SPSS AnswerNet: Result 

Solution ID:	 	100001386	
Product:	 	SPSS Base 	
Version:	 		
O/S:	 	WINDOWS	
Question Type:	 	Graphics	
Question Subtype:	 	Creation	
Title:
Blank bar for unselected category 
Description:
Q. 
I have a categorical variable which I would like to display in a 
bar chart. However, one of my categories was not selected by any 
of my respondents. I can generate a frequency distribution and 
bar chart for this variable, but the unselected category is not 
included. How can I both generate a frequency distribution to 
show a zero count for this category, as well as generate a bar 
chart which also reflects a zero frequency? 
A. 
This is not a hard project. First, you'll need to create a constant 
with a value of 1 to weight the cases in the data set by. After you 
create that constant, save the data file. Then, create another data set 
with a DATA LIST command. This new file will have only one case. 
This case will contain the variable you wish to chart (with the value 
that you wish to include in the chart) and the weight variable. The 
weight variable should have a very small value, like .00001. 
Then, merge this data set with the original, WEIGHT BY weight 
variable, and then generate the chart either through the 
FREQUENCIES command, or with GRAPH. You'll get a frequency of 0 
for that value, and the resultant bar chart will have a "blank" 
space for the bar. 
The following sample job is illustrative: 
* Create a sample data set. 
INPUT PROGRAM. 
LOOP #I = 1 TO 100. 
COMPUTE x = (TRUNC(UNIFORM(3)) + 1). 
END CASE. 
END LOOP. 
END FILE. 
END INPUT PROGRAM. 
EXECUTE. 
* Compute the weight variable. 
COMPUTE weight = 1. 
SAVE OUTFILE = 'TMP.SAV'. 
* Create a new file to merge with the original data. 
NEW FILE. 
DATA LIST /x 1 weight 3-8. 
BEGIN DATA 
4 .00001 
END DATA. 
EXE. 
* Merge the data. 
ADD FILES /FILE=* 
/FILE='TMP.SAV'. 
EXECUTE. 
* Weight the data. 
WEIGHT 
BY weight . 
* Generate the chart, here done with the FREQUENCIES command. 
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=x /BARCHART FREQ.