Setting up SPSS for PANDA Use                                      Steps to SPSS Computing

There are a few minor adjustments and settings that make SPSS much friendlier to work with (for PANDA) in terms of selecting variables and reading output. If the SPSS program is unfamiliar, here are a few tips to using it for the PANDA package. For detailed instruction and help with the program, see an SPSS User’s Manual.

1.  Open SPSS by clicking on the SPSS 8.0 for Windows icon usually found in the Program option of the Start-up Menu in the bottom left hand corner of the computer screen.

2.  There are three separate windows associated with SPSS:

	Data Editor – This is the first screen that opens with the SPSS program, shows all the variables and cases in database style, and allows for data cleaning and selecting analysis options from the menu at the top of the screen. Data Editor always displays the name of the current open data base at the top left of the screen, for example: keast4j SPSS Data Editor
	Output Viewer- This screen displays the output tables and lists from commands given through the data editing menu or from a command program written in the Syntax Editor. The output can consist of labels, review notes for the commands, warnings, charts, pivot tables (editable tables- just double click on the table to edit), and text output; the output view is distinguished by the name displayed in the upper left of the screen, for example: Output 1-SPSS Viewer
	Syntax Editor – This screen must be opened from the Data Editor menu by clicking on File, New, Syntax and allows for program writing that will allow saving of a series of functions as a program that will run on different data sets. Often, this is not used at all and all instructions are programmed through the menus. Despite this, the Syntax editor can save time on running a program such as categorizing z-scores, calculating tables for behavioral habits, etc by simply saving them as programs and running them on the new data base with just a few adjustments to variable names. The syntax editor can be written into directly or functions can be pasted from the data editor menu (this is the easiest method). The syntax editor is identified by the name in the upper left of the screen, for example:

Syntax 1 –SPSS Syntax

 

3.  The Data Editor and Output Viewer will be the only activity windows used for PANDA. A few adjustments should be made to the output options to facilitate readability. Follow the next few steps to set up the output screen in SPSS:

	Open the Data Editor and click on Edit, Options and an Options box will appear with many layers of display options.
	Click on the layer labeled General and find the following areas and mark the following options for each:

 

AREA	OPTION
Variable lists	Display names Alphabetical
Output type at start-up	Viewer
Output Notification	Raise new viewer window Scroll to new output
Open Syntax window at start-up	No

  

Now, click on the area labeled Viewer and find the following areas and mark the options:

AREA	OPTION
Initial Output State	Item: Log;                 Contents initially	hidden
	Warnings	shown
	Notes	hidden
	Title	shown
	Pivot table	shown
	Chart	shown
	Text output	shown

Once all of these options are selected, click on Apply and OK and the options will be set. For the General options to work on the current data, the data base must be reopened after the options are set.

Open or re-open a data base, such as keast4j.sav to check to see if the options were applied. Do the following check:

1. Open keast4j.sav using File, Open
   
2. Select Statistics, Summarize, Descriptives and check the

variable list on the left to see if the variables are in alphabetical order, without labels: abstflag, abstin1, abstin2, etc…

3. Place age in the variable box on the right using the arrow button and press OK. Does the output have a title box and a descriptive statistics box like the following?

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