New Stata and SPSS Workshop is offered in Fall 2010

New workshops on Stata and SPSS basics are avaiable to Northwestern affiliates by Social Science Data Services. Each workshop will have a topic, and students will use real survey data to have a hands-on experiences of quantitative analysis on the topic using Stata and SPSS. 

Schedule

Stata Workshop Contents

Stata is one of the leading statistical software packages. Most of its users work in research, especially in the fields of economics, sociology, political science, biomedicine and epidemiology. The Social Science Data Services [2] at Government Information department designs this "Stata 1 2 3" workshop series to introduce the basics as well as advanced uses of the application. Meanwhile, several primary social science data resources [3] will also be presented.

Stata 1: Social Class and Health

Keywords: Stata, descriptive statistics, cross-tables, bar graph, pie graph.

In the first workshop, Social Class and Health, you will explore a real national survey data (National Health Interview Survey 2009 [4], available from ICPSR) in Stata to test if there are statistical differences of health insurance coverage and number of nights staying in hospital across different family income groups. You will learn how to use Stata 11 to:

1. Load in a data file in Stata format and Excel spreadsheet.
2. Find an interested variable in the data file, generate new variables.
3. Run descriptive statistics (average, range, count, etc) and generate crosstables.
4. Visualize your work by bar graph and pie graph.

We will also include the category of numerical information, and several tricks to better organize a research data file in Stata. At the end of the workshop, we will introduce ICPSR, one of the key resources for social science data. [3]

Location: Project Cafe Training Lab, Library Basement B234 (map [5])

Stata 2: the International Perspective

Keywords: Stata, merge files, regression, scatter plot, do file.

In the second workshop, the International Perspective, you will use several well-known international data, including World Development Indicators [6] and Cross National Time Series [7], in Stata to develop your own international scope. You will learn how to use Stata 11 to:

1. Load in a data file in SPSS format and complex Excel format.
2. Merge data files together and check the integrity.
3. Run regression and visualize the result by scatter plot graphs.

We will also include more advanced tricks in Stata programming (the *.do files), and several advanced statistical methods (logistic regression, time series analysis) if time permits. At the end of the workshop, we will introduce several international data resources [8].

Location: Project Cafe Training Lab, Library Basement B234 (map [5])

Stata 3: US Artists before the Recession

Keywords: Stata, ASCII, dictionary file, collapse, statistics data file.

In the third workshop, US Artists before the Recession, you will use the Artists Extracted File [9] from American Community Survey 2004-2006 to analyze the status of this occupation in the time period just before recession. You will learn how to use Stata 11 to:

1. Load in a data file in ASCII format and build your dictionary file.
2. Generate a new statistics data file from original micro-level survey.

This workshop will not introduce advanced statistical concepts, but will greatly expand your Stata programming skills. At the end of the workshop, we will introduce additional visualization involving geographic indicators (for more details of the technique, please check theGIS workshop [10] schedule).

Location: Project Cafe Training Lab, Library Basement B238 (map [5])

SPSS Workshop Contents

SPSS is statistical analysis package that first released in 1968. For years, SPSS is among the most widely used programs for statistical analysis in social science. It is used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organizations and others.  The Social Science Data Services [2] at Government Information department designs the SPSS workshop series to introduce this application, and several primary social science data resources [3] will also be presented.

SPSS Basic 1: Public Opinion and Attitude

Keywords: SPSS, variable properties, subset, descriptive statistics, cross-table, regression, scatter plot.

In the first workshop, Public Opinion and Attitude, you will explore the data from General Social Survey [11] (also available to Northwestern affiliates from Roper Center) in SPSS to test if there are statistical differences on attitudes towards some key issues across different groups. You will learn how to use SPSS 17 to:

1. Load in a data file in various formats, including SPSS, Stata and Excel spreadsheet.
2. Manage and organize the data file, generate new variables, create subsets.
3. Run descriptive statistics (average, range, count, etc), generate cross-tables, and visualize the result by bar graph and pie graph.
4. Run linear regression and visualize using scatter plot.

We will also include the introduction on categories of numerical information and variables. Although we will present the Syntax file and Output file, this workshop will be "point and click" in various windows without much programming. At the end of the workshop, we will introduce Roper Center [12], one of the key resources for public opinion polls.

Location: Project Cafe Training Lab, Library Basement B234 (map [5])

SPSS Basic 2: Midlife Mental Health

Keywords: SPSS, weights, multivariate ANOVA, logistic regression, syntax file.

In the second workshop, Midlife Mental Health, you will explore the data from National Survey of Midlife in the United States III [13] (available from ICPSR) in SPSS 18. One more step from the Basic 1 workshop, this workshop will introduce how to conduct several more advanced statistics, and basic of SPSS programming. You will learn how to use weights, run multivariate ANOVA and logistic regression, and build simple syntax file.

This workshop will be half "point and click" and half programming, however, previous programming experience is not required. At the end of the workshop, we will introduce ICPSR and several other data resources.

Location: Project Cafe Training Lab, Library Basement B234 (map [5])