Note: IBM/SPSS has announced the features of SPSS Statistics 19.

Of course I understand that the development costs are lower when you write only one version of the software that runs on PCs, Macs and Linux systems (although it doesn’t seem like the price is lower). I also imagine it makes it easier to do certain kinds of integrations with other languages (although I don’t know which ones). And maybe academia has embraced Java and prefers the Java interface for SPSS. And I do appreciate that SPSS has made every effort to try to make the Java interface as friendly and as similar to what I’m used to seeing as possible.

But it isn’t enough. SPSS versions 16-18 do not have the same look and feel as all of the other programs I work with on my PC every day. SPSS is more sluggish, the spacing of the fonts look weird, and whenever I try to copy and paste data from SPSS to Excel (which I do hundreds of times a day) it takes five or six times as long because I have to unformat the data that has been transferred.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had this rant. It happens every year or so when I say, “Ok — I’m going to give this next version of SPSS a try.” I put away my half-broken-under-Windows-7 version of SPSS 15, load up SPSS 18 (despite the fact that I never upgrade, we keep buying updated licenses) and give it a try — only to slink back to SPSS 15 once I’ve had my fill of frustrating, non-value added experiences.

With that said, there are a couple of things IBM/SPSS could do to make me finally make the switch to SPSS Statistics 19.0 when it is released.

Better Variable Organization Tools (Folders)

I’ve asked about this before, and I’ll keep asking! Many of my data sets have hundreds of variables (multi-response questions can do that to you). Life would be so much easier if it were possible to organize these variables into folders. Folders that could be closed so that variables that I’m done with can be hidden.

The ability to color code variable variables would also be extremely helpful. Even better — let me add folders that I can color code.

This is much more preferable to what I have to do now, which is create “fake” variables with repeating x’s (“xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”) in order to make it visually easy to identify different sections of variables. And what kind of solution is that?

Another useful capability I’d love to see in SPSS 19 would be the ability to have “aliases” of variables. There are times when I like to keep a copy of a variable with several different groups of variables (for example, if I’m doing segment analysis). Instead of having to pull the variable out of it’s “natural group” of variables, it would be nice to be able to easily create an alias which I could then store with the other variables.

Cleaner Cut/Paste Options

I would switch to SPSS right now if it were possible to copy tables and paste them into Excel without all of the Tablelook formatting. I know someone must have thought it would be a feature to copy the formatting along with the data. This might even make sense if you were copying the data into Word or Powerpoint. However, there is no reason I can think of as to why I would want to copy all of that formatting from SPSS into Microsoft Excel. It is absolutely a nuisance. I would much prefer if IBM SPSS Statistics 19 gave me a choice (perhaps somewhere in the options) to be able to copy data without any formatting — much like it used to do in SPSS 15.

Pre-Defined Banners in Custom Tables

I won’t say that I need this feature, but when I’m working with SPSS Custom Tables it sure would be useful to be able to pre-define sets of variables that I could easily drag to the top of my table in a group — without having to hunt them down in the list of variables one at a time.

I realize my requests are pretty much focused on my work-flow and how I will/would use IBM SPSS Statistics 19, but I can’t imagine I’m the only one with these issues. And please, IBM, if you really want to make me smile go the extra mile and bring back the OS-specific versions of SPSS!

[Note: New features of IBM/SPSS Statistics 19 have been announced]

• Improved research and reporting tools
• New bootstrapping module for more stable models
• New non-parametrics tests procedure
• Automated data preparation for easier model building
• New Direct Marketing add-on module
• More customizability in the base PASW Statistics
• Easier enterprise integration, deployment and management

PASW Bootstrapping Module

As I understand it, this new module lets you automatically run statistical tests on thousands of randomly drawn sub-samples of your dataset, which lets you minimize impact of outliers and anomalies on your results. If this is easy to use it could be exceptionally useful and time saving. It can be applied to the following SPSS/PASW procedures:

• Descriptive Procedures
  • Frequencies (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Descriptives (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Examine (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Means (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Crosstabs (PASW Statistics Base)
  • T-tests (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Correlations (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Partial Correlations(PASW Statistics Base)
• Modeling Procedures
  • One-Way (PASW Statistics Base)
  • UniAnova (PASW Statistics Base)
  • GLM (PASW Advanced Statistics)
  • Regression (PASW Regression)
  • Nominal Regression (PASW Regression)
  • Discriminant (PASW Statistics Base)
  • Logisitic Regression (PASW Regression)
  • Binary Multi-nominal Logistic Ordinal Regression (PASW Statistics Base)
  • GENLIN (PASW Advanced Statistics)
  • Linear Mixed Models (PASW Advanced Statistics)
  • Cox Regressions (PASW Advanced Statistics)

PASW Direct Marketing

SPSS PASW Direct Marketing is a new model specifically designed to make statistical procedures that can be used to better understand customers more accessible and easier to use.  This is accomplished by cleanly packaging six different procedures/techniques that might be accomplished through other means but that are unlikely to ever be done simply because they are so complex. It appears here that SPSS has made it fairly easy. These procedures are:

• RFM Analysis allows users to score and rank customers by analyzing a combination of how recently they made their last purchase, how frequently they purchase, and how much they spend. The results can then be analyzed and output in a variety of ways.
• Cluster Analysis allows you to group your customers/data into different market segments which can be used to improved your targeting. It includes an interactive model viewer that allows the user to visualize and play with the results in real time.
• Control Package Test allows you to utilize the results of marketing campaigns to figure out which of your customers are most likely to respond to similar campaigns.
• Propensity to Purchase Analysis lets you determine which of your customers are the “lowest hanging fruit” so you can minimize your marketing costs.
• Postal Code Analysis helps you determine best locations for brick-and-mortar stores and other geographic sensitive decisions.

PASW Statistics Developer

PASW Statistical Developer is a new module that gives PASW Statistics users access to thousands of free R algorithms and packages using an interact that is “indistinguishable” from PASW Statistic’s built-in dialogs.

Non-Parametric Testing

Offers more non-parametric testing, which is the ability to make multiple comparisons with non-normal (that is, non-bell shaped) data.

A few links with more information:

• Press Release for SPSS PASW Statistics 18.0
• PDF Detailing PASW Bootstrapping Module
• PDF Detailing PASW Direct Marketing Module
• Details of PASW Statistics Developer (R & Python)

PSAW Statistics 18 will be released on August 17, 2009. SPSS will be hosting an online event in which they intend to go through all of the new features. Sign up here.

• List of the new features in SPSS Statistics 17
• Home page of SPSS Statistics 17.0 (on the SPSS web site)

SPSS, I really did try. I wanted to like it. I’m one of those people who can’t stand to be using old versions of software — I always want to have the latest features (admittedly, I’m still using Office 2003, but that’s mostly a work thing), and so I always upgrade as fast as I possibly can. And when I received SPSS 16 in the mail last fall I did rush to install it — but after only a few hours of trying to use it, I gave up and for the rest of 2007 and most of 2008 went back to using SPSS 15 (as far as I could tell there weren’t that many differences between the two versions — at least for the features I used).

But I couldn’t very well not upgrade after two “major” version releases of SPSS. I couldn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to tell people that I was still using a version of the software that was now almost 3 years old. So I sat down, installed the software, and even went so far as to adjust the options so that the settings would be just the way I liked them.

I should admit right off the bat that I’m not much of a statistician. There are a lot of features in SPSS that I don’t use all that regularly. I mean, I use just about everything on the “Data” menu and the “Transform” menu on a regular basis, but I don’t use a lot of the fancy options on the “Analyze” menu (incidentally, did you notice I keep saying “Menu” — I’m not much of a syntax geek — VB.NET, SQL, and Actionscript are enough for me on the computer language front). So if all of the magic and wonder of SSPS Statistics 17 is in the SPSS syntax, or in the Python, or in whatever fancy programming options they’ve introduced, I won’t notice them.

What I do notice is the fact that the Java interface feels funny. When I try to select SPSS 17 menu items on my admittedly high resolution screen, I miss. When I select cells, they don’t react in the same way as all of my regular Windows applications. When I click drop down menus, they look weird. Frankly, nothing is really in the right place, or the right size, or organized in a way I like it.

And yes, I did customize the SPSS 17 in the “Options” menu to look as Windowsy as I could. I was hopeful for a little bit when I hit “Accept” and the window changed colors to look less Java-like and more like the regular SPSS windows I’m used to seeing.

But then I tried to run Custom Tables 17. Which, besides looking weird, and besides not offering ANY new features from what I’m used to seeing in SPSS Custom Tables 15, has funny looking output.

Actually, I should take that back. SPSS Custom Tables 17 does have one new feature that I am absolutely not crazy about. After you make your table and try to copy the results into Excel (which is where I make all of my charts — call me old-school) the results now retain their SPSS Output formatting. That is, in the past, when I would copy data from SPSS to Excel, only the data itself would be copied. But now when I copy the data, it brings along all of the formatting, including the percentage signs (which tends to mess with how Excel deals with the data).

So to use SPSS Statistics 17 I either need to change the way I work with data in Excel, or I need convert it all back to what I’m used to.

The thing is, I can’t really find any new features in this new version of SPSS that I actually need. For example, for my simple marketing research purposes I don’t care about the new algorithms, or the speed improvements. I don’t have the Missing Values module, so I don’t care about the new multiple imputation. I don’t use syntax, so I don’t care about the updates to the syntax editor, and I don’t care all too much about the new EZ RFM module. I’m also never going to integrate third party applications.

Improved SPSS 17 integration with Microsoft Office ought to be a plus, but if that simply means that the software is going to format my data against my will (as described above) I’m not impressed.

So for the meantime I am sticking with my beat up old copy of SPSS 15. SPSS Statistics 17 can stay in its box, right next to the box for SPSS 16, and maybe I can look forward to either (a) exciting new features in SPSS Statistics 18.0 that will make me feel compelled to shift to the new version (give me folders to help me organize my variables and I’ll shift for sure!) or (b) maybe SPSS will give up on this Java interface and go back to the Windows interface me and my colleagues at work have come to love.