Contribution of SPSS in Social Sciences Research

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to throw some light on the revolutionary contribution of SPSS in current social sciences research. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a widely used program for statistical analysis in social science. Computer technology has permeated every phase of research and experimentation in the social sciences; and within related fields such as business and education, the computer has become an indispensable tool, from marketing research and consumer behavior to trend analysis and forecasting. Clearly, it is this single aspect of computing that has enabled social scientists to grasp the truly complex nature of human behavior and social organizations. Nevertheless, social scientists have come to involve the computer in nearly every component of their research, from the literature search, to the implementation of experiments, and to the writing of the manuscript on a word processor. The capability of SPSS is truly astounding. SPSS is also used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organizations, data miners, and others. In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation (a metadata dictionary was stored in the data file) are features of the base software. The package enables the researchers to obtain statistics ranging from simple descriptive numbers to complex analyses of multivariate matrices along with plotting the data in histograms, scatter plots, and other ways. The SPSS has reduced the requirement for researchers to be able to undertake several of the calculations that area unit needed for applied math analyses. Researchers collect massive quantities of knowledge, from surveys, experiments and different types of observation. An applied math computing package provides a convenient means that to store this information, and derive descriptive and inferential statistics. The applied math Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) could be a wide used all-purpose survey analysis package, and therefore a helpful one to master. Keywords: SPSS, Social Sciences, Research, Data