Using SPSSin Institutional Research

Presented by Joseph MeyerDirector of Institutional Research

Texas State University-San Marcos

TAIR Pre-Conference WorkshopWednesday, February 28, 2007

South Padre Island, Texas

What We’re Going to Cover

• Importing and exporting data

• Running reports

• Exporting reports

• Using modular programming.

• Using macros

• Using scripts

• Using graphs (maybe a little)

File

Open

Data

File name:cbm004_fall06Files of type: Excel (*.xls)

Import Data from MS Excel

Export Data to MS Excel

File

Save As

File name:cbm004_fall06Save as type: Excel (*.xls)

Types of Reports

Categorical Variables

There are several commands that can be used to report categorical variables:

• Aggregate & Report (very painful)• Frequencies (simple, but inflexible)• Crosstabs (simple, somewhat flexible)• Tables & CTables (complex, flexible)

Examples in “Reporting Categorical Variables” SPSS program.

Continuous (Scale) Variables

There are several commands that can be used to report scale variables:

• Reports (don’t go there)• Weighted frequencies & crosstabs• Descriptives• Tables & CTables

Example in “Reporting Continuous (Scale) Variables” SPSS program.

Multiple-Response Variables

There are a couple of commands that can be used to report on multiple-response sets (MRSETS) of multiple-dichotomy & multiple-response data:

• Mult Response • Tables & CTables

Examples in “Reporting Multiple-Response Sets” SPSS program.

Reporting Separately by Unit

There are other shortcuts that can be used to quickly and efficiently produce reports for many colleges, departments, and units in a hurry:

• Modular programming• Macros• SAX Basic Scripts

Examples in “Reporting Separately by Unit” SPSS program.

Improving the Contents of Reports

String and number functions can be used to increase efficiency in programs, fit more information on a page, and make reports more understandable to readers:

• Any, Index, Range, Concatenate, Substring, Trim, Lower, and Upcase functions can help.

Examples in “String and Number Functions” SPSS program.

“Working with Long Strings” SPSS program.

Improving the Look of ReportsDouble-click on table

Right-click on highlighted table

Table Looks

Edit Look

Exporting Results

Examples in “Reporting Separately by Unit” SPSS program.

File

Export

File Name: ____________File Type: ____________

SPSS Production Mode Facility

Examples of Complex Reports

The techniques we reviewed can be used to create complex ready-to-release reports. Examples are:

• High School Feedback

• Retention and Graduation

• Fact Book

Examples in “Complex Reports” folder.

More Examples

www.ir.txstate.edu

More Resources

www.spsstools.net