SPSS Statistical Software

To install SPSS on your computer, follow the appropriate instructions below based on whether you are a student or faculty/staff.

Student Instructions (Faculty/Staff can also follow these instructions if they are having trouble installing SPSS with the Faculty/Staff instructions):

1. Go to the Baylor HelpDesk page for SPSS and AMOS
2. Scroll down and you'll see 2 links: one for students to install SPSS, and one for faculty/staff to install SPSS. Click on the link for students.
3. Now you'll be taken to a Box folder with subfolders labelled Windows and Mac. Click the appropriate folder for your operating system. Read the SPSS_License_Instructions.txt document and READMEFIRST-SPSS-Install-Instructions.pdf document.
4. Then click on the SPSS application installer - in the Windows folder, it is called SPSS_Statistics_win64.exe. In the Mac folder, it is called SPSS_Statistics_29.0.2_mac.pkg. (Note: the Mac installer version number (29.0.2) may be different/newer than what is listed here, but these same instructions apply).
5. Now the SPSS application installer will start downloading. This will take several minutes. Once it finishes downloading, open the file from your Downloads folder on your computer.
6. When you open the file, it launches the Activation Wizard to finish installing SPSS. Click through each page, accept the license agreement, and finish to launch SPSS. (On the final page, leave the box checked for Start IBM SPSS Statistics now, and SPSS will launch when you click Finish).
7. Once SPSS launches, the License Activation Wizard will appear. Click through the pages. On the Product Authorization page, select Authorized User License. 
8. After selecting Authorized User License, copy/paste in the license code from the SPSS_License_Instructions.txt document and then click Add. Now click Next.
9. Now you should see the message "Authorization Succeeded" along with a long string of random letters and numbers in the status window. 
10. The last page of the License Activation Wizard will show you the expiration date of your SPSS license (the end of July of the current academic year).
    1. You will need to re-license your copy of SPSS every year before the license expires, and to do that, go back to the student instructions from the Baylor HelpDesk page for SPSS and AMOS page, and find the new license code in the SPSS_License_Instructions.txt document.
11. Now SPSS should be successfully installed on your computer and you can start using it!

Faculty Instructions

• Notes for faculty/staff:
  • Your instructions have you map a network drive to your computer, and you must be connected to Baylor's WiFi (on-campus) or the Baylor VPN (if you're off-campus) to do so. If you are going to be installing/using SPSS on a computer that you will be using off-campus without access to the Baylor VPN, or if your are having trouble installing SPSS using the faculty/staff instructions, please use the student instructions above. SPSS will function the same no matter which installation instructions you use, and there are no extra/different features for faculty/staff.
  • If you are off-campus and are following the faculty/staff instructions and attempting to map the network drive to install SPSS, you must be connected to the Baylor VPN. For instructions on how to install the VPN, go to the VPN page of the HelpDesk website. Then click the appropriate instructions for your operating system (Windows or Mac) and follow them.

Now let's go over how faculty/staff can install SPSS:

Windows PC Instructions

1. Go to the Baylor HelpDesk page for SPSS and AMOS.
2. Scroll down and you'll see 2 links: one for students to install SPSS, and one for faculty/staff to install SPSS. Click on the link for faculty/staff. 
3. On your computer, open up File Explorer. By default, you should be on the This PC screen, but if not, scroll through the left sidebar until you see This PC, and then click it. You should see the screen below:
   
   
4. Click on the 3 dots on the top right of the toolbar. Then select Map Network Drive. 
   
   

5. In the Map Network Drive dialogue box, enter: \\atms.baylor.edu\SoftwareDepot\SPSS\  in the Folder field. Then click Finish. See image below:
   
   

6. Then in the window that appears now, open the folder that contains the version of SPSS you would like to install (e.g., SPSS 29).
7. Right-click the SPSS_Statistics_xx_win64.exe application icon ("xx" will match the version number) and select Run as Administrator from the list that appears.

Mac Instructions

1. Go to the Baylor HelpDesk page for SPSS and AMOS.
2. Scroll down and you'll see 2 links: one for students to install SPSS, and one for faculty/staff to install SPSS. Click on the link for faculty/staff.
3. On your computer, open up Finder. On the menubar at the top of your screen, click on Go and select Connect to Server...
   
   
4. Enter the following in the Server Address field: smb://atms.baylor.edu/SoftwareDepot/SPSS  and then click Connect.
   
   
5. Open the folder that contains the version of SPSS you wish to install (e.g. SPSS 29).
   
   
6. Copy the SPSS_Statistics_xx_mac.pkg file ("xx" will match the version number) to your desktop, then open it to complete the installation.
   

Now you should have successfully installed SPSS on your computer! You should see an icon similar to this for SPSS: 

Let's open up SPSS and start using it!

When SPSS first opens, you will see a Welcome dialogue box that looks like this:

You'll notice 3 tabs in the middle labelled Restore Points, Recent Files, and Sample Files. 

• Restore Points has records of your last SPSS sessions and you can reopen files you were working with during a particular session.
• Sample Files has preloaded sample datasets that you can open up and play around with. There are SPSS tutorials on IBM's website that utilize these datasets to teach you how to run various analyses. 
• Recent Files shows you a list of files you recently had open in SPSS.

Opening your Own Data Files

Most likely you will want to open your own datasets to analyze. To do that: 

1. Click on the Recent Files tab. Select Open another file... and then click Open.
2. This brings up a dialogue box to select a file from your computer to open. 
   
   
3. You can select a file from your computer to open. By default, it shows you your Downloads folder, but you can change the directory by using the drop down button next to Downloads. 
   1. Also, by default, it only shows you SPSS files (.sav, .spv, sps) within your Downloads folder (or whichever directory folder you've selected). To change this, use the drop down arrow by Files of type and change it to whatever file format you are looking for. For example, if you want to open an Excel file from your computer, change it to Excel Data (*.xls, *.xlsx, *xlsm). If you want to open a CSV file, select Text Data (*.txt, *.dat, *.csv, *.tab).
4. If you select an SPSS file to open (.sav, .spv, .sps), it will just open with no extra steps. If, for example, you select an Excel or CSV file to open, there are some extra steps you have to go through to successfully import the file. Let's walk through those steps!

1. Download the Excel Sample Dataset file from this guide (it's linked in on the left sidebar).Or if you already have an Excel file on your computer you want to import, you can use that instead.
2. From the SPSS Welcome dialog window, select the Recent Files tab, then select Open another file..., then click Open.
3. Change the file directory as necessary to locate your Excel file. If you are using the Excel Example Dataset from this guide, it will be located in your Downloads folder. Change the Files of type to Excel Data (*.xls, *.xlsx, *xlsm). Locate the Excel file in your file listings and then click Open.
   
   
4. Now you will see the Read Excel File dialogue box. The Worksheet dropdown menu allows you to select which sheet of your Excel file you want to import (if your Excel file has more than one sheet). By default, the first sheet is selected. For our Excel Example Dataset, leave the first sheet selected (SPSS_Example). Check the boxes for Remove leading spaces from string values and Remove trailing spaces from string values if you want SPSS to remove any extraneous spaces before and/or after your text (string) values in your dataset (I recommend checking both of these boxes). Leave the other settings as they are.
   
   
5. Once you've finished adjusting any settings, click OK and your Excel data file will open in SPSS!
   

Alternatively, if you already have an SPSS data file opened, click on File at the top of the Data file window.
            

1. From the File dropdown menu, select Import Data, and then select Excel...
   
   
2. This brings up a dialog box for you to select your Excel file and open it. 
3. Tip: In the file selector dialog box, click the icon on the top far right that looks like a little checklist (if you hover over it, it is labelled Details). This changes the view of the dialog box to Detailed view. Then click the word Modified to sort the files by date, which initially sorts the files by oldest first. Click the word Modified again to sort by newest file first. If you just downloaded the Excel Example Dataset from this guide, this method will display that file right at the top so you can easily find it.
   
   
4. Select the Excel file you would like to open and click Open.
5. Now you will see the Read Excel File dialogue box. The Worksheet dropdown menu allows you to select which sheet of your Excel file you want to import (if your Excel file has more than one sheet). By default, the first sheet is selected. For our Excel Example Dataset, leave the first sheet selected (SPSS_Example). Check the boxes for Remove leading spaces from string values and Remove trailing spaces from string values if you want SPSS to remove any extraneous spaces before and/or after your text (string) values in your dataset (I recommend checking both of these boxes). Leave the other settings as they are.
   
   
6. Once you've finished adjusting any settings, click OK and your Excel data file will open in SPSS!
   

1. Download the CSV Sample Dataset file from this guide (it's linked in on the left sidebar).Or if you already have a CSV file on your computer that you want to import, you can use that instead.
2. From the SPSS Welcome dialog window, select the Recent Files tab, then select Open another file..., then click Open.
3. Change the file directory (e.g., Downloads, Documents, etc.) as necessary to locate your CSV file. If you are using the CSV Example Dataset from this guide, it will be located in your Downloads folder. Change the Files of type to Text Data (*.txt, *.dat, *.csv, *.tab). Locate the CSV file in your file listings and then click Open.
   
   
4. Now you will see the Read CSV File dialogue box. Make sure the Delimiter between values is set to Comma. Check the boxes for Remove leading spaces from string values and Remove trailing spaces from string values if you want SPSS to remove any extraneous spaces before and/or after your text (string) values in your dataset (I recommend checking both of these boxes). Leave the other settings as they are.
   
   
5. Once you've finished adjusting any settings, click OK and your CSV data file will open in SPSS!

Alternatively, if you already have an SPSS data file opened, click on File at the top of the Data file window.
            

1. From the File dropdown menu, select Import Data, and then select CSV Data...
   
   
2. This brings up a dialog box for you to select your CSV file and open it. 
3. Tip: In the file selector dialog box, click the icon on the top far right that looks like a little checklist (if you hover over it, it is labelled Details). This changes the view of the dialog box to Detailed view. Then click the word Modified to sort the files by date, which initially sorts the files by oldest first. Click the word Modified again to sort by newest file first. If you just downloaded the CSV Example Dataset from this guide, this method will display that file right at the top so you can easily find it.
   
   
4. Select the CSV file you would like to open and click Open.
5. Now you will see the Text Import Wizard dialogue box. 
6. On the first page of the Text Import Wizard, select No for Does your text file match a predefined format? Then click Next.
   
   
7. On the 2nd page of the Text Import Wizard, select Delimited for How are your variables arranged? Select Yes for Are variable names included at the top of your file? Select Period for What is the decimal symbol? Then click Next.
   
   
8. On the 3rd page of the Text Import Wizard, select Each line represents a case for How are your cases arranged? Select All of the cases for How many cases do you want to import? Then click Next.
   
   
9. On the 4th page of the Text Import Wizard, un-select Space and select Comma for Which delimiters appear between variables? (We only want Comma selected). Select None for What is the text qualifier? Check the boxes for Remove leading spaces from string values and Remove trailing spaces from string values if you want SPSS to remove any extraneous spaces before and/or after your text (string) values in your dataset (I recommend checking both of these boxes). Then click Next.
   
   
10. On the 5th page of the Text Import Wizard, you don't need to adjust/change anything. You can just click Next.
    
    
11. On the 6th page of the Text Import Wizard, you don't need to adjust/change anything, unless you want to save this file format for future use or if you want to see (paste) the SPSS syntax for importing this file. (Both options are not necessary, so you'll most likely want to just leave them both as No). Click Finish.
    
    
12. Now your CSV data file should successfully open in SPSS!