| SPSS | |
|---|---|
 Logo icon, v27 | |
| Developers | Norman H. Nie, Dale H. Bent, C. Hadlai Hull |
| Initial release | 1968; 57 years ago (1968) |
| Stable release | 31.0.0[1]  / 10 June 2025 |
| Operating system | Windows (x86-64),macOS (x86-64),Linux (x86-64,ppc64le,IBM Z)[2] |
| Platform | Java |
| Size | ~1.2GB |
| Type | Statistical analysis Numerical analysis |
| License | Subscription or enterprise licensing[3] |
| Website | www |
SPSS Statistics is astatistical software suite developed byIBM fordata management, advanced analytics,multivariate analysis,business intelligence, andcriminal investigation. Long produced bySPSS Inc., it was acquired byIBM in 2009. Versions of the software released since 2015 have the brand nameIBM SPSS Statistics.
The software name originally stood forStatistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS),[4] reflecting the original market, then later changed toStatistical Product and Service Solutions.[5][6]
SPSS is a widely used program forstatistical analysis insocial science.[7] It is also used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, industries, marketing organizations, data miners,[8] and others. The original SPSS manual (Nie, Bent & Hull, 1970)[9] has been described as one of "sociology's most influential books" for allowing ordinary researchers to do their own statistical analysis.[10] In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping and creating derived data) and data documentation (ametadata dictionary is stored in thedatafile) are features of the base software.
The many features of SPSS Statistics are accessible viapull-down menus or can be programmed with a proprietary4GLcommand syntax language. Command syntax programming has the benefits of reproducible output, simplifying repetitive tasks, and handling complex data manipulations and analyses. Additionally, some complex applications can only be programmed in syntax and are not accessible through the menu structure. The pull-down menu interface also generates command syntax: this can be displayed in the output, although thedefault settings have to be changed to make the syntax visible to the user. They can also be pasted into a syntax file using the "paste" button present in each menu. Programs can be run interactively or unattended, using the supplied Production Job Facility.
A "macro" language can be used to write command languagesubroutines. APython programmability extension can access the information in the data dictionary and data and dynamically build command syntax programs. This extension, introduced in SPSS 14, replaced the less functionalSAX Basic "scripts" for most purposes, although SaxBasic remains available. In addition, the Python extension allows SPSS to run any of the statistics in thefree software packageR. From version 14 onwards, SPSS can be driven externally by a Python or aVB.NET program using supplied "plug-ins". (From version 20 onwards, these two scripting facilities, as well as many scripts, are included on the installation media and are normally installed by default.)
SPSS Statistics places constraints on internal file structure,data types,data processing, and matching files, which together considerably simplify programming. SPSS datasets have a two-dimensional table structure, where the rows typically represent cases (such as individuals or households) and the columns represent measurements (such as age, sex, or household income). Only two data types are defined: numeric andtext (or "string"). All data processing occurs sequentially case-by-case through the file (dataset). Files can be matchedone-to-one andone-to-many, but notmany-to-many. In addition to the cases-by-variables structure and processing, there is a separate Matrix session where one can process data as matrices using matrix and linear algebra operations.
Thegraphical user interface has two views which can be toggled. The 'Data View' shows aspreadsheet view of the cases (rows) and variables (columns). Unlike spreadsheets, the data cells can only contain numbers or text, and formulas cannot be stored in these cells. The 'Variable View' displays the metadata dictionary, where each row represents a variable and shows the variable properties such as the variable name, format, measurement level, and value labels. Cells in both views can be manually edited, defining the file structure and allowing data entry without using command syntax. This may be sufficient for small datasets. Larger datasets such asstatistical surveys are more often created indata entry software, or entered duringcomputer-assisted personal interviewing, by scanning and usingoptical character recognition andoptical mark recognition software, or by direct capture from online questionnaires. These datasets are then read into SPSS.
SPSS Statistics can read and write data fromASCII text files (including hierarchical files), other statistics packages,spreadsheets anddatabases. It can also read and write to externalrelational database tables viaODBC andSQL.
Statistical output is to aproprietary file format (*.spv file, supportingpivot tables) for which, in addition to the in-package viewer, a stand-alone reader can be downloaded. The proprietary output can be exported to text orMicrosoft Word,PDF,Excel, and other formats. Alternatively, output can be captured as data (using the OMS command), as text, tab-delimited text, PDF,XLS,HTML,XML, SPSS dataset or a variety of graphic image formats (JPEG,PNG,BMP andEMF).
Several variants of SPSS Statistics exist. SPSS Statistics Gradpacks are highly discounted versions sold only to students.[11] SPSS Statistics Server is a version of the software with aclient/server architecture. Add-on packages can enhance the base software with additional features (examples includecomplex samples, which can adjust for clustered and stratified samples, andcustom tables, which can create publication-ready tables). SPSS Statistics is available under either an annual or amonthly subscription license.
Version 25 of SPSS Statistics launched on August 8, 2017. This added new and advanced statistics, such as random effects solution results (GENLINMIXED), robust standard errors (GLM/UNIANOVA), and profile plots with error bars within the Advanced Statistics and Custom Tables add-on. V25 also introduced newBayesian statistics capabilities, a method of statistical inference, and publication ready charts, such as powerful new charting capabilities, including new default templates and the ability to share with Microsoft Office applications.[12]
SPSS was released in its first version in 1968 as the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) after being developed byNorman H. Nie, Dale H. Bent, and C. Hadlai Hull. Those principals incorporated asSPSS Inc. in 1975. Early versions of SPSS Statistics were written inFortran and designed forbatch processing onmainframes, including for exampleIBM andICL versions, originally usingpunched cards for data and program input. A processing run read a command file of SPSS commands and either a raw input file of fixed-format data with a single record type, or a 'getfile' of data saved by a previous run. To save precious computer time an 'edit' run could be done to check command syntax without analysing the data. From version 10 (SPSS-X) in 1983, data files could contain multiple record types.
Prior to SPSS 16.0, different versions of SPSS were available forWindows,Mac OS X andUnix.
SPSS Statistics version 13.0 forMac OS X was not compatible withIntel-based Macintosh computers, due to theRosetta emulation software causing errors in calculations. SPSS Statistics 15.0 for Windows needed a downloadable hotfix to be installed in order to be compatible withWindows Vista.
From version 16.0, the same version runs under Windows, Mac, and Linux. Thegraphical user interface is written inJava. The Mac OS version is provided as aUniversal binary, making it fully compatible with both PowerPC and Intel-based Mac hardware.
SPSS Inc announced on July 28, 2009, that it was being acquired byIBM for US$1.2 billion.[21] Because of a dispute about ownership of the name "SPSS", between 2009 and 2010, the product was referred to as PASW (Predictive Analytics SoftWare).[22] As of January 2010, it became "SPSS: An IBM Company". Complete transfer of business to IBM was done by October 1, 2010. By that date, SPSS: An IBM Company ceased to exist. IBM SPSS is now fully integrated into the IBM Corporation, and is one of the brands under IBM Software Group's Business Analytics Portfolio, together withIBM Algorithmics,IBM Cognos andIBM OpenPages.
Companion software in the "IBM SPSS" family are used fordata mining andtext analytics (IBM SPSS Modeler), realtimecredit scoring services (IBM SPSS Collaboration and Deployment Services), and structural equation modeling (IBM SPSS Amos).
SPSS Data Collection and SPSS Dimensions were sold in 2015 to UNICOM Systems, Inc., a division ofUNICOM Global, and merged into the integrated software suiteUNICOM Intelligence (survey design, survey deployment, data collection, data management and reporting).[23][24][25]
IDA (Interactive Data Analysis)[26] was a software package that originated at what was formerly the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), at theUniversity of Chicago. Initially offered on theHP-2000,[27] somewhat later, under the ownership of SPSS, it was also available onMUSIC/SP.[28]Regression analysis was one ofIDA's strong points.[27]
SCSS was a software product intended for online use of IBM mainframes.[29]
Although the "C" was for "conversational", it also represented a distinction regarding how the data was stored: it used acolumn-oriented rather than a row-oriented (internal) database.[citation needed]
This gave good interactive response time for the SPSS Conversational Statistical System (SCSS), whose strong point, as with SPSS, was Cross-tabulation.[30]
In October 2020, IBM announced the start of an Early Access Program for the "New SPSS Statistics", codenamedProject NX.[31][32] It contains "many of your favorite SPSS capabilities presented in a new easy to use interface, with integrated guidance, multiple tabs, improved graphs and much more".
In December, 2021, IBM opened up the Early Access Program for the next generation of SPSS Statistics for more users and shared more visuals about it.[33][34]
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