SPSS For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 12. Executing an Analysis

In This Chapter

• Generating reports by summarizing data

• Displaying summary data in rows and columns

• Manipulating the display of pivot tables

To execute an analysis, you run your numbers through one or more procedures to produce numbers that present a conclusion. The SPSS Viewer displays the output from an analysis in the form of a pivot table — so called because you can change them after they're produced, and one dramatic change is to pivot the rows so they become columns and the columns so they become rows.

Generating Reports

A report generated in SPSS is created as the result of running an analysis. The analysis can be as simple as specifying how subtotals and totals are to be calculated, or as complex as applying a multipart series of equations.

Note

Computer-generated reports depend on the concept of a break variable. If a report will contain subtotals, or some other type of logical internal break, you must define the conditions under which the break will be made. A break usually occurs when a variable changes value. For example, if you're generating a list of employee sick days and want to insert subtotals for male and female, you could use the Gender variable as the break variable: A subtotal could be printed at the end of the 'f' values representing female, and again at the end of the 'm' values representing male.

Processing summaries

When you request that SPSS create a table from your data, you also get another table — the processing summary. It appears ...