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IBM SPSS Statistics Reviews

About IBM SPSS Statistics

Software is used by a variety of customers to solve industry-specific business issues to drive quality decision-making.

Learn more about IBM SPSS Statistics

Pros:

I can interpret the result in figures, graphs or tables. Calculations are very precious and calculations done by this software are accepted by the global scientific community.

Cons:

SPSS is a bit costly compared to similar software.

IBM SPSS Statistics ratings

Average score

Ease of Use
4.0
Customer Service
4.1
Features
4.5
Value for Money
4.2

Likelihood to recommend

8.5/10

IBM SPSS Statistics has an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 639 user reviews on Capterra.

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Carlos
Carlos
Gerente de Proyectos y Comunicaciones in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Hospital & Health Care, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Analyze the information of your work with this software specialized in statistics.

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: The use of IBM SPSS by our company has generated excellent results in the planning, management and dissemination of our management as a Health Center. It is thanks to the options of IBM SPSS, that I have been able to systematize, compare and analyze large databases of our patients, offering better solutions to their problems and establishing the statistical data necessary for the evaluation of our activities. Large companies that wish to project themselves and compete in the market, I recommend that they use this software and thus will be able to make the best management decisions according to the evaluation of the data inherent to their company.

Pros:

IBM SPSS, is a very sophisticated software that specializes in statistical analysis according to different data and variables such as graphical databases, probabilities, percentiles and so on. The most outstanding feature of this software is that it has many modules, which are the computer language of the software and allow a more exhaustive analysis of the information collected in your work. Among the most outstanding modules we have tables, categories of variables, joint analyses, maps, exact tests, data validation, analysis of lost values. It is a software that, with practice becomes the best tool for database analysis thanks to its file system, which facilitates the processing of information. Another advantage of this software is that it considerably reduces the analysis time of statistical variables, making the productivity of workers is optimal.

Cons:

In order to fully manage IBM SPSS, it is necessary to apply certain computer knowledge, which means that not everyone, including expert social scientists, can use this software in its entirety.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Consumer Goods, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Best stats package with the ease of functionality and mechanism.

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: My overall experience with SPSS has been great and I strongly recommend it. It is very useful in market research and business analytics industry as most research projects deal with descriptive and multivariate statistical approach. I have been using SPSS for last ten years and it has provided very good functionality with each update and version. Overall I highly recommend this software package.

Pros:

Very easy to use. High level functionality and easy to perform mechanisms. Fine way of operations. Can run anything from basic descriptive statistics to high level simulations. Easy to import data in different formats (csv, xls, sav, etc.). Data cleaning process are easily executed which includes missing value imputation, data recoding, and data restructuring. Very functional in running multivariate methods like exploratory factor analysis, ANOVA, linear regression, logistic regression, discriminant analysis, and MANCOVA. Most operations are done through interactive dashboard, which is hassle free. Overall it is a great statistical package to run different analysis at a very affordable price.

Cons:

It is tedious to do multiple iterations using SPSS. Syntax functionality is low and lines of codes become exhaustive when you run monte carlo simulations. The most challenging aspect is to run simulations with large data sets. The support provided by the support team doesn't extend beyond technical support. SPSS requires add ons for running the simulations which cost extra to the users. Overall it is deficient in running certain simulations.

Grisell
Grisell
Sociologa in Venezuela
Verified LinkedIn User
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Being in the field of Social Sciences is almost a requirement to get a complet analysis.

3.0 7 years ago

Comments: With SPSS it is possible to collect data, create statistics, analyze management decisions and much more. Gives the opportunity of doing complex analysis and take on prediction models.
The capacity of solving problems of applied statistics by brute force or by trying thousands of combinations to finally stay with what is believed to be the best for use.

Pros:

The importance of capture and analyze data to create tables and graphs with complex data. Its ability to manage large volumes of data and carrying out text analysis amog other formats. Being able to use the statistical software, with descriptive statistics such as tabulation and crossover frequencies, and correlation tests. The program allows you to take your data and easily create a wide variety of visual effects such as radial boxplots and density graphs.

Cons:

In more complex programs you need to have programming knowledge, as well as to make the most laborious calculations. In statistics, often contradictory results can be obtained between different tests. It does not provide the expected results in the expected time. It sometimes leads to unnecessary sophistication by allowing the use of complex techniques to answer simple questions. If the user does not have previous experience using SPSS or if their statistical knowledge is not up to date, it is difficult to understand which options to select. The results reports contain an excessive level of information.

Sreekanta
Research Analyst in US
Education Management, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

It is an effective tool for analysts and researchers to perform their research.

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: It provides fantastic choices for the graphical display. I am happy to use this software for our social research purpose.

Pros:

IBM SPSS offers a wide variety of extremely flexible factual models, with the general direct model and a number of calculated relapse models standing out. They enable me to have a single piece of software that can essentially handle all of our information-research requirements. A substantial chunk of the competing factual programming products, including as R, SAS, and Stata, rely heavily on programming languages as their primary feature. Even while learning a programming language takes time, there are some significant benefits. Additionally, the complexity frequently deters me from trying with fresh and out-of-the-box strategies. Before starting our information inquiry, I need to see how our information behaves. The use of graphics to do this is preferred. Using the scatterplots, boxplots, and histograms in IBM SPSS, I can see examples in our data.

Cons:

The cost of obtaining SPSS may be prohibitive for some users. In order to properly exploit the abundance of available elements, further planning is typically required. The highlights of the chart are not quite as simple as those of Microsoft Excel. Information on impact size and certainty spans is lacking for some approaches.

Scott
Professor/Psychologist in US
Higher Education, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The Best and The Rest

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: After being introduced to SPSS about 10 years ago I have never used any other similar product. I have even helped colleagues who use a different program with their analyses by saving their data to a USB, using SPSS in my office, and providing them with a hard copy of the results as well as the SPSS input/output data. Typically, they want to know how to get their hands on a copy of SPSS.

Pros:

SPSS is a phenomenal resource for data analysis be it for an advanced statistician or a student learning basic research methodology. The program is designed to run very simple analyses (mean, mode, median, SD, T-Tests) to complex theoretical modeling in order to identify and name IV's and DV's. SPSS provides reader-friendly and exhaustive help within the program, as well as live help if needed (which, in my experience is not very often). I love the options that I can add to the output such as graphs, charts, histograms, and what specific data means based on what I want analyzed. Much easier to use that other programs of a similar nature, which means I spend less time asking a colleague in the Math Department if I am using the most appropriate analysis based on the data collected. Also, I appreciate how easy it is to copy and paste tables and images into a text document.

Cons:

Until there is a technology that allows one to immediately "download" large and complex bodies of information into the brain, I have little criticism for SPSS. If I am in deep water and do not fully understand what the "Help" section is telling me, I simply step backward until I reach a level that I do understand and move forward from there. Kind of like teaching myself. It is unreasonable to blame a program for my own limitations.

Luca
CEO in Italy
Verified LinkedIn User
Market Research, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The history of statistics

4.0 4 years ago

Comments: This is the software that I use the most for my work and, even if at times I have to struggle a little to perform "new things", I always find a way. I managed to automate many many tasks and I have reached a very high level of productivity, meaning that I can click a button, let the computer run all nights, and the morning after I find all the jobs done.

Pros:

The ability to perform almost all easy and complex statistical analysys without writing code AND the possibility to automate simple and complex tasks by actually writing code. This software is huge and it supports a very large set of feautures.

Cons:

This software is a milestone for statisticians of all over the world. I've been using it for more than 30 years. This means that this software is aging more and more, and perhaps it needs a faster modernization cycle than the current.

Jayaprakash
Town Planner in Sri Lanka
Architecture & Planning, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Effective software platform which helps to perform statiscal analysis and Structured data entry task

4.0 3 years ago

Comments: Our organisation prepares insightfull reports and summary statistics with the support of SPSS, it benefits to the productivity of the projects and decision making process.

Pros:

I have been using 32-bit version of IBM SPSS statistic software for more than 5 years to perform various statistical analysis and data entry purposes. It is a flexible software to analyze large set of tabular data compares to other products. It also provides the user-friendly platform to set up and carry out the data entries which can help to enter the data from the questionnaire surveys effectively. SPSS designed to support all required statistical analysis for decision making which range from descriptive statistical functions such as central tendency, distribution and shape to certain inferential statistical assessments. Obviously, SPSS software is a great option for statistical analysis and data entries to both academics and enterprise users.

Cons:

In order to perform statistical analysis users must have the knowledge in scripting to operate the tools in SPSS (Especially in the desktop version). Cost is another drawback, however there are several options available including monthly subscription methods and academic editions.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Research, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

SPSS is Value for Money

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: I have used it to analyze data collected from market research for the services I offer. I am able to then make informed decisions from the trends I observe through the analyses.

Pros:

As a student of the social sciences, I was expected to conduct research and calculate appropriate statistics in order to draw accurate conclusions. I became overwhelmed by the complex nature of these calculations. I was relieved to discover that, in the real world, I was not expected to calculate t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square (and countless others) manually. I remember having several aha moments during my Data Analysis course as we were taught the software step-by-step. This software has since become a mainstay in my personal and professional life. I once used it to analyze upwards of 300 questionnaires and was blown away at how easily and quickly I was able to compare the data. There were 6 demographic questions and I was able to breakdown responses based on each classification. It offers a wealth of statistical capabilities at the touch of a button.

Cons:

It is intimidating at first. It is also rather expensive.

Nyasha
Payroll Admin in Zimbabwe
Health, Wellness & Fitness, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Best Data Analysis Product

4.0 last year

Comments: IBM has helped our organization analyze data from our engagement surveys and this has produced readable data that has helped us plan our future

Pros:

Its ability to offer different types analysis, which caters for everyone's capabilities

Cons:

It can be complex if you do not get enough training

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Government Administration, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

The Only Statistical Tool You Need

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: SPSS has a learning curve in the beginning but after working out a few kinks, the program allows the user to do all their data needs.

Pros:

I used SPSS to conduct my masters research into federal employee retention of millennials. The program was able to handle data points from all 15 federal agencies over 10 years along with 20 plus other data factors. SPSS made it easy to organize the data and execute stat checks on the research.

Cons:

There were times where I had to consult an SPSS research guide in order to execute certain formulas. SPSS is a vast program but it can be a little daunting when you first start out.

Steven
Steven
Independent Contractor in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Education Management, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

A sports car product

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: I've used SPSS since it was only available on mainframe computers and so I am quite comfortable with the software. I can move data in and out of the system. I use SPSS for evaluation but always move to something else for visualization.

Pros:

SPSS is a feature rich product that has evolved to serve professional statisticians. It can do almost everything you could imagine. The new integration with R makes it even more capable. If you are trying to perform advanced modeling it can do it. It accepts data in most formats and can export data with ease.

Cons:

Like a sports car, it is not easy. The menu system is not intuitive and options can be fussy. After years of working with it, I sometimes still end up searching for the test I want. The graphics are widely accepted in academic publications but are far behind those for the more commercial press. Tables often must be reworked to meet the standards necessary for any quality report. The software comes in several flavors. This is great for saving money but often leaves people wanting features or tests only available in the next upgrade. Given the high cost of the software -- particularly for business customers -- an upgrade can be prohibitive.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Education Management, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Criminologist's best friend

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: The SPSS has been part of my training as a professional, and later I have used it very often in the development of my theses to obtain higher academic degrees. In my profession, it is very useful to process statistical information that helps to make appropriate decisions regarding public policy. So he's my best friend as a criminologist.

Pros:

The SPSS is part of the training of any criminologist interested in studying the criminal phenomenon. It is a complete program that allows any statistical analysis to help generate tables, graphs, and perform statistical tests that allow variables to be associated. It is very easy to use and has a very nice interface. Each new version incorporates interesting elements that allow the analysis to be extended, even with qualitative data. I use it very often in research and to present information of statistical relevance. It is the best statistical package for the social sciences. Of course it is used by many scientific disciplines such as sociology and psychology.

Cons:

It may seem expensive at first, but the benefits are numerous, and it is worth investing in it. Of the rest I have nothing negative to say.

Ozge
Student in Türkiye
Research, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Review of SPSS

4.0 2 years ago

Comments: When I first used the program, it was very difficult and almost impossible to learn. However, as I spent time in it, I began to understand and comprehend. Ultimately, the program allows for a great experience if well learned. I think it is necessary to learn this program in order to be a good researcher.

Pros:

I like to be able to see the analyzes I have done in the past with a single click, making it easy for me to switch to a new analysis while I am analyzing the data most in the software. At the same time, the program works very fast and I can see all the data analysis I want on a single screen. Again, by allowing the SPSS-Macro extension, I find it successful to do the analysis formats developed by Hayek. While doing this, I do not experience any freezing in the program, it runs smoothly. In this sense, it provides great convenience in terms of coding and processing of my data, as well as during analysis. Similarly, allowing graphics to be made in the program allows me to visualize the results of the analyzes I have obtained.

Cons:

The lack of language support in the program is a disadvantage for me. Therefore, the only downside about the program is that you cannot access the software in my own language.

Ryan
Ryan
Assistant Professor of Instruction in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Higher Education, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The industry leader for ages (...and it shows)

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: Once I learned how to use SPSS to do what I needed it to do, it became an invaluable tool and a critical part of my workflow--indeed, trying to learn other statistical software packages after figuring out SPSS felt a bit like trying to "unlearn" how to ride a bike. It does have its quirks and flaws, mainly surrounding its UI, but these are literally cosmetic.

Pros:

The range of statistical tests and techniques available from the get-go in SPSS is unmatched, and there are additional modules that can be added to expand the software's abilities. It becomes relatively intuitive the more you use it, and its export options for the results it calculates are quite robust.

Cons:

SPSS is quite intimidating if you've never used it before, and without guidance, it may feel almost impossible to get started with it. Perhaps its biggest problem is its ongoing legacy support for previous versions--in other words, IBM periodically seems to slap a new front end on the software, but with just a click or two, you immediately encounter dialog boxes and windows that look like they belong on a machine running Windows XP (...or earlier!). The overreliance on pop-up windows makes the interface even more dated and clunky. Honestly, IBM should completely gut the software and start over from scratch, but presumably that's too big of a task, which leaves us with this black box that has been coated with dozens of layers of proverbial paint.

zahra
Marketing Researcher/ UX Researcher in Iran
Leisure, Travel & Tourism, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

It is user friendly, professional and perfect for those people who need to analyze quantitative data

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: Working with this software in one of the most important section of my job.

Pros:

As a market researcher I should work with SPSS daily. It is a software for analyzing quantitative data.it is easy to import data from other software like Microsoft Excel and analyze them. Also some online survey platforms have SPSS output and you can import data from them to SPSS directly. If you just want to have some descriptive statistics, it is easy to learn, but if you want to analyze data with parametric and non-parametric exams, it is a bit difficult so it is better to take a class about 1 week and learn SPSS fast. Then you will enjoy analyzing data.

Cons:

For drawing charts from data, SPSS is not suitable because it doesn't have a beautiful data visualization. Visualization tools for drawing charts in SPSS are few; so every time that I want to draw a chart, I should copy the table of analyzed data on SPSS to Excel and draw the chart.

Corey
Graduate Research Assistant in US
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

My experience with SPSS has been nothing short of amazing. I rely on it daily, and am never let down

5.0 6 years ago

Pros:

SPSS is incredibly user-friendly, which is obviously important when it comes to statistical analyses. More specifically, rather than having to learn a certain coding language in order to run analyses, one can just navigate through the menus while also collecting the syntax from these operations in order to replicate in the future. Compared to other statistical analysis softwares, SPSS is as familiar as can be, and is as approachable as possible. It is easy to teach to others, and it also makes professional and publishable graphs.

Cons:

Though a tiny quip, SPSS has a few limitations when it comes to making graphs - for example, if one were to make a stacked bar graph of their data, they are unable to add error bars to it, which, as any researchers knows is incredibly important. Other than that, I cannot say that I have any major dislikes about SPSS.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Research, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Industry standard for psychological research

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: Definitely the standard statistical package in my field (psychology research), and for good reason. SPSS is a data workhorse.

Pros:

SPSS is powerful yet straightforward to use. It covers a wide array of statistical analyses and data transformations - functions like automatic recoding of variables or restructuring of datasets can be great time savers. The SPSS syntax is also fairly intuitive, with a low barrier to entry for anyone with basic coding experience. The fact that syntax is automatically generated when using the point-and-click interface is extremely helpful for getting started with creating your own scripts, making future analyses even more efficient.

Cons:

The graphing function is serviceable, but not pretty. Tweaking graphs to look decent can be time-consuming and frustrating, and some options are simply not available (for example, showing all data points overlaid on a bar graph of means). There are also some statistical tests not available via the point-and-click interface; you have to know the proper syntax to run them. Lastly, there is of course the price tag - I am able to get access through my university, but I'm not sure it would be worth the cost if I were paying out of pocket.

Kongnyu
Mr in Cameroon
Health, Wellness & Fitness, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

SPPS has a very user-friendly interface, quite accessible and easy to understand.

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: In carrying out analysis this software made my work quite faster than usual, its such an efficient software.

Pros:

The user friendly nature, automatic analysis and results features

Cons:

Changing fonts during transfer of data, which is not much of a problem though.

Talha
Talha
Assistant Manager finance in Pakistan
Verified LinkedIn User
Textiles, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Data analysis with SPSS

4.0 4 years ago

Comments: Its good for all type of data anaylsis, Economic,financial and descryptive and qunatitative. some graphics required to enhanced

Pros:

we can regress multi variate cross sectional data.there is less chances of multicollearnity occurance due to auto deduction. F and ANOVA table always shows 100% accurate results.

Cons:

Sometimes its become slow while using huge data set. its visual and graphics are not much advance and cannot be exportable.

Latina
Quality Manager in Kenya
Financial Services, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Handle that big data that's challenging you with IBM SPSS Statistics like a professional

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: The fact that I can handle any statistical problems without any challenge and I can handle a large data makes the tool the best for me

Pros:

Data quality and information is key to wellbeing of any organisation. You will need to collect data and analyse it to know how you are performing outside world. IBM SPSS gives you a platform to analyse the collected data, manage it, visualize the data. For any statistical challenge you got covered. It can handle large data within minutes. You can also handle any kind of data from nominal, ordinal, interval etc

Cons:

I wouldn't like to say that the tool is easy to use. If you don't have statistical knowledge be sure you will be stuck.

Christopher
Student in Mexico
Education Management, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Clean your data easily

3.0 3 years ago

Pros:

It is a great tool to filter all your data and with that to be able to propose a regression or predictive model that allows you to understand what the data you have says, it is important to know that you can configure the software with the specifications you want, it is important to note that all this requires a previous knowledge to have all the performance of the program, it is important to know that you can configure the software with the specifications you want, it is important to note that all this requires a previous knowledge to have all the performance of the program.

Cons:

The only drawback is that you need to pay a subscription to use it as well as know that by itself this program does not do everything a data analyst needs, that is, you need to work with programs like Minitab or STATA to take advantage of all that this software tells you, since as such, only gives you ideas of what is happening with your data.

Obvious
Bookkeeper in Zimbabwe
Farming, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

SPSS appropriate software for academic and business circles

4.0 5 years ago

Comments: From my experience SPSS is good when carrying out statistical operations. I used SPSS when doing my Masters of Science in Finance and Banking research. From my experience compared to Eviews SPSS is difficult to use.

Pros:

SPSS is a multifaceted statistical package that allows different types of analysis. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) enables to obtain statistics ranging from descriptive statistics to complicated multivariate analysis. The statistics menu helps the researcher or business analyst to analyse and interpret data by clicking the drop down arrow under data, analyse and graphs. SPSS helps researchers and business analysts to generate new variables by clicking the transform drop down menu which provides the steps or procedures for generating new variables. The package supports several functions for example arithmetic functions, statistical functions for example MEAN.

Cons:

SPSS is not suitable for anlysing time series data and panel data. Does not allows for same time estimation of regression parameters and relationship between regressor or independent variables. Compared to other packages SPSS does not support model development (Structural Equation Modelling). SPSS does not provides model fit indexes to assess how well data or information is represented.

Jenée
GDP Processor in Trinidad & Tobago
Research, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

For high level analysis

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: SPSS is a good software to use for producing large quantities of data. It is very difficult to use if you have no training, but once you learn how to use it, it is an asset to research.

Pros:

This software is really good for large data sets. For instance when doing quantitative research and working with large data for surveys, SPSS is an asset of going through the data sets in a fast manner to produce results for analysis. It also comes with a large variety of tests that can be used for different types of research you are interested in. I have used up to version 21.

Cons:

This is not a very user-friendly software. If you have no training on how to use it, you can manipulate your results or it can be found unreliable because the wrong test was used. If you are not trained to use it, don’t use it because you will only confuse yourself and your data.

Justine
public health researcher in Ireland
Hospital & Health Care, Self Employed
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Best software for data analysis

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: very wonderful and excellent experience

Pros:

I like the fact that spss software has different versions to use such as versions 24,25, and 26 which are all easy to use with my computer and desktops. I appreciate that it has versions compatible with windows, mac, etc and this renders flexibility to me and all my fellow researchers to enter data and analyze data without any issue. It also makes work easier with whether I have numeric or categorical variables on the table, it's able to interpret them for me, make clear frequencies, and all statistics for numeric variables.

Cons:

It took me time to install it but it was a connection problem related to my computer and network server, otherwise its a very good software.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Market Research, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

User-friendly and gets the job done

4.0 2 years ago

Comments: I learned how to work with SPSS when I was getting my Master's and thought it was super user-friendly, as you don't need to know how to code to use it. I have transferred the use to my daily work and I find it to be the most effective statistical analyses software to meet my needs. I tried Python and R, but SPSS is still the easiest and most intuitive tool out there.

Pros:

SPSS is super user-friendly; you can get started super quickly, even if you do not know anything about syntaxes and coding. I particularly like the ability to create new syntaxes, save them, and use the same code for several similar studies.

Cons:

I am a big fan of the software for data processing, but data visualization and reporting are not its strongest features. Exporting the data is often required to build analyses and reports.