Introduction to SPSS Syntax: Hands-On Exercises

Learn how to make the best use of this course: download data and syntax files.

The command files and data files used in the examples are included in the Zip file that contains this lecture.

1. Please click 'View Resource' button in this lecture and download the file 'SyntaxFiles.zip'.
2. Then create a new folder 'syntax' in drive C:
3. Extract all zipped file into 'c:\syntax\'

• Most of the examples shown in this course are designed as hands-on exercises that you can perform yourself.
• Note: please don't copy files on desktop because is a bit complicated to write that path every time in the syntax file.
• Note: please check if SPSS Statistics is installed correctly. In the course I've used SPSS Statistics 22 for Windows. (if you dont have SPSS, please download the trial version (link and complete setup files are provided in this lecture) or use a FREE remote desktop with SPSS Statistics 23 already installed, yes it's working!! (link provided in this lecture too).

==== NOTE ====

Here in the lectures you see a "Lecture ID" like [254] for this lecture. It is useful to link each lesson with the correct datasets and syntax files you find in the syntaxFiles.zip

To use the syntax file, use the menu (FILE > OPEN > SYNTAX) and use 'Run all' to execute all the syntax code, or 'Run selection' to execute just the code selection.

In this lecture we will see how the Syntax Editor provides an environment specifically designed for creating, editing, and running command syntax.

Also you will learn how to use :

• The Auto-Completion feature
• The Color Coding feature
  
• Breakpoints
• Bookmarks

To set properly a syntax file you need to follow these guidelines:

1. Develop simple syntax using the dialog box
2. Be aware of 'Pending changes'
3. Check the correct syntax step by step
4. Erase the results in the viewer

SPSS will help you write by your own Command Syntax statements.

Learn the terminology and command syntax diagrams to get the best from SPSS.

There are some really, really good reasons to use the syntax as well.

• Efficiency 
• Log of analysis
• Project Documentation 

Learn what 'command', 'subcommand' and 'keyword' are.

Syntax diagrams are important for understanding how to write and edit all the Syntax commands.

Each command includes a syntax diagram that shows all of the subcommands, keywords, and specifications allowed for that command.

By recognizing symbols and different type fonts, you can use the syntax diagram as a quick reference for any command.

The goal of this exercise is to use understand the T-TEST command (its syntax diagram) for comparing sample means by calculating Student’s T, and displays the two-tailed probability of the difference between the means.

Statistics for T-test are available for:

• one-sample (tested against a specified value).
• independent samples (different groups of cases)
• paired samples (different variables).

Please see the text the exercise in the video lesson or in the resources.

It is very important to know that there are 4 program states in SPSS: 

1. Initial
2. Input
3. Transformation
4. Procedure.

Each session starts in the initial state, followed by the input program state, the transformation state, and the procedure state.

This order conforms very closely to the order the program must follow as it processes your commands. 

Specifically, the program checks command order according to the program state through which it passes. The program state is a characteristic of the program before and after a command is encountered.

The most used command types in SPSS syntax are the following:

1.File Definition Commands
2.Transformation Commands
3.Procedure Commands

1. File Definition Commands: all these commands are used to input data into SPSS. They include commands such as `GET`  , `DATA LIST` , or `MATCH FILES` 

2. Transformation Commands: These commands are varied: they modify data (`COMPUTE, RECODE` ), create new variables(`VECTOR` , `NUMERIC` ), or label data (`VARIABLE LABELS` ). It is important to know that transformations do not cause SPSS to read the data file.

3. Procedure Commands: A procedure in SPSS is a command that causes data to be read. In other words, all of these commands analyze data. In that way, `FREQUENCIES`  is also a procedure because it causes the data to be read.

The command is used when you need to summarize groups of cases within a dataset into single cases using predefined functions (average, percentage, etc.). In other words it is effective for combining cases into groups and creating a dataset with one case for each group. 

In this guide we will learn how to use some useful commands of SPSS syntax, like:

• RENAME VARIABLES.
• FORMATS.
• STRING.
• VARIABLE LABELS.
• VALUE LABELS.
• MISSING VALUE.

The solution of this exercise is in the tutorial with the same topic.

Learn how to use DO IF—END IF command to run one or more transformations on a subset of cases.

Exercise to learn how to use DO IF—END IF command.

Another exercise to learn how to use the IF command

Once you have a set of commands, you can run the commands in a number of ways.

• Highlight the commands that you want to run in a command syntax window and click the Run button.
• Invoke one command file from another command with the INCLUDE command or INSERT FILE command.
• Use the “Production Facility” to create production jobs that can run and even start whenever you need using common scheduling software.

Now we see how to Invoke one command file from another command with the INCLUDE command or INSERT FILE command.

The Temporary command allows you to temporarily transform the data without making permanent changes. The transformation works for the very first procedure, then it reverts back to the original values.

Learn how to use LOOP — END LOOP command to perform transformations on the same case repeated until is reached a specific condition.

Append: when we have two or many data files and we may want to combine their cases, we use the append process via ADD FILES  command. 

Merge: When we have two data files, we can combine them by merging them side by side, matching up observations based on an identifier. 

This exercise is to learn how to use Append (ADD FILES) and Merge (MATCH FILES) commands.

Recode command as the name suggest is used to re-assign the value of a variable (existing or new) to some different values. 

This exercise is to learn how to use RECODE command.

Please solve this exercise and send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it!

Here there is not the solution. Send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it with your name - if you agree with that.

Here there is not the solution. Send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it with your name - if you agree with that.

Here there is not the solution. Send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it with your name - if you agree with that.

Here there is not the solution. Send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it with your name - if you agree with that.

Here there is not the solution. Send me your solution with syntax file and comments and I will publish it with your name - if you agree with that.

Here the solution of exercise on 'syntax diagram'

Here the solution of exercise on 'DO IF END IF'

Here the solution of exercise on 'IF'. 

Here the solution of exercise on 'APPEND AND MERGE FILES'. 

Here the solition of exercise on 'RECODE'. 

Project description: The financial director of the bank branch in New York wants to make an analysis of the salaries of employees of New York and Amsterdam branches.

His goal is to calculate some main indicators and produce some insights.

So he asks his SPSS analyst to produce these analysis, both for the New York and the Amsterdam branch.

Can you help him as well?

Here you can find the solution with comments and code.

Project description: The credit risk team want to make an analysis about the credit risk ralated to the number of card and the paytype (monthly or weekly) of their customers. The main indicator about the credit risk will be the mean of the credit cards owned by customers

Here you can find the solution with comments and code.