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SPSS

Brief description

SPSS is a program that can be used to input and edit quantitative data, and to perform descriptive and inferential statistical analysis on these data.

Manuals

• The book used in the faculty statistics course is Discovering statistics with SPSS by Andy Field (Sage Publications). A handy textbook and reference book for SPSS is Basishandboek SPSS voor Windows by Alphons de Vocht (Bijleveld Press; available for different versions of SPSS).
• SPSS tutorials (Kent State University).
  Step-by-step instructions for learning basic skills with SPSS.
• SPSS video tutorials.
  Series of video tutorials by Andy Field that teach basic SPSS skills step-by-step.

Availability

SPSS is available on all VU PCs.
It can also be purchased by staff and students on Surfspot for a small price.

More information

There is a lot of information on SPSS on the Internet. See, for example, the list of online SPSS tutorials.

Further remarks

The accuracy of statistical analysis will depend on many factors: the manner in which the data are collected; how the data are imported into statistical software; choosing the relevant descriptive techniques and / or statistical tests that are suitable for the data and the planned analysis; the manner in which the tests are carried out; a correct interpretation of the results of the analysis; and proper reporting. It is not recommended that you carry out statistical analysis if you do not have sufficient expertise in this area.

Faculty staff and students who have basic SPSS skills, but also have additional questions on how to use SPSSin the context of their research, can contact Gerben Mulder for help (g.mulder at vu.nl).