 |
 |
I advise my clients to use a statistical package for statistics. Spread sheets (QuattroPro, Lotus, Excel) are all great for use as spreadsheets. As statistical packages think of "please pass the hammer, I want to drive in this nail with the funny spiral ridge around it". If they are doing work with real life consequences (public policy oversight, etc.) I recommend SPSS as the primary package for several reasons. The packages are very solid mathematically. SPSS stands out because of the human factors aspects. However, there are occasionally procedures that are not in SPSS, so other packages might be necessary after the data has been cleaned and prepped. It is easy to pass data from SPSS to other packages and to limited-purpose programs at the frontiers of stat. Cleaning, prepping, and exploring the data is usually 80 to 95% of the analyst's time, and SPSS really stands out in these things. If analysts' time costs money this becomes very important. The GUI shortens the time to write syntax (process commands and documentation). The syntax facilitates the developmental process of revising the analysis until it does what is needed. The syntax facilitates redoing portions of the work as the analyst, supervisors, and quality assurance reviewers develop their views and understanding of the data. The syntax helps with getting help by showing what was done It facilitates sharing the data and metadata as is required by the ethical standards of several disciplines and regulations for grants in the US. Various statistical discussion lists have covered this topic. here are a few of the views. http://www.npl.co.uk/ssfm/ssfm1/validate/testing/excel.html Several items on software that includes Excel or Excel itself. http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~bdm25/publications.html <http://www.pages.drexel.edu/%7Ebdm25/publications.html> http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/~jcryer/JSMTalk2001.pdf <http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/%7Ejcryer/JSMTalk2001.pdf> Hope this helps. Art [log in to unmask] Social Research Consultants University Park, MD USA (301) 864-5570 Anthony Rodriguez wrote: >Hi! > >I recall reading about inaccuracies with the Excel Data Analysis Tool. Any experiences? > >Thanks! > >Anthony (Tony) Rodriguez >([log in to unmask]) > > > >