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Comparing SPSS v14 with v13

Dear Colleagues/Students

We have looked at SPSS Version 14 and below draw your attention to the few significant changes which have been implemented in this latest version. We hope that the following list will be informative, reassuring you that very little has changed and that our current edition of “SPSS for Psychologists” will guide you through Version 14.

1.It is now possible to open more than one data file at a time.

This means that:

• At the start of each section of output there is a line of text that explains which data set has been analysed. For example: [DataSet0] C:\Program Files\SPSS\test.sav
• There is a ‘Save all data’ option, under ‘Save as’, in the ‘File’ menu
• Opening a data file no longer closes the current data file, and closing a data file does not necessarily close SPSS.

2.There have been small changes to some menu items

These changes relate to the fact that it is now possible to have more than one data set open at a time. The ‘File’ menu now includes the options ‘Rename data set’, ‘Close’, ‘Save all’ and ‘Rename dataset’. The ‘Edit’ menu now includes ‘Insert variable’ and ‘Insert case’ options (which were previously in the ‘Data’ menu).

3. There have been some minor changes to the appearance of variable icons

The small icons which appear next to variable names in dialogue boxes have a slightly changed appearance. There are now three types of icon representing the three levels of measurement which SPSS recognises (nominal, ordinal or scale). In version 13, these icons were shown when specifying the level of measurement (See page 40) – in Version 14 the icons also appear alongside each variable name in dialogue boxes. This is a cosmetic change and does not alter the function of the dialogue boxes.

4. Data handling (chapter 6)

There have been some minor changes to some dialogue boxes

• The dialogue boxes for the ‘Recode into different variables’ command and the “Count” commands are set out somewhat differently, but these changes do not alter the function of the commands.
• In the ‘Select Cases’ command, the dialogue box now includes a new option which allows the user to copy the selected cases into a new data set. As in version 13, the default option is to filter out unselected cases.

5. The statistical tests

With regard to undertaking the statistical tests covered in our book, there are no significant changes between versions 13 and 14. There are a few minor changes which are listed below:

• For all within-subjects ANOVAs: The text entry box for stating the ‘Within-Subject Factor Name’ in the ‘Repeated Measures Define Factor(s)’ dialogue window is beneath its label rather than alongside it.
• For discriminant analysis: there is just one small change, the ‘Classify’ sub menu no longer has ‘Tree option’.
• For logistic regression: there are some extra options on the ‘Regression’ sub menu.
• For reliability analysis for scales and questionnaires: the Reliability Analysis dialogue box allows you to give a scale label to the items you select for the reliability analysis.

6. Graphing

The ‘Graphs’ menu now incorporates a new option called “Chart Builder” which largely replaces the “Chart Gallery” described in chapter 12.

The guidance we provide on creating bar charts, error bar charts and scattergrams all apply to Version 14.

In terms of fitting a line to a scattergram, unlike Version 13, Version 14 does not have the text ‘Fit line for’ preceding the label for the fit line in the legend; the marker for the fit line in the legend is also slightly different

Errata

Finally, we have spotted a few minor errors in the new edition – many apologies!

• In both Version 13 and 14, to obtain a scattergram you select ‘Scatter/Dot’ from the ‘Graph’ menu bar (on page 96 and 254 we erroneously suggested you select ‘Scatter’)
• On page 248, last paragraph, point 2, this should read “A covariate should be a continuous or discrete variable”

• On page 280 the citation for Hollin, Palmer and Clark should be dated 2003.

Best wishes

Nicola, Richard and Rosemary