options for accessing SPSS
SPSS is a very expensive software package and that makes student access to it a recurring problem. SPSS is accessible to student on nearly all computers on campus.
But if you are one of those students who must have it on your home computer, here are the options available to you:
First off, there are several SPSS packages with many add-on modules. The idea is that starting from a 'base,' consumers can expand the software to fit their needs. SPSS also offers Academic editions such as a 'Grad Pack' or a 'Faculty Pack' that vary in price. These packs also come in Base, Standard, or Premium versions. For most undergraduate introductory statistics courses the Base pack is all you'll need.
And as a final note, please note that sometimes you may come across a 'Student Version' that is really affordable on popular shopping sites such as Amazon, etc. I do NOT recommend this edition; SPSS used to make a version that was targeted to undergrads, but there were many restrictions on the version including limited number of variables (limited to 50), limited number of cases (limited to 1500), as well as some other options. In many cases, undergrads do fine with these limitations if they are collecting their own data (it's unlikely that an undergrad will create a survey with more than 50 variables are collect 1500 cases). However, since we're working with the GSS which has well over 1500 cases and 200+ variables, this version of the software would not be able to open the datafile.
But if you are one of those students who must have it on your home computer, here are the options available to you:
First off, there are several SPSS packages with many add-on modules. The idea is that starting from a 'base,' consumers can expand the software to fit their needs. SPSS also offers Academic editions such as a 'Grad Pack' or a 'Faculty Pack' that vary in price. These packs also come in Base, Standard, or Premium versions. For most undergraduate introductory statistics courses the Base pack is all you'll need.
Both the Grad Pack and Faculty Pack (all editions) are significantly discounted from the commercial edition and may be rented from various places including
- E-Academy's OntheHub eStore (6-month for $40 or 12-mths for $70)
- StudentDiscounts.com (12-month for $100)
- Studica.com (12-month for $70!)
- IBM also offers a 14-day trial edition
Keep in mind that the edition you are looking for is named IBM® SPSS® Statistics Base v. ## GradPack.
And as a final note, please note that sometimes you may come across a 'Student Version' that is really affordable on popular shopping sites such as Amazon, etc. I do NOT recommend this edition; SPSS used to make a version that was targeted to undergrads, but there were many restrictions on the version including limited number of variables (limited to 50), limited number of cases (limited to 1500), as well as some other options. In many cases, undergrads do fine with these limitations if they are collecting their own data (it's unlikely that an undergrad will create a survey with more than 50 variables are collect 1500 cases). However, since we're working with the GSS which has well over 1500 cases and 200+ variables, this version of the software would not be able to open the datafile.
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