Data layout for an ROC curve (created 2009-10-16)

This page is moving to a new website.

Back in 1999, I wrote a brief description of the ROC curve and showed what it would look like in SPSS. That page can be found at

I didn't show, however, what the data would look like when entered into SPSS or what the dialog boxes would look like.

The image above shows how you would layout the data in SPSS.

When you select DATA | WEIGHT CASES from the menu, you will see the above dialog box. Designate "Count" as the FREQUENCY VARIABLE.

Then select ANALYZE | ROC CURVE to get the above dialog box. Place "Test" in the TEST VARIABLE field, and "Group" in the STATE VARIABLE field. In this data set, 1 represents the disease group, so type that number in the VALUE OF STATE VARIABLE field.