Train yourself into SPSS: Online Resources for learning and improving on your SPSS skills

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences though no one uses that name anymore) is a powerful analytical tool, and we recently wrote an article about the different analysis software. IBM’s SPSS is the undoubted powerhouse among them all and it has the record to prove it, but one of the things we mentioned in our previous article: Best Statistical Software: R vs SAS vs SPSS vs PSPP vs SAGE was how user-unfriendly it is and how difficult it can be to break into SPSS if you’re new to the analysis game. First of all you need to have SPSS 32 bit or SPSS installed on your PC.

So to help you out, the following are some online resources for learning and improving on your SPSS skills. These range from written tutorials and downloadable examples to fully visual video guides to take your from an SPSS initiate to a master of the arts. 

1) The Department of Psychology in the University of Toronto offers a few tutorials. These range from basic operations to performing some of the most common analyses. The tutorials are well written and use SPSS screenshots to demonstrate the different operations as the guide moves along. It’s completely free as it is intended for their students but it lacks depth, making it a good place to start but not one to further your education if you already have some background knowledge. You can find the tutorials here.

2) PSSTools.net is a site dedicated to the software and not only does it have comprehensive tutorials for both the initiates and those looking for something more advanced, but they also have links to other online resources. The amount of SPSS links makes this a valuable resource for any user, let alone someone looking for the best possible tutorials online. Click here to access the site.

3) The London School of Economics and Political Science much like the University of Toronto, offers a set of guides for their students to learn how to handle this powerful application. But unlike the very small, basic and short guides presented by the aforementioned institution, these aren’t only much more comprehensive but they are all in (downloadable or streaming) videos with the pre-requisite narration, making them much easier to follow than most. You can find the tutorials here.

4) Finally we have IBM’s own resources and the make the previous ones pale in comparison. From the simplest of examples to the most complex and mind-blowing of them, you can find every possible scenario in these tutorials. And there are demos, videos and even extensively researched white papers on SPSS subjects, perfect for newcomers to the analysis game and essential for anyone working in the industry. Best of all, there are also forums and even IBM’s phone support is there to guide you in your SPSS needs. Click here and start devouring everything IBM has to offer you.

So there you have them, we hope they are of use to you. As with most things, there are hundreds more sites and even YouTube playlists dedicated to the art that is using SPSS.

If you wish to add to the list, then please hit us up in the comments below and don’t forget to come back for more, right here on Rocky Bytes.