[nabs-l] SPSS info

Thu Mar 1 23:02:26 UTC 2012

Hi Cindy,
Unfortunately, like your friend I have also been using SPSS 16 on a
Windows XP machine, so I'm not sure whether it would work with Windows
7. I can't remember when version 16 was first released-- If it came
out before Windows 7, then I'm guessing they might not be compatible.
And Gloria, I'm a graduate student in social psychology.
Katie

On 2/29/12, Cindy <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Oh, and Katie, I have a question for you. My friend  uses version 16 with
> xp. Do you know if it works with window's 7?
>
> Cindy
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 29, 2012, at 2:58 PM, Katie Wang <bunnykatie6 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Arielle,
>>
>> I have been using SPSS 16 for data analysis during the past three
>> years, and it has served me reasonably well. JAWS does read the list
>> of variables when I open a dialogue box using the menus, and I can
>> select the appropriate independent and dependent variables without any
>> problems. The time lag while moving my cursor between cells, as Cindy
>> mentioned, is a bit of an annoyance, so like her friend I also prefer
>> to do a lot of data entry and processing in Excel first before taking
>> the file into SPSS. My personal license for version 16 is expiring in
>> a few months though, and I recently got SPSS 19 set up on my work
>> computer. I haven't done much with the new program yet after
>> downloading the accessibility patch, but it appears to be working OK
>> so far.
>>
>> I really hope that IBM will improve the accessibility in SPSS 20.
>> While SAS is a great alternative, it does involve learning a different
>> set of commands and syntax, which I personally found a little
>> intimidating. Also, most of my colleagues in the Psychology department
>> use SPSS, so it is easy to find information if I have questions about
>> how to run particular analyses, especially when additional
>> macros/scripts are involved.
>>
>> Katie
>>
>>
>> On 2/28/12, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Cindy,
>>> When you run analyses in SPSS Version 16 using the menus, does JAWS
>>> read the list of variables and allow you to select your independent
>>> variable, dependent variable, etc. from the variable view? When I used
>>> SPSS 15 (back in 2008) I was able to access the menus but JAWS would
>>> not read the list of variables so I had to get around it by creating
>>> an abridged SPSS datafile with just the two or three variables I
>>> wanted to work with in each separate analysis, which is obviously a
>>> big pain. Is SPSS 16 better about letting you read the list of
>>> variables and select one when setting up your analysis?
>>> BTW, I now use SAS, which is a bazillion times better in terms of
>>> accessibility. Unfortunately, it's less commonly used and you have to
>>> learn syntax, or commands you type in. I can send you some commands if
>>> you are interested and have access to SAS.
>>> Best,
>>> Arielle
>>>
>>> On 2/28/12, Cindy Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> A while ago, I mentioned that I would receive some training from a
>>>> grad student I know with JAWS and SPSS. She has been very helpful, and
>>>> I wanted to share what I have learned so far.
>>>>
>>>> Right now, she uses SPSS versions 16 and 19. 19 is the current
>>>> version, and most schools and research workplaces keep the current
>>>> version. She had to go through her school to get version 16.
>>>>
>>>> She has version 19 on her work desktop. Before she could even use it
>>>> with JAWS, she had to obtain a fix from Freedom Scientific. This fix
>>>> actually works. I remember trying one that came out for version 17
>>>> when I was in undergrad stats, and it didn’t work, but this one does,
>>>> so that is an improvement.  Before she uses SPSS, she has to close all
>>>> programs, restart the computer, and only run JAWS and SPSS. She had to
>>>> add RAM to her computer so that it has 8 gigs which is more than the
>>>> typical computer has. Apparently, the computer cannot handle running
>>>> JAWS and SPSS with under that amount of RAM.
>>>>
>>>> Even after those accommodations to maximize the productivity of the
>>>> program, she says that after several analyses, the computer sometimes
>>>> restarts. That being said, she is working at a professional research
>>>> firm, so homework assignments for stats classes would definitely not
>>>> be working with data sets of 31 thousand.
>>>>
>>>> The version we practiced on was 16 since it works better with JAWS,
>>>> and since it is on her work laptop. She is using JAWS 12 and Window’s
>>>> XP. I do not know if there is a version 16 of SPSS that works with
>>>> Window’s 7 since it is updated so frequently.
>>>>
>>>> When you open SPSS, there are 2 windows, the data view, and the
>>>> variable view. The variable view is where you label your variables. It
>>>> is best to do this first. Each row represents a variable like age or
>>>> gender, and each column represents something about that variable that
>>>> you can set like how many decimal places to round to, what type of
>>>> variable it is, etc. this is where you can code for variables. For
>>>> example, you can specify 1 for males and 2 for females. This way, you
>>>> could just enter 1 or 2 into the gender column of the data view, and
>>>> the output table which I will describe later would then code the
>>>> findings accordingly.
>>>>
>>>> Pressing control t toggles between the variable and data views. The
>>>> data view can be described as a spreadsheet. Each column represents
>>>> one of the variables you specified in the variable view. The variable
>>>> you specified in the first row of the variable view is the title of
>>>> column 1 in the data view. Each row of the data view represents a
>>>> case, or one subject of the study. Typically, people would enter their
>>>> data into the data view. However, my friend prefers to save the SPSS
>>>> file as an Excel file at this point. The reason for this is that JAWS
>>>> lags when moving among cells, so she can enter data faster in Excel.
>>>> Also, each time you move down a case in the data view, JAWS specifies
>>>> the variable name. This would be somewhat tolerable if it simply said
>>>> the variable such as age or gender, but it says a lot of other
>>>> syntax-like crap as well which contributes to JAWS lagging. My
>>>> communications instructor at BLIND, Inc. said that there could be some
>>>> options in verbosity to eliminate some of what JAWS says, but I
>>>> haven’t explored this.
>>>>
>>>> So, once you save as an Excel file, you can open the Excel file and
>>>> enter your data. The columns in Excel would correspond to the columns
>>>> in SPSS, so whatever data corresponds to the variable in row 1 of the
>>>> variable view should be entered in column A in Excel.
>>>>
>>>> At this point, I would close the SPSS file so as not to confuse it
>>>> with the SPSS file you will make later.
>>>>
>>>> Since the purpose of SPSS is the ability to run a variety of data
>>>> analyses, you have to save the Excel file as an SPSS file once you
>>>> have entered your data. You can then open the SPSS file. The analyses
>>>> are found in the menus. Once you run an analysis, an output table will
>>>> appear, but JAWS will not say anything. So, you have to export it (NOT
>>>> SAVE AS) to Excel. After doing this, you can then easily read the
>>>> results of the output table.
>>>>
>>>> My friend also prefers to explore data sets by saving them as Excel
>>>> files because of JAWS lags and because you cannot do searches for data
>>>> within SPSS.
>>>>
>>>> I am also working on Macs at BLIND, Inc., and we downloaded the trial
>>>> version of SPSS onto one of the MacBooks. I was unable to navigate
>>>> anything when entering the program, but now that I have a
>>>> conceptualization of what is supposed to be there, we will try again,
>>>> and I will let you know if I get anywhere with it.
>>>>
>>>> There are a ton of things I can go into about SPSS, but I think that a
>>>> lot of it can be explored or learned in statistics classes. I think
>>>> that the important thing is to gain a conceptual idea of SPSS. I had a
>>>> positive experience since I had run into so many dead ends. Although
>>>> version 16 is somewhat hard to find in school settings which are
>>>> constantly updating technology, IBM is doing beta accessibility
>>>> testing for version 20, and I am supposed to receive more information
>>>> about that in April. So, maybe that will be better. However, at this
>>>> point, I would fight for version 16. I know that it can be tedious and
>>>> that Excel and other free softwares are more accessible and can
>>>> perform some of the analyses, but SPSS is a really good skill to have.
>>>> It is the common software for schools and workplaces, and it seems to
>>>> be more comprehensive than other programs.
>>>>
>>>> If you are interested in learning more about the beta testing, you can
>>>> email lar at us.ibm.com. I have no idea if they are still taking beta
>>>> testers, and it was about a week before I got a response, so don’t be
>>>> disconcerted if you don’t get a reply immediately. Other than that, I
>>>> know nothing about the promised accessibility of future versions or
>>>> about the beta testing process.
>>>>
>>>> If you would like me to explain anything in more detail, just let me
>>>> know. And, if you have any more knowledge about the program like
>>>> accessible features I might have left out, please share.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Cindy Bennett
>>>> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>>>>
>>>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>>>> 828.989.5383
>>>>
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