11/19 SPSS (originally Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
This package enables you to analyse data more fully than using a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. Although superficially it looks like a spreadsheet it does not work in the same way. You cannot for example sum a row of figures by inserting a formula in a cell.
Instead, the data is entered in columns, with each column being set up as a separate, defined variable. The data is then worked on using the menus to provide output (tables, graphs, statistics) in a separate window.
The following file is an SPSS data file and is based on real data from a research project (for further information about this project see Devise project page). If you have SPSS on your machine you will be able to open this file and work with it.
If you do not have this file the following screen images will help you get an overview of SPSS.
The following pages will give a basic introduction to SPSS, they do not provide an in-depth tutorial on how to use it. There are many workshops demonstrating how to use SPSS and it is recommended that for more advanced analysis you should attend one of these.
You can download the sample SPSS file here.
