1. ivote A system for polling students in the class
Chapter 3: ivote and SPSS integration
Julien T. Groulx et Denis Cousineau

2. Overview
ivote is a system to get votes from student in a classroom setting
To learn more:
Read T. Groulx, J. & Cousineau, D. (in press) ivote: A simple system to conduct polls and quiz in class settings, The Quantitative Methods for Psychology, vol 12(3).
See for a general introduction
See for using ivote within PowerPoint.

3. How does ivote work to upload the results in SPSS
You can upload the data into SPSS
a short syntax is all that is needed
Python for SPSS must be installed
(the upload takes less than 1 second)

4. How to fetch votes using SPSS

5. How to fetch votes using SPSS (1) Get a « syntax » window
The « syntax » window is used to enter instructions

6. How to fetch votes using SPSS (2) Check once that Python is present
The first time, verify that the Python extension to SPSS is installed (offered during the installation of SPSS).
Select all the lines (e.g., ctrl-A) then execute them
(e.g., ctrl-R)
If the word
Hello!
appears in the output window,
you’re all set to go!

7. How to fetch votes using SPSS (3) Install the GetIVotes bundle
You need an extension command for SPSS, GetIVotes, downloadable from the ivote web site.
Upload GetIVotes.spe to a folder of your choice;
In SPSS, go to « Utilitiles »:
« Extension bundles »:
« Install exention Bundle » and locate the GetIVotes.spe bundle.
This step needs to be done only once on a given computer.

8. How to fetch votes using SPSS (4) Request votes
Use the GetIVotes command to request votes.
SPSS commands are case-insensitive but question name and access code are case-sensitive
Possible formats are :
A1 for single letter choices (e.g., A, B, C, D, E)
A5 for true/false (the word “FALSE” has 5 letters)
F8.0 for numeric input with no decimals.
F8.2 for numeric input with 2 decimals,
The format is given by ivote on the instructor’s web page

9. Examples

10. A minimal example 1- Create a question named x1 on www.tqmp.org/ivote
Use access code « tt » so that you can erase it as someone else –me– created this question;
Choose a numeric format
2- Show a question to the students, (see next slide)
3- Invite them to go to or
4- When the students are done, go to SPSS and execute
GetIVote /question = x /accesscode = tt /format = f8.0.

11. A minimal example Example of descriptive statistics
Enter your height in inches
To vote:

12. A minimal example Start SPSS
Request a syntax window (file: new: syntax)
Type the following
GetIVote
/question = x1
/format = A1
/accesscode = tt.
Select all (ctrl-A) and execute (ctrl-R)
That’s it! the data are in the editor window.
(you can save time if you start SPSS prior to the class)

14. Things to remember

15. Things to remember A question is erased seven days after its creation
the votes recorded are also erased at that time
No more than 500 votes can be recorded for one question
You cannot create a question if it already exists unless the access code matches the one given at creation
i.e., you can overwrite your own questions but not a question created by someone else