SPSS Research Lab
A practical workflow for the point when your data are ready: prepare and describe the data, use ResearchKit's test-selection reasoning, follow the matching IBM SPSS Statistics procedure, then check assumptions, effect size, output and reporting.
Your analysis workflow
- Research question and design
- Variables and data preparation
- Descriptive checks
- Select a test with the Statistical Test Finder
- Run the mapped procedure in SPSS
- Review assumptions with the Assumption Checker
- Calculate a suitable effect size
- Read output and interpret the reported values
- Write and preserve the analysis report
The test-selection, assumption, effect-size and numerical-interpretation steps remain owned by their linked ResearchKit tools.
From your research project
When a workspace project is open, its question, variables, hypotheses and accepted analysis methods appear here. This Lab reads the project and does not change or save it.
No workspace project is open. You can still use the procedure references below, or open your project workspace. Open the research workspace.
SPSS procedure reference
Choose a procedure only after a statistical method has been selected. This selector opens a procedure reference; it does not recommend a statistical test.
Select a supported method to review its IBM SPSS procedure. Use the Statistical Test Finder first.
Practice with a synthetic example
The Statistical Test Finder already includes deterministic teaching datasets. Pick an example to inspect its research question, data and matching SPSS procedure.
Continue in ResearchKit
What should I do next?
Next in the research journey: statistics.
Statistical Test Finder
Helps you identify statistical tests that may suit your research question and data, and explains why each may fit.
Statistical Assumption Checker
Explains which assumptions to check before each statistical analysis, how to check them, the usual thresholds, and what to do if they fail.
Power Analysis
Plans the sample size a study needs, or the power it will have, for seven common designs, with every assumption stated.
How to choose a statistical test
A practical, step-by-step guide to matching a research question, variables and study design with statistical tests, assumptions and interpretation.
Using IBM SPSS Statistics
ResearchKit does not provide or license SPSS. Obtain and activate IBM SPSS Statistics through IBM or your institution, following the current IBM installation and licensing guidance. The menu paths here are based on IBM SPSS Statistics 32 documentation and may differ in another version or licensed edition.
Prepare and describe your data
- Each row should represent the unit of analysis (often one participant); each column should represent one variable. Keep a codebook that records names, labels, values, units, measurement level and any recoding.
- Variable View stores metadata such as variable name, label, value labels, missing-value definitions and measurement level. Data View shows cases by rows and variables by columns. Categorical numeric codes are choices made for a particular study, not universal meanings.
- Check imported Excel or CSV data for header mistakes, duplicate cases, impossible values, missingness, range errors and outliers before analysis. Keep the original file unchanged and document every cleaning or reverse-coding decision.
- Start with frequencies for categorical variables and suitable summaries/plots for quantitative variables. A mean and SD are not appropriate summaries for every measurement level or distribution.
- Store the data file, syntax, output and a short decision log together. Syntax makes menu-driven choices reproducible; preserve the version that produced the reported tables.
Read output, then interpret it
Use the procedure card to find the table, row and value in SPSS. Record the statistic, degrees of freedom, p-value, confidence interval and effect-size measure where relevant. Then use the Results Interpretation Assistant for numerical and research-context interpretation; do not read significance from color or from p alone.
Privacy
This Lab does not import, upload or store your SPSS data. A connected workspace remains in your browser under ResearchKit's workspace behavior.