SPSS Statistics 23--First Choice for Novice & Experienced Researchers!
Updated January 08, 2018
SPSS Statistics 23--First Choice for Novice & Experienced Researchers!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- IBM SPSS Statistics
Overall Satisfaction with IBM SPSS
I use SPSS Statistics 23 to complete and to guide personal as well as student research projects at the doctoral level. The entire graduate school has access to this software and most graduate students choose to use it in assignments and projects. We use it to analyze data and to teach research. In an educational environment, it is essential that students be provided guided experiences when learning about statistical analyses. For many graduate students, a capstone project, doctoral study, or dissertation is their first opportunity to do independent research. Across our university, SPSS is the go-to software that we provide access to and that we recommend for student researchers. It provides a uniform platform for educators and students alike to explore different analyses and learn to interpret their findings and results. As there are many ancillary supports and guides available, it is easy to find tutorials or support for students (or colleagues!) that may need guidance in using SPSS or in learning a new analysis.
- SPSS provides a menu-driven board from which to select the appropriate analysis and variables. Having user-friendly processes is key in creating accurate data analysis, especially with new researchers.
- SPSS offers advanced analysis processes for advanced users; novice users can simply "ignore" these bells and whistles until they are needed. Having the versatility to support experienced and new researchers is an important niche in education.
- SPSS provides exportable graphics that can enhance external reports and communication of findings. This feature is super helpful, especially for new researchers who need to include graphics but who may not know how to make them from scratch.
- SPSS continually updates their software, enhancing it to meet user needs or changes in the research field. As educators working in an ever-changing environment, having software that keeps pace with the culture and field is imperative.
- Some new researchers are still overwhelmed by "all the choices" and menus in SPSS. Students may feel insecure or indecisive about how to explore it and properly complete assignments or research outcomes.
- Although there are many external you tube how-to videos and support via a quick Google Search, the internal "help" tools are sometimes as complicated as the original problem. Creating "How to Run SPSS for Dummies" that is available INSIDE the product would be wonderful! Any support that is "on-site" builds confidence and security in new users.
- Sometimes the terminology inside SPSS does not exactly mirror the research language a student or novice researcher finds on other websites. If SPSS provided a glossary of research terms and interchangeable meanings etc it would be a great support.
- I have found many resources to support or explain SPSS integration into research courses. I think it would be a tremendous benefit to have some of these ancillary support websites or services noted and recommended from within SPSS. Although this offering may require collaboration or partnership with other organizations or products, I see the relationship as an opportunity to enhance the user-friendly nature of SPSS and also improve SPSS's reputation as a software for educators.
Although I do not participate in the use of SPSS for our internal number-crunching and analyses for retention and productivity, I do know that SPSS is used to accomplish these tasks. In the day to day lives of me and my colleagues, SPSS saves us time by providing a platform that we can share with our graduate students and work through research tasks. Without it we would have to find new software or use just a spreadsheet that we embed our own functions into. I am grateful for SPSS's sofphistication and even it's visual capacitiy that allows results of analyses to be exported into tables or figures that are easily APA compliant. These characteristics are big improvements over old versions of SPSS and allow the output to work well with APA formatted research or publications.
Without SPSS, our department would lack the appropriate flow of feedback and growth that is expected to occur in an asynchronous environment between facilitators and graduate students. As we all have access to this software and can install it on our laptops or PCs once employment or enrollment is verified, it is essential in online meetings, discussions, and problem solving during the research process. It is a huge factor in my productivity with my students.
- In education, we do not quantify our objectives in that we have 10 new SPSS users or productive researchers etc. However, we do regularly introduce students to SPSS through classwork assignments, support their use in their personal research projects, and also supervise them as they become independent SPSS users.
- 100% of all my graduate and doctoral students choose to use SPSS for their personal research while in school and also after graduation! Their positive experiences with SPSS in school create a framework that encourages them to continue using SPSS for their data analytics.
- Although all students do not continue to do personal or job-related research post-graduation, those that do choose SPSS!
- Using SPSS allows me to asynchronously interact with my graduate students so that I meet the objectives of teaching and instructing in methodology as well as data analysis.
- excel
Other database choices do not have the clarity or power or accessibility offered by SPSS. Although Microsoft Excel offers some simple analysis tools, it is not as intuitive as SPSS and does not offer the advanced features needed by many researchers. I choose SPSS b/c it is accessible--I can get it and I can help students get it easily and affordably.
Using IBM SPSS
In my review, I will respond from the perspective of someone in the department that regularly uses SPSS for teaching, learning, and research. I have hundreds of colleagues and students that use this product in my education department to complete teaching objectives, enhance learning, or problem-solve with students, especially in an online environment. Other people across this vast university use SPSS also but I do not personally interact wth these individuals so I cannot comment on their views.
We have a tech support department that is also vast--as it includes over 150 employees. However, these individuals are not dedicated to SPSS support. I actually get most of my support online through available tutorials, reference books, or the HELP function within SPSS. I would suspect that an organization starting to use SPSS would need some initial support that the company would provide. However, once installed, the level of detail needed by the user typically details the support needed. I have had no issue easily finding what I needed--including screen-by-screen instructional videos and tutorials.
- I use SPSS to run any quantitative analysis for my personal research.
- I meet with my online graduate students online or by phone and we work through homework or research issues using SPSS.
- I use SPSS to create visual output from analyses for publications and research studies. They are easily adaptable for APA formatting etc.
- SPSS is also the software used to run institutional numbers relative to enrollment, attrition, and productivity.
- I do not think our use of SPSs is innovative in that the software is designed to complete all the tasks that I try to use it for! To me, innovation is about using something in a creative way other than what it was intended for. SPSS is so well-designed, it is suitable for everything I try to do!
- I used SPSS to create a quantitative analysis of qualitative data sets. I entered responses into a spreadsheet and coded them by characteristic or topic. I was then able to create subgroups in my sample and run analyses between subgroups to show differences, trends, and patterns. These were helpful in better understanding the predictive behavior I was investigating in the study.
- Any time we need an analysis of data, we turn to SPSS first. I know I will continue to do this, even if the task does not seem to fit the standard protocol.