SPSS is a user-friendly statistical package, which allows complete statistical analysis and charting. SPSS interface have windows, menus and dialogue boxes although a traditional command language is as well obtainable for an advanced users. There are some different windows, for instance, Data Editor window in a worksheet format, Output window, which displays results and Chart Editor window for the high-resolution graphs.

Starting SPSS

To begin SPSS, select SPSS from Maths. and Stats. choice in the Public menu on Windows taskbar.

On set up, the Data Editor window is noticeable:

The Title bar contains minimize, maximize and close buttons on right-hand side.

The Menu bar contains usual Windows menus, and some specific to SPSS, like Data, Analyze Transform, and Graph.

The Toolbar menu provides immediate access to the more normally used menu options and pointing to a button on Toolbar will show its function.

SPSS Menus

SPSS consists of ten main menus obtainable when you are viewing Data Editor window. List of menu options alters when you are in another windows. The menus go after the standard Windows format of File and Edit menus to left-hand side of the screen, and Window and Help menus on right hand side.

File ? This menu deals with all file-handling features of SPSS like opening an existing file, opening new file, saving or printing a file. There is also an Apply Data Dictionary command, which will store information regarding your data. This is particularly useful if you have got data from elsewhere and you want to know what it is as well as how it is organized. The command to leave from SPSS while you finish is in this menu.

Edit - This menu consists of commands for undoing last action, also cut, copy and paste actions, and command for find.

View - View menu changes a few display attributes, like the appearance of grid lines and whether or not value labels are exhibited instead of codes. The selected commands are marked.

Data - to make global changes to your SPSS data files data menu is used, like merging files or transposing variables, or making subsets of cases for an analyze. You can put in new variables and new cases, or else you can arrange your cases according to particular variable, you can transpose the cases or else weight the cases. These alterations are temporary unless you specially save the file with that changes.

Transform - Transform menu is used to change the selected variables in data file and to calculate new variables based on that value.

Analyze - Analyze menu consist of all categories of statistics, which SPSS is able to perform.

Graphs - Graph menu allows you to plot graphs from data. These graphs can as well be plotted as part of the wider analysis. SPSS holds five main chart types - Bar, Line, Area, Pie and High-Low.

Utilities - Utilities menu contains the list of variables at present available from data sheet; it permits you to define the sets of variables, which has to be analyzed together.

Window - Window menu allows you to choose and resize windows that are used in SPSS. Majority of the commands can as well be completed with the mouse.