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READER DIGEST
READER DIGEST
Statistical Software Review
Statistical Software Review
Statistical Product and Services Solutions (SPSS)
Statistical Product and Services Solutions (SPSS)
Who should use it?
Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) is a widely used program for statistical analysis in social science. It is very suitable if the data are in the form of questionnaires. There are many analyses in SPSS that related with questionnaires such as Factor analysis, Discriminant analysis, Principal Component and others. There are also various types of regression analysis available (Stepwise, Hierarchical, Full Model, Logistic, Ordinal, Multinomial) which are usually used in questionnaire data.
Advantages
Many features in SPSS are accessible via pull-down menus that make the analysis process much easier. Additionally, users can easily search YouTube videos on how to key in the data and run analysis step-by-step if they are having problems while analysing the data. Currently, the latest version available is 25 which is not much different from the previous version. There is also an option that SPSS will choose which model is best for our data (if you make time series or forecasting).
Disadvantages
SPSS is a licensed software. Therefore, you have to spend money in order to get the original version. The existing analysis is already fixed, so users cannot modify the method. But for the application, the analysis in SPSS is more than sufficient.
Minitab
Minitab
Who should use it?
Minitab is very suitable for analysis involving experiments. Users may choose experimental design (Taguchi, Response Surface method, factorial and so on) which is not available in SPSS. Many analyses offered in this software related to main effect, interaction effect, full factorial and more. Minitab is the best solution for anyone in the fields of engineering, biology, chemistry that involve experiments.
Advantages
Minitab has an easier frame than SPSS. Users no need to define the variables as in SPSS, just key-in the data directly. Analysis is always up to date; however, the output is not as beautiful as SPSS, which is more organized in the form of a table. The point and click features are also interesting, user-friendly and understandable.
Disadvantages
Minitab is licensed software as well. For more complicated analysis, Minitab has no option to modify the method. However, for the application, the analysis available in the Minitab is sufficient.
E-Views
E-Views
Who should use it?
E-views is a software specially built for time series analysis (ARIMA, Holtβs Winter, Family of GARCH, Co-integration, Causality analysis, Panel Data Analysis, Structural breaks, VAR and so on). This software offers modelling and forecasting tools for financial institutions, corporations, government agencies, and academics. Therefore, for time series analysis, E-Views is the best solution compared to SPSS and Minitab since there are more analysis options that are available.
Advantages
E-views is a type of partial point and click, partially written with simple coding. It is easy to understand and highly recommended for time series and forecasting analysis.
Disadvantages
This is licensed software; therefore, users need to pay for it.
R Programming
R Programming
Who should use it?
Anyone can use R programming even though users don't like programming very much. However, statisticians and data miners MUST know R programming since it is most appropriate software for developing or modifying the method. Data scientists who deal with big data are strongly advised to use R programming.
Advantages
With this software, any analysis including text analysis can be done if users understand the coding. It is compatible with analysis involving large data and display results quickly. The software comes with the function of extracting data from a web site (web scrapping), reading data from PDF files, and reading social media data (Facebook, Tweeter, LinkedIn). The special features might be a function that users can transfer the data analysis into apps called shinny. R Programming provides better data visualization compared with other software. On top of that, itβs FREE. In R programming there are thousands of command packages for analysis. Thus, it simplifies the process without having to struggle with the commands.
Disadvantages
Based on the advantages stated above, R Programming sounds easy-peasy. Unfortunately, producing the output or understanding the output is a headache process. It is not as simple as SPSS or Minitab. That's why statisticians themselves are phobic about R programming since it requires statistical and programming skills simultaneously.
SAS Programming
SAS Programming
Who should use it?
SAS has long been renowned for predictive analysis. SAS is used among major corporations for data analysis. SAS includes programming as well as point-and-click functionality (Rapid Miner). SAS users include bankers (HSBC, Bank Islam), international corporations (Nestle, Honda, and many more). As a result, if users are competent with SAS, their job opportunities will be very bright.
Advantages
SAS has the ability to evaluate large amounts of data set. Large corporations which normally have large amounts of data may benefit greatly from data mining with SAS in order to make decisions based on predictive analysis.
Disadvantages
The licence is extremely costly, and it necessitates a high-performance machine due to the large amount of space required to download SAS. Now, SAS software is available in cloud version. As a result, there is no need to reinstall on the desktop.
Power BI
Power BI
Who should use it?
Power BI is a hybrid of Microsoft Access (a database) and Microsoft Excel (Visualization). Power BI makes it simple to create a basic graph (pie, bar, doughnut, line) or a simple summary of statistics. Power BI will be easier to use for anyone who is familiar with the Vlookup function in Microsoft Excel. Users may import data in a variety of formats (PDF files, SQL, CSV files, websites and so on).
Advantages
Simply point and click. Users may select from a variety of data visualization styles that are simple for non-statisticians to view and comprehend. We may take down the dashboard and republish it on the website. Users can do predictive analysis as well if they pay for a pro subscription (which is another additional fee).
Disadvantages
Only basic statistics may be produced. If we only need to perform a descriptive analysis, Power BI is more than adequate.
NVIVO
NVIVO
Who should use it?
NVIVO is usually familiar for researchers who conduct qualitative research. This software works for analysing text data. NVIVO is the solution when users collect the data through interviews, websites, social media, or do sentiment analysis. Although NVIVO is utilized in qualitative research, qualitative data may be transformed to quantitative data. We may examine which terms are often used by specific groups, whether they are good or bad, and everything could be displayed visually (word cloud).
Advantages
Data collected might be in a variety of forms. There is no need to manually transcribe recorded conversations because NVIVO can do it. Numerous analyses related to text can be conducted via NVIVO including measuring the correlation based on word counts. The most significant aspect is that it is in point and click format, thus there is no need to bother about writing the coding.
Disadvantages
The scope of the analysis is limited. NVIVO, on the other hand, is more than adequate for text analysis.
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