PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 4 (Setting up your first database)

PSPP can be used to statistically analyse various kinds of data including financial, sales, marketing etc. However one of the most common uses for PSPP would be to analyse data from surveys. Throughout this tutorial I will be using a small survey which aims to identify the type of sweets children under the age of 15 prefers after dinner.

Survey form:

Preference of after dinner sweets in children below the age of 15

Part A: Demography (Please answer all the questions. Encircle where appropriate)

1.    Name:
2.    Age group: 2-5 years / 6-9 years / 10-12 years / 13-15 years
3.    Gender: Male / Female
4.    Ethnic Group: Malay / Chinese / Indian / Other

Part B: Preference (State your agreement or disagreement by encircling the appropriate)
Strongly Agree = SA, Agree = A, Neutral = N, Disagree = D, Strongly Disagree = SD

1.    I prefer fruits after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
2.    I prefer chocolate after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
3.    I prefer ice-cream after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
4.    I prefer something sweet after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
5.    I don’t prefer spicy deserts after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
6.    I don’t prefer hot beverages such as tea or coffee after dinner: SA / A / N / D / SD
7.    I have toothaches regularly: SA / A / N / D / SD

End of survey.

Now let’s set up the database for the results on PSPP:

Open a new data file using the “File” menu on the top.

Select the Variable View tab to setup the variables and parameters.

Name: setup the parameters as follows. The measure is set to “Nominal”.

Age group: setup the parameters as follows. The measure is set as Nominal as the age group is not considering a range of ages e.g. from 1 to 15.

The values for the age group are not defined yet. Each age group will be represented by a number ranging from 1 to 4 (1 = 2-5 years , 2 = 6-9 years, 3 = 10-12 years, 4 = 13-15 years). To define the values click on the Values cell for the Agegroup variable. This will launch the Value Labels dialog box. Enter the vales and the corresponding labels click Add one by one.
 

Once the value labels have been set the variable view will be as follows.

Now, similarly define Gender and Ethnic Group.

Part B: this section uses a rubric (SA, A, N, D, SD) to gather responses. In this case the answer falls within a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 = SA and 5 = SD. When defining each of these variables, the measure should be set to scale and the values need to be defined for each. As the name for each variable has to be kept brief, the questions will be named B1, B2 etc. and the labels will be set to hold the complete question. After defining all the variables, your Variable View should look like the following.

Congratulations! You have now setup your first database on PSPP. Before moving onto the next section, you will need to save your database as .sav to be re-opened later on. Use the “Save As” command from the File menu.

Name your database and select System File as we will be using it from the hard drive of the computer.

Click on “Browse for other folders” to specify a destination. I’m providing my C: drive as the destination.

Click on the Data View. Now you are ready to populate your database with data.

Next - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 5 (Populating Data)

Previous - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 3 (Introduction to Data View and Variable View)



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PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 3 (Introduction to Data View and Variable View)

Your PSPP interface will look like the following upon start up. It is quite similar to the popular SPSS interface and is distantly similar to the MS Excel interface.

Two of the most important tabs you will be using in PSPP are the “Data View” and the “Variable View” tabs at the bottom.

By default the interface will display the Data View tab upon start up. This view displays the actual data you will be analysing. However the Variable View tab holds all the key parameters behind the analysis of the data. As such, let us first have a look at the Variable View tab.

The Variable View:

The Variable View follows the row and column format. As the name suggests, this view is used to define the variables for your data. The rows are used to define individual variable such as name, age, gender etc. and the columns are used to define the various parameters of each variable such as type, number of decimal points etc.

Let’s look at each of the parameters

• Name: a short identifier given to each variable. This is usually a single word. 
• Type: the type of the variable.

• Width: the width of the data. This is set to 8 by default.
• Decimals: the precision of your data.
• Label: a short description of the data.
• Values: what the numerical data represent. For example 1 = Male and 2 = Female for Gender. More on this later on.

• Missing: how missing (incomplete) responses are handled. More on this later on.
• Columns: the width of the column which represents your data. This is set to 8 by default.
• Align: the alignment of your data within the column.
• Scale: the scale of measurement of your data (nominal, ordinal or scale)

The Data View:

Once you have completed defining your variables, you can start populating your data through the Data View. Each row represents one set of data.

Next - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 4 (Setting up your first database)
Previous - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 2 (How to install)



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PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 2 (How to install)

If you are in dire need of statistical analysis of data and do not have the time to go to the University or the one computer in your organisation which has the license to run SPSS, you might want to consider using PSPP which is absolutely free and open source.

Here’s how to install PSPP:

Step 1:  Go to http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/get.html and download the version of PSPP which is most compatible with the OS you have on your PC. Throughout this tutorial, I will be using the MS Windows version.

Step 2: Once you have downloaded the appropriate installer, start the installation of PSPP on your computer by double clicking on the installer.
Installation steps:

Select your language.

Click continue to setup PSPP.

Agree to the licensing agreement which is GNU open source.

Press Next to continue installation.

Select the location where you intend to install PSPP.

Click Next to continue the installation.

The installer will start the installation.

The installation is complete.

You will now have an icon on your desktop which you can use to launch PSPP.

Next - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 3 (Introduction to Data View and Variable View)

Previous - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 1 (Introduction)



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PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 1 (Introduction)

Almost all of us have experience with statistical analysis at some point or the other in our personal or professional lives. This could be the analysis of financial data, sales data, marketing data or a simple survey conducted to see what kind of sweets children preferred after dinner. The most popular software for statistical analysis is SPSS which stands for “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences”. However, as most us will know, SPSS is a very costly application which is better bought through an institution/organisation rather than an individual. Even then you might have to book in time to access the software with the lab, library etc. as it only allows for a certain number of copies to be installed according to the purchase agreement. However if you are a student who is working part-time, you would want to analyse your data when you have the time (which could be 2am in the morning).  Unfortunately, if you don’t have SPSS installed on your PC, this could turn out to be an almost impossible task. Although you could try to use a spreadsheet application to analyse your results, deep in your heart of hearts you know that a software such as SPSS could give you better results. So what are your options?

PSPP is a free and open source alternative to SPSS which will give you almost the same functionality as the expensive SPSS suit. More details on PSPP are available at http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/

Next - PSPP: a free and open source alternative to SPSS – Part 2 (How to install)



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Digsby: Keeping on top of your IM, email and Social Networks

If you are anything like me then the first thing you would do in the morning would be to organise your emails and social networks. Of late I have been finding it a bit daunting as I have to login individually to Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. etc. etc. using usernames and passwords which I have to keep written down to avoid forgetting them as this would spell disaster for the regular functioning of my whole week. Even then it is quite difficult to keep on top of all the e-mails, respond to all the IMs, post meaningful status messages and tweet about the traffic on the way with any sort of finesse. Luckily for me a colleague of mine introduced me to a fantastic new software application named Digsby which allows me to manage all my emails, IMs and social networks using just one small widget.

Rather than nagging on about how great it is, here's how to use it:

Step 1: Download and install the Digsby widget application from http://www.digsby.com/ . You will need to select the appropriate version according to the operating system of your computer.

   
Step 2: After installing the application, the widget will open up and will prompt you for a username and a password. As this will be your first time with Digsby, you will need to click on the link at the bottom which says "Don't have an account?".

Step 3: Fill up the simple form and get your Digsby account. This will be the only username and password you will need to remember from now on.

Step 4: Login to Digsby using your new username and password. When you first login, the system will ask you to setup your email, IM and Social Networks on Digsby. This is a onetime setup and you will be amazed at how it works once it's complete.  You can organise all your emails including Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, AOLMail and even POP or IMAP accounts from within the system. All your IMs such as GTalk, Yahoo Messenger, Live, AIM and Jabber as well as all your Social Networks including FB, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn can be setup instantly as well. Digsby will access all your accounts and contacts and will consolidate them for you.

In addition to the setup of your accounts, there are other features and options you can play around with on the left side panel. I shall leave it to you to customise your experience according to your own preferences.  

Step 5: Once the setup has been completed, you will see a widget similar to any of the common IM widgets. This widget, which sits in your applications tray, will keep track of all the services you've setup in the previous step without you having to worry about it. The widget will display all your IM contacts on whom you can just click to start an IM chat including an audio/video conversation or even start a group chat with a bunch of contact such as your party buddies. You can even directly send an e-mail through the widget without logging on to your favourite email account. It's that simple.

Step 6: All of your accounts will be displayed at the bottom. It will also indicate how many unread mails, posts or IMs you have in each of your networks. To read the mails, post entries, or even manage your emails (i.e. delete, mark as read etc.) you just need to point to the network which you want to look into and the system will pull all the info for you without you needing to open browsers or logging in.

As with any software application there are downsides to Digsby as well. One of the major downsides is the security aspect. As the system leeches on all of your networks, it would be quite easy for someone with malicious motives to get access to all of your information and contacts. I'm sure Digsby has implemented security protocols which makes it difficult for this to happen but make sure you lock your computer or logout of Digsby when you leave your workstation as the easiest way for someone to get into your network would be to use your own computer when you are not watching.

Having said that, I find Digsby a great tool as it will allow me to manage multiple email accounts even under the same service provider without logging off of one before logging onto the other. To me this alone is worth the gamble.

Oh by the way Digsby is totally free to use.



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Typewith.me: virtual collaboration made easy through online shared documents

I've been a firm believer of virtual collaboration or VC for a long time. Most of my interest is in how companies (especially in software) can employ engineers from all over the globe to work collaboratively on common software development projects. I shall do a post on this aspect and how employers can benefit from better quality, reduced costs and faster turnaround times at a later date. As I always say "all good things come to those who wait...".

I first experienced "Google Wave" last year (2010) during the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) conference in Penang when Google themselves demonstrated it. At the time the Wave was still in Google labs (and it still is) getting fine tuned. However there was no doubt how cool it was with respect to facilitating online collaboration. Almost a year later (2011), I attended a workshop on Open Educational,l Resources (OER) which promotes openness in education, content and assessment and discovered Typewith.me powered by the Etherpad Foundation which was similar to the Google Wave in design but promoted more openness. One feature which differentiates Typewith.me from Google Wave is the simple fact that you will not need to logon to collaborate. i.e. it indeed promotes more openness with respect to access.

If you are a new age educator (a fancy way of saying teachers who use the internet), you will appreciate the power of this simple tool as it will allow you and your students to collaboratively work on a document. One scenario would be that you post a few questions in the initial document and allow your students to comment, edit and re-shape the document in real-time. This could be in a classroom while the students are physically there or offline (maybe as homework) when the students are at home. If you are a project manager who collaborates daily with your team, I have no doubt you will also realise the value of this tool to collaboratively share ideas, brainstorm and build. Another possible application for education would be to use this platform to encourage group work and group projects among students. With face-to-face contact time getting dearer by the day, a virtula collaboration of this sort might be the key to facilitating group work even in a distance learning environment.

Interested? Well here's how you do it:

Step 1: Go to Typewith.my and click on "Click to Create a New Document". This will create a new document which you can use to collaborate.

Step 2: Put in your name. The system will assign you a colour. This colour will be used to highlight your work in the document. Ecah of the collaborators will also be assigned a unique colour which will highlight their individual work. However the number of collaborators per project has been limited to 16 for some reason. This could be due to the availability of colours or due to the fact that it doesn't make any sense to have more than 16 people working on one document. Whatever the case you will have to work around 16 users.

Step 3: Share the URL so that the collaborators can find the document. You can e-mail it directly useing the system as well or you can IM the link.

Step 4: Start working on your document exactly the way you would work with any text editor.

Step 5: You can chat with all the collaborators while you work on the document using the chat console. This allows you to share ideas and discuss while working on the document.

Step 6: You can also use an existing document as the base document using the import feature or you can export your document which you have worked on using the export feature.

These steps should get you started. There are many other features you can play around with as well. Once you get started, you will be able to use this platform for many other activities and applications as well.



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