This book is about using SPSS to manage data. To be more specific, it
presents a number of concepts important in data management and
demonstrates how to carry out data management tasks using SPSS syntax. It
presupposes no experience with data management, SPSS, or computer programming,
but assumes the reader has the need or the desire to learn about
those topics. It further assumes the reader has access to SPSS and to the SPSS
Syntax Reference Guide,which is included as a PDF file with the SPSS software.
Data management includes everything necessary to prepare data for
analysis, including
1. Getting the data into the computer program you will use to analyze it
2. Screening data for duplicate records, data errors, missing data, and
so on
3. Combining and restructuring data files
4. Creating and recoding variables
5. Documenting the procedures performed on the data
People who work with data recognize that they often spend more time on
data management tasks than they do performing analyses. Data management
is often neglected in courses that introduce students to data analysis,
leaving them unprepared to deal with data management issues when they
begin working with real data. This book fills that gap by discussing common
issues in data management and presenting techniques to deal with them.
These tasks are accomplished using SPSS syntax, but the general principles
can be applied using any programming language.
This book is also a basic introduction to SPSS and to SPSS syntax. This
aspect will appeal particularly to two groups of people: those who currently
use SPSS through the menu system only and those working in other programming
languages who want to learn SPSS. Many important features of
SPSS syntax are demonstrated throughout this book, and basic programming
concepts such as vectors and loops are also introduced as means to
accomplish data management tasks.