1. An Introduction to SPSS
Cathryn Miller MA, MLIS
Social Sciences Librarian

2. Today Introduction to SPSS Descriptive Statistics in SPSS
Graphing in SPSS

3. What is SPSS?
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a computer program that allows you to perform statistical analysis of data.
IBM SPSS Program Icon
Raw data before it has been analyzed.

4. Features of SPSS SPSS... has a Graphical User Interface
performs a variety of calculations for you
is commonly used in the public and private sector
is widely used at Duquesne
is free for Duquesne University students, faculty, and staff
In SPSS you can point and click on the menu bar and tool bar in order to run an analysis.

5. Excel vs. SPSS Excel SPSS
Certain Statistical Procedures are not available
Not set up for analyzing data
SPSS
Many different Statistical Procedures are available
Easy to analyze large data sets by pointing and clicking

6. Where to find SPSS on Campus
SPSS is available on all computers in Duquesne University computer labs as well as computers in Gumberg Library.

7. Downloading SPSS on your Laptop/PC
SPSS is available for free from Duquesne University.
To access the SPSS software to download go to DORI and click:
->Computer Store
->Software Downloads
Need help downloading SPSS?
Drop-in for help at the CTS Help Desk: Union (next to Starbucks)
Call the CTS Help Desk:

8. SPSS Workflow Collect Your Own Data (ex: administer a survey)
Find a Dataset
Import the Data into SPSS
Enter Your Data Manually into SPSS
Run Statistical Analyses in SPSS
(ex: mean, standard deviation, correlation, ANOVA, regression)
Interpret the SPSS Output

9. 1. Open SPSS
* Access IBM SPSS Statistics 24 or 25 from the Windows Start button

10. SPSS
menu bar
tool bar
The menu bar is what you’ll use to get SPSS to carry out various tasks. File, Analyze, Graphs, and Help are heavily used.
Below the menu bar is the tool bar. The tool bar provides shortcuts for things like saving, printing, undo etc.

11. SPSS
There is currently no data in SPSS. The cells below are empty.

12. https://pixabay.com/en/question-speech-bubbles-speech-1828268/

13. 2. Open your Data in SPSS
The data file for this class: census_NAEP_2015.sav
Data sources:
Census Bureau Data: education spending 2015
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data: NAEP test scores 2015

14. Importing Data: Opening a .sav Data File in SPSS1 1
Click file 3 2 2
Click open 3
Click data

15. Importing Data: Opening a .sav Data File in SPSS4 4
Find and click on the data file you’d like SPSS to open 5 5
Click Open

16. Importing Data: Opening a .sav Data File in SPSS
You should now see that your data file has been opened in SPSS. There are values in the cells and your variable names are listed as well.

17. Importing data: Opening data that is not in .sav format
SPSS can read data in many different file formats:
Excel files (.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm)
Statistical Software files
SAS files ( .sas7bdat, .sd7, .sd2, .ssd01 and .xpt)
Stata files (.dta)
Raw Data files
ASCII
Text files

18. Importing data: Opening data that is not in .sav format
Importing files that aren’t .sav files: 1. Follow the same steps for importing .sav files 2. SPSS will have a pop-up window that asks questions about the data that you’re importing. 3. Answer the questions from SPSS. 4. Your Data Set should appear in SPSS.

20. 3. Look at Your Data: Data Editor Window
Data View
Variable View
Variable View Button
Data View Button

21. Data View
Rows are called “Cases” – cases are the unit of observation (a person, a state, a household) If a survey is sent out to multiple customers about their satisfaction, then each customer is a case. If a survey is sent out to multiple teachers, then ________________ is a case. If there is data about average commute times in different cities, then each ______________ is a case. We are using aggregated data and in our data, each ____________ is a case.

22. Variable View
Every Variable in your data file is listed in the variable view. Variables are concepts or characteristics that vary. ex: demographic characteristics (eg. gender, age and race) ex: opinions (eg. Support or oppose a social/economic policy) ex: time use (eg. Number of hours spent on Facebook last week) ex: financial information (eg. Schools expenditure on buildings)

24. 4. Exploring Data:
Once you have your data in SPSS, you’ll want to run descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics are used to describe characteristics of your sample. Some examples of Descriptive Statistics include: range minimum maximum mean median standard deviation variance

25. 4. Exploring Data Exercise 1
Calculate descriptive statistics for the per pupil spending variable. 1 2 3 1
Click Analyze 2
Click Descriptive Statistics 3
Click Descriptives

26. 4. Exploring Data Exercise 1
Next we will select the variable that we want SPSS to analyze. You can select more than one. 4 5 6 4
Click the variable you’re interested in (ex: per pupil spending (2015)) 5
Click the arrow 6
Click OK

27. Exercise 1
4. SPSS Output

29. 5. Using the Syntax Editor
SPSS generates code for you and allows you to “paste” that code into a syntax file. Syntax files are computer files that you write code in. The code within a syntax file tells SPSS what to do. If you are going to be working on a project in-depth you will want to create a syntax file where you’ll have code.
A syntax file allows you to:
reproduce your statistical results
easily share what you did with others
build on what you’ve already done

30. 5. Using the Syntax Editor
Exercise 2
5. Using the Syntax Editor
Complete the same steps in Exercise 1 up until the last step. DO NOT click “OK”. Instead click “Paste”. The Syntax Window will open. This is where SPSS has “pasted” your code.

31. 5. Using the Syntax Editor
Exercise 2
5. Using the Syntax Editor
You need to then run your code from your syntax editor window. Follow the steps below to run your code. 1 2
Highlight the code that you’d like to run.
Press the green arrow to run your code. 1 2

32. 5. Using the Syntax Editor
Exercise 2
5. Using the Syntax Editor
After you click the green arrow your results will appear in your results window. These results are the same as the results as exercise 1.

34. Exercise 3
6. Graphing 1 2 1
Click Graphs 2
Click Chart Builder

35. Exercise 3
6. Graphing: Histogram
A histogram shows the distribution of a single variable. The height of the bars represents the frequencies.

36. Exercise 3
6. SPSS Output

38. Files Used and Created within SPSS
The following files are different types of SPSS files.
.sav
SPSS data file
.sps
SPSS syntax file
.spv
SPSS output file

39. Saving Files To save the file under the current name of the file
To save the file under a new name
2. save as

40. Questions that can be answered in a statistics class:
How do I handle missing values?
What are weights and what do I do with them?
What statistical model should I use?
What statistical tests should I perform?
What do I need to check before performing the statistical test?
How do I interpret the SPSS output?

41. Statistics Classes… Graduate:
GREV 500 Statistics in Behavioral Research
GREV 510 Statistics I
Undergrad:
MATH 125 Fundamentals of Statistics
MATH 225 Introduction to Statistics

42. Resources for Learning More
Online Tutorials:
UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education :
Teach Yourself SPSS by Dr. Andy Change :
IBM SPSS Official Documentation (this is very detailed and somewhat difficult to follow for new users) :
Books at Gumberg Library:
SPSS for social scientists | Ciaran Acton, Robert Miller
Discovering statistics using IBM SPSSstatistics : and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll | Andy Field
IBM SPSS Modeler Cookbook | Keith McCormick, Dean Abbott…

43. Data is only powerful when it’s analyzed and interpreted. Find data
Data is only powerful when it’s analyzed and interpreted. Find data Tell a story Change the World