.000 7 18071.429 44.295 .000 .957 310.063 1.000
Error 5711.750 14 407.982
Total 4133698.0 24
Corrected Tota
38562.000 23
a. Computed using alpha = .05
b. R Squared = .959 (Adjusted R Squared = .932)

The blocking variable is assumed to be significant in this design.This is confirmed in the

anova. The factor of interest is location the F(2,14)=7.78,p=.005 is very sign. We
conclude there are differences in mean rt as we vary location. The means are given
below.

Estimated Marginal Means

location

Dependent Variable: RT
95% Confidence Interval
Lower Upper
location Mean Std. Error Bound Bound
left 419.125 7.141 403.808 434.442
right 385.000 7.141 369.683 400.317
blank 419.875 7.141 404.558 435.192
 Dependent Variable: RT

Observed

Predicted

Std. Residual

Model: Intercept + LOCATION + SUBJECT

Profile Plots
 Estimated Marginal Means of RT
700

600

500
Estimated Marginal Means

400
location

left
300
right

200 blank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUBJECT

The graph above clearly shows the differences in rt as a function of location

across each subject. This is done here to clearly show the effectiveness of
blocking.