SSLVMB_20.0.0/com.ibm.spss.statistics.help/images/oms_no_data_file.gif' alt='Merging Data Files Spss' title='Merging Data Files Spss' />IBM Knowledge Center. Excel Data File Examples' title='Excel Data File Examples' />SPSS for the Classroom the Basics. Overview. IBM SPSS Statistics is software for managing data and calculating a wide variety of statistics. Computer Arts Magazine Pdf on this page. This document is intended for students taking classes that use SPSS Statistics or anyone else who is totally new to the SPSS software. Those who plan on doing more involved research projects using SPSS should follow up this brief intro with more in depth training. For information about SSCC lab accounts, the labs, Winstat and more see Information for SSCC Instructional Lab Users. The SPSS software is built around the SPSS programming language. The good news for beginners is that you can accomplish most basic data analysis through menus and dialog boxes without having to actually learn the SPSS language. Menus and dialog boxes are useful because they give you visual reminders of most of your options with each step of your analysis. However, some tasks cannot be accomplished from the menus, and others are more quickly carried out by typing a few key words than by working through a long series of menus and dialogs. As a beginner, it will be strategic to learn a bit of both SPSS programming and the menus. In the long run, you will want to learn to just work directly in the programming language, because this is how you document your work, and good documentation is key to both trouble shooting and replicating complicated projects. For now, we assume you are just carrying out very simple tasks. Part two discusses common statistics, regression, and graphs. Facerig Mac on this page. Starting SPSS Statistics. The SSCC has SPSS installed in our computer labs 4. Sewell Social Sciences Building and on some of the Winstats. If you work on a University owned computer you can also go to Do. Sample Data Sets SpssCreating a Data File Entering data from an experiment into a SPSS data file is a two step process that we. Take for example, the data from the experiment reported. SPSS Tutorials Importing Data into SPSS. If youd like to download the sample dataset to work through the examples, choose one of the files below. The following are the project and data sets used in this SPSS online training workshop. Click on the data Description. This online SPSS Training Workshop is. Sample Files. The sample files. This data file is based on the same example as described for carpet. Where are the samples files located in the SPSS Statistics softwareITs Campus Software Library, and download and install SPSS on that computer this requires a Net. ID, and administrator priviledges. To run SPSS, log in and click Start Programs IBM SPSS Statistics IBM SPSS Statistics 2. When SPSS is first started you are presented with a dialog box asking you to open a file. Pick a recently opened file or pick Open another file from the list on the left. Typically you start your SPSS session by opening the data file that you need to work with. The SPSS Windows and Files. SPSS Statistics has three main windows, plus a menu bar at the top. These allow you to 1 see your data, 2 see your statistical output, and 3 see any programming commands you have written. Each window corresponds to a separate type of SPSS file. Data Editor. sav filesThe Data Editor lets you see and manipulate your data. You will always have at least one Data Editor open even if you have not yet opened a data set. When you open an SPSS data file, what you see is a working copy of your data. Changes you make to your data are not permanent until you save them click File Save or Save As. Data files are saved with a file type of. When you close your last Data Editor you are shutting down SPSS and you will be prompted to save all unsaved files. To open a different data set, click File Open Data. It is also possible to open some non SPSS data files by this method, such as Excel, Stata, or SAS files. SPSS lets you have many data sets open simultaneously, and the data set that you are currently working with, the active data set, is always marked with a tiny red plus sign on the title bar. In order to avoid confusion it is usually a good strategy to close out any Data Editors youre done using. Output Viewer. spv filesAs you ask SPSS to carry out various computations and other tasks, the results can show up in a variety of places. New data values will show up in the Data Editor. Statistical results will show up in the Output Viewer. The Output Viewer shows you tables of statistical output and any graphs you create. By default it also show you the programming language for the commands that you issued called syntax in SPSS jargon, and most error messages will also appear here. Eltek Ups Software. The Output Viewer also allows you to edit and print your results. The tables of the Output Viewer are saved click File Save or Save As with a file type of. SPSS software. As with Data Editors, it is possible to open more than one Output Viewer to look at more than one output file. The active Viewer, marked with a tiny blue plus sign, will receive the results of any commands that you issue. If you close all the Output Viewers and then issue a new command, a fresh Output Viewer is started. Syntax Editor. sps filesIf you are working with the SPSS programming language directly, you will also open a Syntax Editor. The Syntax Editor allows you to write, edit, and run commands in the SPSS programming language. If you are also using the menus and dialog boxes, the Paste button automatically writes the syntax for the command you have specified into the active Syntax Editor. These files are saved as plain text and almost any text editor can open them, but with a file extension of. As with the other types of windows, you can have more than one Syntax Editor open and the active window is marked with a tiny orange plus sign. When you paste syntax from dialog boxes, it goes to the active Syntax Editor. If you close out all your Syntax Editors and then paste a command, a fresh Syntax Editor is opened. Issuing Commands. Unless you command SPSS to do something, it just sits there looking at you. In general commands may be issued either through menus and dialog boxes that invoke the programming language behind the scenes, or by typing the programming language in a Syntax Editor and running the commands. Dialog Boxes. Although each dialog box is unique, they have many common features. A fairly typical example is the dialog box for producing frequency tables tables with counts and percents. To bring up this dialog box from the menus, click on Analyze Descriptive Statistics Frequencies. On the left is a variable selection list with all of the variables in your data set. If your variables have variable labels, what you see is the beginning of the variable label. To see the full label as well as the variable name in square brackets, hold your cursor over the label beginning. Select the variables you want to analyze by clicking on them you may have to scroll through the list. Then click the arrow button to the right of the selection list, and the variables are moved to the analysis list on the right. If you change your mind about a variable, you can select it in the list on the right and then click the arrow button to move it back out of the analysis list. On the far right of the dialog are several buttons that lead to further dialog boxes with options for the frequencies command. At the bottom of the dialog box, click OK to issue your command to SPSS, or Paste to have the command written to a Syntax Editor. If you return to a dialog box you will find it opens with all the specifications you last used. This can be handy if you are trying a number of variations on your analysis, or if you are debugging something. If youd prefer to start fresh you can click the Reset button. Working with the Data Editor. The main use of the Data Editor is to show you a portion of the data values you are working with. It can also be used to redefine the characteristics of variables change the type, add labels, define missing values, etc., create new variables, and enter data by hand. The Data Editor gives you two views of your data set a Data View and a Variable View, selected by clicking on the appropriate tab in the lower left corner of the window.