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Julie Pallant, SPSS Survival Manual
[Page last updated: 2 March 2020]
6th edition 2016 (SPSS 23)
Julie Pallant (author profile)
SPSS Survival Manual 6th edition: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS [Publisher's blurb and site]
(McGraw-Hill, 2016)
Revised and updated for SPSS 23.
Companion website has pages for Instructors, (restricted to lecturers) Students, Data files and exercises)
I'm still waiting for a review copy of the actual book: my comments below refer only to the companion website
The companion website claims that the book has been completely revised for SPSS 23, with hyperlinks to notes for teachers, notes for students, questionnaires, SPSS files, data exercises, and links to other resources, including to other websites (but not this one!).
Of the support materials on the website, SPSS file survey.sav contains 439 cases and 134 variables, of which only six original and fifteen derived variables have variable labels (some quite uninformative in relation to the actual questions asked). All variables except six are specified as Scale, but most of them are 5-point or 7-point Likert items which should be Ordinal. Only six original variables have value labels (all in UPPER CASE). Variable and value labels for three derived variables are mixed case, but some start with lower case letters.
The Data files page has links to the questionnaire (pdf) and to an SPSS syntax file surveysyntax.sps containing five RECODE and eight COMPUTE commands (each with it's own EXECUTE command) which appear to have been produced by PASTE from the GUI. This is extremely inefficient (and expensive if paying for computer time) as SPSS has to make a data pass for each command.
For anyone wishing to use this book for teaching or learning SPSS, I regard this as sloppy. Consequently I have produced what I consider more acceptable and useful versions of the files.
pallant_2016.sps specifies correct measurement levels for all variables, a full set of variable and value labels, and includes a couple of data checks not available from the GUI.
pallant_2016.sav is a new SPSS saved file with correct measurement levels, and all variable and value labels fully specified (in mixed case).
pallant2016varinfo.spv is the output file from SPSS commands DISPLAY labels and DISPLAY dictionary (neither command available from the GUI) with the first table showing all variables and their labels and the second showing all variables and their attributes.
Some typos remain from the 5th edition, but should have been picked up from proof-reading.
Notwithstanding the comments above, this is an otherwise excellent and highly recommended book which is a deserved best-seller, but it's a shame that the supporting SPSS files do not meet the standards of good practice.
SPSS Survival Manual 6th edition: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS [Publisher's blurb and site]
(McGraw-Hill, 2016)
Revised and updated for SPSS 23.
Companion website has pages for Instructors, (restricted to lecturers) Students, Data files and exercises)
I'm still waiting for a review copy of the actual book: my comments below refer only to the companion website
The companion website claims that the book has been completely revised for SPSS 23, with hyperlinks to notes for teachers, notes for students, questionnaires, SPSS files, data exercises, and links to other resources, including to other websites (but not this one!).
Of the support materials on the website, SPSS file survey.sav contains 439 cases and 134 variables, of which only six original and fifteen derived variables have variable labels (some quite uninformative in relation to the actual questions asked). All variables except six are specified as Scale, but most of them are 5-point or 7-point Likert items which should be Ordinal. Only six original variables have value labels (all in UPPER CASE). Variable and value labels for three derived variables are mixed case, but some start with lower case letters.
The Data files page has links to the questionnaire (pdf) and to an SPSS syntax file surveysyntax.sps containing five RECODE and eight COMPUTE commands (each with it's own EXECUTE command) which appear to have been produced by PASTE from the GUI. This is extremely inefficient (and expensive if paying for computer time) as SPSS has to make a data pass for each command.
For anyone wishing to use this book for teaching or learning SPSS, I regard this as sloppy. Consequently I have produced what I consider more acceptable and useful versions of the files.
pallant_2016.sps specifies correct measurement levels for all variables, a full set of variable and value labels, and includes a couple of data checks not available from the GUI.
pallant_2016.sav is a new SPSS saved file with correct measurement levels, and all variable and value labels fully specified (in mixed case).
pallant2016varinfo.spv is the output file from SPSS commands DISPLAY labels and DISPLAY dictionary (neither command available from the GUI) with the first table showing all variables and their labels and the second showing all variables and their attributes.
Some typos remain from the 5th edition, but should have been picked up from proof-reading.
Notwithstanding the comments above, this is an otherwise excellent and highly recommended book which is a deserved best-seller, but it's a shame that the supporting SPSS files do not meet the standards of good practice.
Previous editions
All editions use the drop-down menus from the Graphic User Interface (GUI) rather than SPSS syntax. However, for basic file construction and analysis, syntax is usually easier and quicker. To demonstrate this I have replicated some of Julie's examples (from the 2nd edition) using syntax rather than drop-down menus: these appear in the full text of Old Dog, Old Tricks and in the 5th accompanying slide show: Exercises from Julie Pallant SPSS Survival Manual elsewhere on this site.
All editions use the drop-down menus from the Graphic User Interface (GUI) rather than SPSS syntax. However, for basic file construction and analysis, syntax is usually easier and quicker. To demonstrate this I have replicated some of Julie's examples (from the 2nd edition) using syntax rather than drop-down menus: these appear in the full text of Old Dog, Old Tricks and in the 5th accompanying slide show: Exercises from Julie Pallant SPSS Survival Manual elsewhere on this site.
My extensive critical reviews of the 1st and 2nd editions are completely different and need to be read together. They apply equally to the 3rd and 4th editions.
1st edition 2001 (SPSS 10 and 11)
Full length critical review of 1st edition
2nd edition 2005 (SPSS 12)
Completely different critical review of 2nd edition
3rd edition 2007 (SPSS 15)
Comments extracted from SPSSX discussion, September 2009, but my opinion remains the same.
4th edition 2010 (SPSS 18)
SPSS Survival Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Data Analysis using SPSS for Windows
(4th edition, Open University Press, 2010)
Brief comments, but my opinion remains the same.
(4th edition, Open University Press, 2010)
Brief comments, but my opinion remains the same.
5th edition 2013 (SPSS 21)
This edition is updated for SPSS 21 has revised lists of readings and other websites. It has different publishers depending on the region of the world, but there is a really useful website with links to publishers and to book contents and resources for students and tutors. Was also available to rent from CourseSmart in ebook version with a facility to look inside before purchase, but this link says Page not found)..
This 5th edition still uses the GUI for analyses, but (in a welcome concession) also includes examples of the syntax (default only) produced by PASTE. Screenshots have been updated, but remain black and white, not colour. Very little tabulation, but plenty of inferential and multivariate statistics.. .
This 5th edition still uses the GUI for analyses, but (in a welcome concession) also includes examples of the syntax (default only) produced by PASTE. Screenshots have been updated, but remain black and white, not colour. Very little tabulation, but plenty of inferential and multivariate statistics.. .