DARTS : SPSS

SPSS, originally created as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, is a statistical analysis software currently owned by the international software company IBM.  SPSS is a modular application with additional software available through IBM. The basic version of SPSS may be used for descriptive statistics, bivariate statistics, linear regression, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. Syntax written for SPSS using 4GL can greatly enhance the capability of the software, such as re-organizing large data sets, simplifying tasks, and improving the speed of complex data analysis.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical testing in SPSS includes, although is not limited to, the following:

• Measures of central tendency - mean, median, mode, variance, and standard deviation
• Differences between groups (parametric) - t-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA, MANOVA, and MANCOVA
• Differences between groups (non-parametric) - chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov
• Correlation - Pearson, Kendall's tau, and Spearman
• Regression - simple/least-squares, linear, curvilinear, multiple, and logistic
• Cluster Analysis - two-step, k-means, and hierarchical
• Factor Analysis

SPSS also includes many other types of tests not listed above. Other features built into the software include control charting, pareto charting, and forecasting. Modules available from IBM, such as SPSS Modeler, expand SPSS capabilities beyond standard statistical analysis.

Large Data Sets

Sorting through large datasets is a useful tool in SPSS. A particularly useful tool for IR professionals is the ability to transform data from the National Student Clearinghouse from multiple records per student into one record per student.