What is SPSS and How Does It Work?

What is SPSS – SPSS is a Software which is widely used as an Statistical Analytic Tool in the Field of Social Science, Such as Market research, Surveys, Competitor Analysis, and others.

It is a comprehensive and flexible statistical analysis and data management tool. It is one of the most popular statistical package which can perform highly complex data manipulation and analysis with ease. It is designed for both interactive and non interactive users.

Functionalities of SPSS

Some of the functionalities of SPSS includes the following

• Data Transformations
• Data Examination
• Descriptive statistics
• General Linear model
• Reliability tests
• Correlation
• T-tests
• ANOVA
• MANOVA
• Regressions
• Factor analysis
• Cluster analysis
• Probit analysis
• Time series
• Survival analysis
• Graphics and graphical interface

The SPSS Consists of 2 Sheets – One Is the Data View and the Variable View

Features of SPSS

• It is easy for you to learn and use
• SPSS includes a lot of data management system and editing tools
• It offers you in-depth statistical capabilities
• It offers an excellent plotting, reporting and presentation features

Benefits of SPSS

Here are few key points why SPSS is considered the best tool to use

• Effective data management

SPSS in data analysis easier and quicker for you as the program knows the location of the cases and the variables. It reduces the manual work of the user to a great extent

• Wide range of options

SPSS offers a wide range of methods, graphs and charts to you. It also comes with better screening and cleaning option of the information as  a preparation for further analysis.

• Wide range of options

In SPSS the output is kept separate from the data itself. It stores the data in a separate file.

Variable View

It is the sheet where you define the Variable of the Data that you have, The Variable View Consists of the Following Column heading,

• Name: Enter the Unique Identifiable and Sorting Variable Name, Eg: In the Data of Students, The Variables can be ID, Sex, Age, Class, Etc, Note : This will not allow any special character or Space while describing the variables of the Data, and Once you enter the First Variable, Immediately you can see SPSS generating all the other information regarding how you want to set that Variable that you have entered to be,
• Type: You Can change the Type of Variable, Whether Numeric, Alphabets or Alpha Numeric by selecting the respective Type in this column, this will restrict the use of any other type being used under this variable column
• Width : Defines the Character Width this Variable Should allow, Especially helpful while entering Mobile number which allow only 10 character
• Decimal: Defines the Decimal point you required to display, Eg: Used in case of percentages
• Label: Since the Name Column Doesn’t allow you to use any Special Character or Space, here you can give any name as an Label for that Variable you wanted to assign
• Value : This is to define/ Label a Value Wherever you see in the Data, Eg: You can Label “0” in the data as ABSENT for Exam, So when you find 0 in the data, it will be labeled as ABSENT for Exam, You Can also Label the Employee ID Number with their Name, So that Using the value Label Switch Button you can view the Name of the employee, but in report the Name will not appear, only the EMP ID number will appear, This helps in reading the data better in data view
• Missing : You can mention the Data which you don’t want the SPSS to consider while analyzing, Like “0” Value is considered as Absent, so for analysis it will neglect “0” if its mentioned in Missing, which will be helpful in Mean, Mode Etc,
• Align : You can mention the alignment of the data in the data sheet, Left, Right of Middle,
• Measure: This is where you will define the measure of the Variable that you have entered, Whether Scale, Ordinal or Nominal type of Variable

Note: Shortcut – You can copy the Variable Type and Paste in the Next row, if it’s almost the Same type of Variable,  Like Subjects Marks – Science, Maths, English, History – All these will have the same Type except for change in Name and Label

After defining all the variables of the data, Once you Click on the DATA View Sheet, You can See the Labels entered by you as the Columns Label,

Data View

The Data View is a Spreadsheet which contains rows and columns, The Data Can be entered in the Data View Sheet Either Manually or the data can be imported from the data file, SPSS can read the data file in any of the one format, which can be Excel, Plain text files or relational (SQL) Databases, Before importing the excel sheet change the excel file format to (.xls)

Note: SPSS can read the data file better in numeric than the String (Text), So it’s always better to convert most of the data as Numeric Variables Data, Eg: In case of Survey they Use more of Yes/ no, Good/Average/Bad, Male/Female, – Here in all these cases you can use codes in data file like 1 – Yes, 2 – No; Also make sure that the Excel data is arranged in such a way that Rows always contain Responses from Different people and Columns contains responses to different questions;

Importing Excel Data File into SPSS:

• Click File …. Select Open ….. Select Data
• In the Dialog Box, in Files of Type Drop Box Select .xls File
• Then select the excel file data that you have stored in your system and Select Open
• In the Dialog box, Ensure that you tick the “ Read Variable names from the first row of data”
• Click Ok
• SPSS data Editor will open and you can find your data file in it;

Analyze : After  the data in imported or entered in the data view sheet, you can run the reports and analyze the data using the Analyze option on Top Toolbar, You can find All the Analytical tools in this option, Let Us take that we have to find the Mean, Median, Mode for the data that is entered,

• Go to Analyze option
• Select Descriptive Statistics
• Select Frequencies
• In the Dialog Box, on the left Side You will Have List of Variables That you have mentioned in the data, Select the Variables for which you have to find the Mean, Median, Mode and drop them in the right side box, using the drop button in the center,
• Click on Statistics Button,
• You will find the Check box of Mean, Median and Mode in the central tendency Dialog Box, Check them,
• Click Continue,
• In the Frequencies Dialog Box, Click the Chart Button, and select the type of Chart you want the data to be shown,
• Then click ok,
• The Output will be opened in a separate window, with List of Mean, Median, Mode and with pictorial representation of the chart that you have selected earlier;

Statistical Test Using SPSS

Quick Data Check

Before using any statistical test, It’s always advisable to do a data check to know how the data has been distributed and clearly defined, whether the missing values are neglected etc, Data Check is usually done using Charts, so that any abnormalities can be easily detected and data can be corrected,

Histogram – is widely used to check the data in case of One Variable Tests – Creating an histogram is already been explained;

Scatter Plot Chart – is used for Two Variable Tests:

• Click Graphs……… Select Legacy Dialogs…….. Select Scatter/Dot
• Select the Simple Scatter Chart
• Click define
• You will Find the X axis and Y axis for Comparison
• Drop the Variable for X axis and Y axis respectively
• Click Ok

Majorly Tests can be diversified based on the purpose, it can be 2 Types – Comparison Tests and Association Test, Comparison Test can be further divided into 3 types based on the number of variables you want to compare, one variable tests, two variable tests and multi variable test;

Comparison Tests – One Variable using SPSS

1. A.Chi Square Test

• Click Analyze…. Select Non Parametric Tests… Select Legacy Dialogs
• Select Chi- Square Test
• In the Chi- Square Dialog Box, Drop the Variable that you want to run the test in the “Test Variable List” using the Drop Button in the center
• In Expected Range Tick “ Get from Data”
• In Expected Values Tick “ All Categories Equal”
• Click OK
• Chi Square result will appear in the Output Window

1. B. One Sample T- Test

• Click Analyze…. Select Compare Means…
• Select One Sample T – Test
• In the One Sample T Test Dialog Box, Drop the Variable that you want to run the test in the “Test Variable List” using the Drop Button in the center
• In the Test Value enter the Population value
• Click Paste – Syntax will appear with all the conditions
• Click OK and run the Test
• One Sample T – Test result will appear in the Output Window

Comparison Tests – Two Variable using SPSS

1. C. Paired Sample T test:

• Click Analyze…. Select Compare Means…
• Select One Paired Sample T Test
• In the One Sample T Test Dialog Box, Drop the Two Variables that you want to run the test in the “Paired Variable List” using the Drop Button in the center one by one
• Click Paste – Syntax will appear with all the conditions
• Click OK and run the Test
• Paired Sample T – Test result will appear in the Output Window

Comparison Tests – More Variable using SPSS

1. D. Repeated Measures ANOVA

• Click Analyze…. Select General Linear Model…
• Select Repeated Measures
• In the Repeated Measures define Factor Dialog Box, we are going to define the multiple variables that we going to run,
• Give a Name to the Set of Variables that you going to compare (Factor Name) – Like Courses, in the “Within-Subject Factor Name”
• Enter the number of Variable under this Factor in the “ Number of Levels”
• Click ADD
• Give the Measure Name, Like Rank, Rating,
• Click ADD
• Click “Define” to Define the Variables under the Mentioned Factor Name – Courses
• Drop all the Variables you wanted to include below the Factor Name ( Courses) to Within – Subject Variables
• Click Option and select descriptive Statistics
• Click Paste – Syntax will appear with all the conditions
• Click OK and run the Test
• Repeated Measures ANOVA – Test result will appear in the Output Window

Associate Tests – Two Variables

2. A. Correlation Tests

• Click Analyze…. Select Correlate…
• Select Bivariate…
• In the Bivariate Correlation Dialog Box, Drop the Two Variables that you want to run the test in the “Variable List” using the Drop Button in the center one by one
• Ensure You tick “Pearson” Correlation Coefficients
• Test of Significance tick “Two Tailed”
• Also Tick Flag Significant Correlations
• Click Paste – Syntax will appear with all the conditions
• Click OK and run the Test
• Bivariate Correlation – Test  result will appear in the Output Window

2. B. One Way Anova Test

• Click Analyze…. Select Compare Means…
• Select One Way Anova…
• In the One Way Anova Dialog Box, Drop the Variables in the Dependent List and the List of variables in the Factor List, Example: Weight of Children in the dependent List and the Health Drinks in the Factor List
• Select Option and Select Descriptive
• Click Paste – Syntax will appear with all the conditions
• Click OK and run the Test
• One Way Anova – Test  result will appear in the Output Window

SPSS Output Window

This Window Contains all the Output which is run after the Statistical Tests, The output of the Statistical Test will be displayed in the Output window in the Table and Chart/graph format only;

The Output Window consists of 2 Segment – Left hand side you can see the output outline and the right hand side is the Actual Output, Output Outline will show the Titles and the subtitles of the Output organized in a hierarchy tree structure, by clicking the title or the subtitles you can view the actual output; You can hide or delete the branch of the tree structure,

The Table can be easily copied and pasted in the Word or Excel Sheet, Same is the Graph or Chart that is displayed in the Actual Output can also be copied and pasted

The Data Editor Window will be saved in (.sav) format as an SPSS data File, SPSS Syntax file will be saved in (.spv) format as an SPSS Syntax file and Output Viewer Window will be saved in (.spv) or (.spo) format as an SPSS Output File,

How to Open Saved SPSS file and run the output Again

• Click File …. Select Open ….. Select Data
• In the Dialog Box, in Files of Type Drop Box Select (.sav) File
• Then select the SPSS data file that you have stored in your system and Select Open
• Click Ok
• SPSS data Editor will open and you can find your data file in it;
• Make the necessary changes if you want to edit the data or in the Variables and run the test required

The bottom line is though Excel offers a good way of data organization, SPSS is more suitable for in depth data analysis.

If you wish to learn about SPSS in detail, do try our online training on SPSS – Analyze Data for Statistical Analysis.

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