The purpose of this brief exercise is to get you started on SYSTAT.  The data below are handle measurements on a sample of Mississippian jars from Moundville:
 
 

Cat.No.	Phase	Top Width	Bottom Width
L.22	M.1	28	22
EE88	M.3	--	6
L.12	M.1	23	17
NE444	M.2	19	18
SW40	M.2	20	17
SD29	M.3	27	13
SD265	M.1	10	10
SD31	M.3	25	7
NE452	M.2	17	15
SD32	M.3	15	12

The catalog number identifies the particular vessel on which the measurement was made; the phase is the vessel's chronological assignment ("M.1" refers to the Moundville I phase. "M.2" to the Moundville II phase, and so forth); the measurements refer to the width of the handle (in mm) at its top and bottom, respectively.

Your job is to do the following:

1.  Input the data and save it in a SYSTAT file.  Be sure to include all four variables. Note that there are at least two different ways to enter data into SYSTAT: (1) you may input from the keyboard using the SYSTAT data window (start by clicking on File | New | Data), (2) you may input from an EXCEL or other spreadsheet file.  Take your pick.  Remember that missing numeric data are indicated by a period; missing string data are indicated by a blank field.

2.  Print the data.

3.  Create a new variable that is the ratio of Top Width to Bottom Width.  (First rename an empty column in the data window by right clicking on the column header and changing its properties; then click on Data | Transform | Let to calculate the new values.)

4.  Sort the data by "Phase", save and print it again.  (Click on Data | Sort, and proceed from there.)

5.  Find the means of all three numeric variables for the data set as a whole.  (Click on Statistics | Descriptive Statistics | Basic Statistics, and go from there.)

6.  Find the means of these three variables for each phase separately.  (First click on Data | By Groups, select the grouping variable, then proceed as in #5 above.)   Are any chronological patterns evident?

Be sure to hand in the output of steps 2, 4, 5, and 6 along with your brief discussion.

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