SPSS On-Line Training Workshop

 

Link to Table of Contents

In this Tutorial: 

Windows

Pull-Down Menus

Tool Bars

Status Bars

Dialog Boxes

 

SPSS for Windows is a powerful statistical package for data analysis.  Many tasks can be accomplished by simply pointing and clicking the mouse.  The following movie clip will take you through various windows and utilities that are available for users.

This tutorial tries to cover both SPSS 9.0 and 10.0. There are some  differences between these two versions. The major difference is on the creation of variable labels, value labels and missing values. In this tutorial, we will discuss the differences as needed. However, since this tutorial was developed originally for Version 9.0, you may experience some changes in version 10.0, which may not be addressed in this tutorial. Please let us know if you experience such differences.

You can start SPSS for Windows using either of the following ways:

(1)  If you already have the SPSS icon on your desktop, double click on the SPSS icon.

OR

(2) Go to Start Menu | Programs  |  SPSS 9.0 (or SPSS10.) for Windows. 

Click on the following movie clip to see  Overview of SPSS:
(when you are done, hit the back button to return to this screen)

camera.gif (1166 bytes) MOVIE: Overview of SPSS   camera.gif (1166 bytes)

WINDOWS

There are a number of different types of windows in SPSS.   The window in which you are currently working is called the active window.   Some of the frequently used windows are:

bulletData Editor Window:  It displays the contents of the data file.   This is the window that opens automatically when you start an SPSS session.   In this window, you can create new data files or modify existing ones.
bulletOutput Viewer Window:  It displays statistical results, tables, and charts.  This window opens automatically the first time you run a procedure that generates output.
bulletChart Editor Window:  This window is used to edit regular charts and plots.
bulletSyntax Editor Window:  It displays the choices made in the dialog box in the form of command syntax.   These commands can be edited and run to get some output.  You can also copy an old SPSS program here and run it.

PULL-DOWN MENUS
SPSS Data Editor Menu Bar


Many tasks in SPSS are performed by selecting appropriate "pull-down" menus.  Each window in SPSS has its own menu bar with appropriate menu selections and toolbars.  The Analyze and Graphs menus are available in all windows.  Here are some  Data Editor window menus and their uses:

bulletFile: To open an existing file, to read data (from a text file or from an application [like Excel] file) into Data Editor window, to save the data file, and to exit SPSS for Windows.
bulletEdit: To make changes like copy, cut or paste to the Data Editor window.
bulletData: To define variables, insert variables or cases, sort cases, merge files, split files, select cases and use a variable to weight cases.
bulletTransform: To do some computations on variables, to create new variables from existing ones or recode old variables.
bulletAnalyze: To do statistical analysis, from descriptive statistics to testing of hypothesis.
bulletGraphs: To obtain high resolution plots and graphs, which can be edited in Chart Editor window.
bulletUtilities: To run script and to display information on the contents of SPSS data files.
bulletWindow: To move to any open window or to see which window is active.  The window with a check mark is the active one.
bulletHelp: To get help on topics in SPSS and to ask the statistics coach some questions.

TOOLBARS

Each window in SPSS has its own toolbars that provides access to common tasks. Some windows have more than one. When you put the mouse pointer on a tool, there is a brief description of what the tool does. You can show, move or hide a toolbar.

STATUS BARS
 statusbar.jpg (18072 bytes)

The status bar is at the bottom of each SPSS window and provides the following information:

bullet

Command Status: gives information about a procedure that is running.

bullet

Filter Status: Filter On shows when a subset of cases in the data is used for analysis.

bullet

Weight Status: Weight On indicates that a weight variable is being used in the analysis.

bullet

Split File Status: Split File On indicates that the file has been split into separate groups for analysis.

DIALOG BOXES

Many menu selections will open dialog boxes.   In these dialog boxes, you select variables and options for analysis. The main dialog box in any statistical procedure has the following parts:

bullet

Source variable list: A list of variable types (allowed by the procedure) from the working data file.

bullet

Target variable lists: One or more lists of variables needed for the analysis.

bullet

Command push buttons: Buttons that can be used to run the procedure by opening a subdialog box to make additional specifications. Some of the push buttons are:

bullet

 OK : Click this button to run the procedure.

bullet

Paste: Click this button to generate command syntax from your selections. The command syntax is pasted into a syntax window, where it can be modified for future analysis. This creates the code regularly known as SPSS programs.

bullet

Reset: Deselects any selections, and resets all specifications in the dialog box and any subdialog boxes to the default status.

bullet

Cancel: Cancels any change in the dialog box settings since the last time it was opened. This will close the dialog box.

bullet

Help: Provides help about the current dialog box.

In a dialog box with source variables, numeric variables are indicated by:  NumVar.jpg (1521 bytes)  and character variables are indicated by:  Character Variables.

 

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©1999 Dr Carl Lee, Dr Felix Famoye, Central Michigan  University.  Joyce Sharp, student assistant.  All rights reserved.