Team Activity
SPSS is a computer’s software that is useful for researchers because of its analytic and predictive ability. This statistics program is popular among individuals carrying out research since it helps in the data analysis as well as when preparing thesis projects. Users of this program must be familiar with statistics for easier use. Like any other program, SPSS has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, the advantages vary from one person to another depending on how they understand and use this program.
Advantages of SPSS
SPSS is a quantitative data analysis approach that allows for broad study of variables. This is because it involves several numbers of variables or subjects which in turn gives enhanced, strong and comprehensive results for making generalizations. SPSS is useful in avoiding research threats like personal bias because the results are determined by the program and not the researcher. Through its standard means, SPSS allows the researcher to replicate a past research for further analysis. This will provide researchers to compare the past results to the ones obtained. SPSS therefore facilitates summarization of vast data for easy comparison, interpretation and analysis between the data categories and over different periods of time. Therefore, SPSS is a very useful program that enables researchers to produce reliable and valid summary of all variable to facilitate generalization about the variables in the study. The logistic regression in SPSS is well developed and its ANNOVA commands are just as effective. It is also easy to use and helps in data organization.
Disadvantages
SPSS has several advantages too. SPSS results are restricted to numerical descriptions hence; they are not detailed or elaborate. The researcher has to analyze the results before making his or her own elaborate accounts. SPSS is a program that only generates the data from the information fed into it. There is no assurance that the outcomes from the SPSS program match those in an ideal world. Furthermore, SPSS lacks count procedures like zero routines, Poisson and negative binomial and maximum estimators like Tobit. Generally, compared to other programs such as Stata, SPSS is not as effective in carrying out statistical analysis in research.
SPSS has inbuilt tools that helps users manage using the program easily. The use of ANOVA is the easiest since the program has commands that guide the user right from the start to the end. The logistic regression model used for testing interactions is also user friendly. The toughest is the calculation of the estimate models for the complex surveys because SPSS does not allow for clustering. This will lead to wrong inferences for statistical significance.
References
Thorndike, R. M., & Thorndike-Christ, T. (2009). Measurement and Evaluation in Psychology and Education (8 ed.). Prentice: Prentice Hall.
