INTRODUCTION

DATA VIEW
VARIABLE VIEW
SCALING
OUTPUT WINDOW

SPSS stands for Statistical Package for the Social Science which was latter
changed to Statistical Product and Service Solution and now just SPSS
representing a Chicago based firm which owns this statistical package
This software was initially created by three Stanford graduate student in 1960s
Key features of SPSS are
More comprehensive then windows
More user friendly then SAS



Key steps to open SPSS window
START
ALL
PROGRAMS
MENU
FOLDER
SPSS 14.0
FOR
WINDOWS
OPEN NEW
WINDOW
Menu Commands
Toolbar icons
Subject or case
number
Click here to
name first variable
Empty data cells
Scroll bars
Data view, variable
view tabs
File: Deals with different functions associated with files including opening, reading,
saving and exiting SPSS
Edit: A number of editing functions including copying, pasting, finding and replacing
View: Several options that affect ways of screen appears, most frequently used is
Value label
Data: Operations related to defining, configuring, entering data also deals in sorting
cases, merging or aggregating files and selecting or weighting cases
Transform: Transformation of previously entered data include recording, computing,
new variables, reordering and dealing with missing values
Analyze: All forms of data analysis like tables, t-test, regression, reports, compare
means, etc.
Graphs: creation of graphs or charts with this option
Utilities: Utilities deals largely with fairly sophisticated ways of making complex data
operations easier
Add-ons: Option to buy advance software and add to basic software
Windows: Deals with the position, status and format of open windows
Helps: Include search capabilities, tutorials and statistics coach

Specification of
each variable
Name
Type
Width
Decimal
Label
Value
Missing
Columns
Align
Measure or
scale
Three type of scale are prominently used in SPSS which are mentioned below
Scale: Scale have intrinsic numeric meaning that allow typical mathematical
manipulations. Key types are years, quizzes, final score, etc.
For Example, age is a scale variable: 16 is twice as much as 8
Ordinal: Measures have intrinsic order but mathematical manipulation are typically
meaningless
Key example like male/female, true/ false, pass/fail
Nominal: Measures used for identification but have no intrinsic (lesser to greater)
order such as ethnicity, marital status, and alphabetical strings variables
Nominal data is used for categorization but not used for analysis