Introduction to XPSS Software for Beginners

Overview of XPSS Software

• XPSS is a statistical software for data analysis.
• Acronym: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (originally).
• Acquired by IBM in 2009; now known as IBM SPSS Statistics.
• Features and functions remain unchanged despite the name change.

Opening XPSS

• Launch the software by double-clicking the icon.
• Main interface includes two view windows:
  • Data View: Where data is entered/loaded.
  • Variable View: Where the properties of the variables are defined.

Example Dataset

• Sample data: Length and Weight Data.
• Variables:
  • ID: Identification number
  • Gender: Male and female
  • Length: Measurement of length
  • Weight: Measurement of weight
• Data must be entered into a spreadsheet for ease of access.

Data Entry Methods

• Data can be entered directly into SPSS one by one (time-consuming for large datasets).
• Optimal Method:
  • Prepare data in Excel (excluding variable names).
  • Copy data from Excel, then paste into SPSS Data View.

Variable Naming and Properties in Variable View

Naming Variables

• Conditions for naming variables:
  1. Maximum 64 characters.
  2. No spaces; use underscores instead.
  3. Names must be unique.
  4. Cannot start with a number or special character.
  5. Camel case is allowed.
• Example variable names assigned:
  • ID
  • Gender
  • Length
  • Weight

Defining Variable Properties

1. Variable Type: Set to Numeric for this dataset.
2. Width: Default is 8; can be adjusted for string data.
3. Decimals: Set to 0 for cleaner data presentation.
4. Labels: Important for analysis; can include spaces.
   • ID: "Identification Number"
   • Gender: "Gender"
   • Length: "Length of Fish in Centimeters"
   • Weight: "Weight of Fish in kg"
5. Values: Assign labels to categorical variables (only applicable for Gender).
   • 1 = Male
   • 2 = Female
6. Missing Values: Not applicable for this dataset.
7. Columns: Adjust column sizes in Data View.
8. Align: Align data (left, center, right); does not affect analysis.
9. Measure: Indicate measurement type (Nominal or Scale).
   • ID: Nominal
   • Gender: Nominal
   • Length: Scale
   • Weight: Scale
10. Row: Leave as input.

Loading Data from File Menu

• Click on File > Open to load data from an Excel file:
  • Ensure variable names are on the first row to avoid data loss.
  • Confirm variable names and data are properly displayed in SPSS.
• Properties of variables need to be defined for any new columns.

Conclusion

• Data analysis can commence after defining variable properties.
• Next video will cover how to perform data analysis using XPSS.
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