Biostats and Epi

• To hide a whole section of the outline, click on the minus sign to the left of the group in the outline pane.
• To rearrange objects, select the object (or group) in either pane, and drag them until the red arrow points to the object below which you want them to appear.
• SPSS is software for managing data and calculating a wide variety of statistics.
• A dialog box will appear, asking you to open a file.
• To start a session, a data file should be opened.
• Each window corresponds to a separate type of SPSS file.
• The Data Editor window displays the data and lets you see and manipulate your data.
• The SPSS software can accomplish data analysis through dialog boxes and syntax, which can give you visual options with each step of your analysis.
• To run SPSS, log in and click Start - Programs - IBM SPSS Statistics.
• The first attribute of each variable is the variable name, which is 1 -
• The variable name also allows you to create a list of value labels (set by simply typing them in through a dialog box).
• These windows allow you to see your data, results, and any files you have written.
• SPSS Statistics has three main windows (Data Editor, Output Viewer, Syntax Editor), plus a menu bar at the top.
• When you open an SPSS data file, what you see is a working copy of your data.
• When SPSS creates output (tables, syntax, error messages, etc.), each object is noted in the outline pane.
• To delete objects in the Output Viewer, select them in either pane and use the Delete key.
• To edit objects in the Output Viewer, double-click on them in the tables pane (e.g. title, table or a graph).
• Data values can be edited or added by typing them directly into the Data View.
• The Output Viewer collects statistical tables and graphs and allows editing before saving or printing.
• The variable name allows you to give each variable a longer description that is displayed in place of the variable name; analogous to value labels for data values.
• Individual objects may be opened and edited, deleted, rearranged, hide or printed in the Output Viewer.
• Each column of the Data View is described by a row of the Variable View.
• Attributes of each variable include Name, Type, Width, Decimals, Label, Values, Missing, Columns, Align, Measure, Role.
• The variable name must begin with a letter and be made up of characters, numerals, and the period.
• Formats can also take the form of gender (1 - Male, 2 - Female).
• A place for you to designate certain data values that you want SPSS to ignore when it calculates statistics is also an attribute of each variable.
• The Output Viewer has two main sections: Data View and Variable View.
• To hide objects in the Output Viewer, double-click on the icon for each object in the outline pane.
• Data values may be displayed as either numeric value (15000) or as dollar value ($15,000).
• The Data View allows you to see and edit the information that defines each variable in your data set.
• Opening data editor file: click File - Open - Data.
• Many data sets can be opened simultaneously.
• Saving data editor file: click File - Save or Save As with a file type of sav.
• The Output Viewer data set, with a plus sign on the title bar, is a working copy of the results of your analysis.
• Closing data editor file: When you close your last Data Editor you are shutting down SPSS and you will be prompted to save all unsaved files.
• Opening output viewer file: more than one Output Viewer can be opened.
• The Syntax Editor window is where you enter commands and edit syntax.
• Closing output viewer file: if you close all the Output Viewers and then issue a new command, a fresh Output Viewer is started.
• The Output Viewer window displays the results of your analysis, including tables of results, graphs, programming language for the commands that you issued, and error messages.
• Saving output viewer file: click File - Save or Save As with a file type of spv.