This course will use IBM SPSS statistics package for calculating statistical
tests. If your class is held in a computer lab, we will make sure that SPSS
is installed in that lab. The university provides a copy of SPSS in open computer
labs. You may need to check with IT support for which labs specifically. On
the other hand, if you are an online student - flipped classroom student, you
live far from campus and cannot make it to the computer labs regularly, or if you
just want to have a copy of SPSS to make the class easier, then you can buy or
actually rent a license for SPSS. IBM rents their software through OnTheHub.com
I have also found two other sites, StudentDiscounts.com, and Studica.com,
that also offer SPSS. Feel free to search for others. As far as I know, there are no
other legitimate sources for renting SPSS in the United States other than the
web sites like these. If you find alternative sources for SPSS or a CD of
an older SPSS student version (the red one) you should be very cautious before
you spend your money. They may or may not have installations still available on
them, and they may or may not work with newer computer operating systems. I am
going to show you how to download and install SPSS from OnTheHub.com. I am
NOT associated with this or any of the other websites in any way, I've just used
this one before. Once you are on the site, search for SPSS.
The first result is IBM SPSS statistics 25. You can purchase versions as far back
as version 23, assuming that you have a current operating system on your Mac or
PC, go ahead and order version 25. You would only need an earlier version if
you have an older operating system on your computer. You do not want SPSS Amos
or SPSS Modeler. The grad pack used to be the version used for graduate school.
People taking an introductory statistics class would use the student version. Now
there is no longer a student version. It has been renamed to the SPSS base grad
pack. Order the version that works on your computer system. The Windows
platform opens by default, so be sure to choose Mac if you're using the Macintosh
platform. Once you have the right operating system, decide on how long you
want to rent. Most introductory statistics courses run 16 weeks so the 6
month rental will be just fine. Keep this in mind however if something goes wrong
and you have to drop the class. The license keeps running regardless, so you
would have to order a new license if you go past six months. The six month rental
costs $42.99. It used to be $39.99 but there was a $3.99
download fee, so this is actually a little less expensive overall than last
year. Plus you're saving over $1000 so that's got to feel good. This is the
six month rental for Mac. It works with Mac OS 10.10 to 10.12.
If you are using an older Macintosh operating system, go back and look at the
older versions of SPSS, and of course if you're using Windows, then order the
version for Windows. The basic version (or student version) has historically been
pretty limited. It looks like there is some new functionality in version 25,
like these advanced models, and bayesian statistics. I have confirmed that this
Base Grad Pack will let you use syntax. That's good, but it does not do
repeated-measures ANOVA. Pretty lame. Oh! And still no Cohen's d effect size for
t-tests. I'll complain more about that in class. Scroll up to the top, and click on
"Add to Cart". In order to rent the software, you will need to register. To
prove that you are a student, you will need to use your email address from the
University. It is the one with the ".edu" address.
From here, you have to create an account and create a password. Under "proof of
eligibility" confirm that you are a student. Then click register. The site has
some general questions about you.
At this point, you are still unverified time to check your University email. You
should have an email from OnTheHub.
Click on the link to confirm your email. You can see now that your email address
has been verified, so you are ready to order. There's a bit of backtracking here:
go back to the SPSS GradPack page, choose your operating system, and click
on "add to cart" for the six-month license. Last chance to double-check that you
have purchased the correct software. I recommend not selecting the extended
access. You are renting software that will expire in six months. You do not
need access to it for an additional two years. Now click checkout. There are some
terms of use agreements, and I'm sure that you will read thoroughly before
clicking accept. And another one. Always read every word. Now enter your billing
address and credit card information. Note that they accept MasterCard, Visa, and
American Express, but not Discover. The total is $42.99.
Proceed with order.
The site will generate a unique activation code. You can find this code
again if you need it in your account on the site. For now I recommend copying it.
We will need it in a minute (or five). Now click on "download" and then again to
download your software. The file size is 736 megabytes, so keep that in mind when
accounting for download speeds. So while we are waiting for the download to
complete, let me tell you a story about SPSS. It has been around for a long time.
Way back to 1968. In 2009, SPSS was purchased by IBM. Since then,
IBM has done a fantastic job of coming out with yearly upgrades to SPSS. Like
the first year, they changed the name to PASW. The next year, they changed the name
again to IBM SPSS statistics, and every year we get a whole new version number
on the software. Oh yeah, and they raised the price. And they changed the color
from red to blue! As far as the functionality however, the SPSS software
that we will be using works pretty much exactly the same as it did a decade ago.
The biggest change has been in the price. Only a few years ago, the university gave
free copies of SPSS to students. The price increases have made SPSS almost
prohibitively expensive. Many researchers are switching to software alternatives
to SPSS like R or JASP, and I'll tell you more about those in class, but that
is the story of why SPSS is no longer free for students, on campus copies are
limited, and why you are purchasing this copy for class. And there it is. When the
download finishes, open the downloaded file. It will be in your downloads folder.
Double click to install. On Mac, you may need to confirm that you want to run it.
Click "Okay".
Click "Next" to flip through the pages (always reading carefully). Go ahead and
install the essentials for Python. We may play with Python later. There are more
license agreements, and then click install. Through the magic of editing, we
will accelerate this process. Now for all of this to work, you need to be connected
to the internet. I'll assume that you still are, but it is required that you be
connected for the software to be activated through the installation
wizard. This last page asks if you want to run the installation wizard now. You
do. Click "Done"; the installation wizard will open. Click "Next".
Remember that authorization code that you copied from the website? Paste it
here. If something goes wrong with the paste, go back to your account on the
website and recopy your code. If you get the green text, then all is well. The
software is successfully installed. Click "Next" and finish. Since we will be using
SPSS regularly for class, I recommend having easy access to it. On the Mac, this
means adding it to your dock. On the PC, it means you can pin it to your taskbar. Go
to your applications menu on Mac or the Start menu on PC, and drill down through
the folders until you find SPSS statistics. Pin it to the taskbar or drag
it to your dock. Now you are ready to open SPSS. You will see the splash page with
information about the software. When you see the welcome page, you are ready to
begin. Click close to dismiss the welcome page.
You now have SPSS installed and you are ready to begin learning how to use it.