Hi Bahiyyih,
I don't want to sound like having a mantra, but again, it's like in
qualitative analysis: Choose your methodology and then choose the program.
If you have not come across SPSS, Stata, SAS, or PSPP, chances are you are
not a statistics freak, and you will probably want to use little more than
frequency counts and maybe cmpute the odd variance or so, but you might want
to store some more unstructured information to open questions.
In that case, if you are already familiar with Excel or, better even,
Access, you might want to stick with your familiar choices.
If you have a lot of numbers, on the other hand, I found that the easiest
(aka fasted) way to record such data, is to type them tab delimited into
your favorite text editor (I use NoteTab, but any editor would do), and then
import the raw data in the program of your choice, all major stats packages
swallow such data, as do spreadsheets and databases.
If you decide to stay with Excel for the moment, don't worry, SPSS and Co.
swallow Excel files, although, it is correct that all formatting will be
lost in the process. In any case, SPSS (I am talking v11.5 here, dunno what
about v12) AFAIK does not to support any formatting, so if you do like
formatting (bold, borders, colors, links, italics, etc.), it would be
advisable to stay with Excel, and then import data into SPSS, when/if
necessary, it should create no problems and often can even be done simply
with cut and paste (version restrictions apply).
If you are looking for a textbook in stats, the one at UCLA website is very
intelligle and there are some useful stats pages at Vassar college (Sorry, I
do not have internet access currently to give the exact links).
HTH,
Thomas
Quoting bdmaroon <[log in to unmask]>:
> Hi All,
> I'm hoping to get some thoughtful feedback. I'm a Ph.D. candidate in
> anthropology and am in the fun filled position now of analysing hundreds
> of field surveys. I am really lost in terms of how to do this correctly
> from the start so as not to have to back track later. I was thinking I
> would just go with entering the information into an excel spreadsheet and
> that this would enable me to do basic stats analysis, but am wondering if
> it I should be looking toward a heavier hitting package than that to
> handle all the different forms of information sorting I'll ultimately
> have to do. My understanding is that I can enter the data into an excel
> worksheet and then later import it into a compatible program, but I'm
> wondering about the cell formatting etc. Unfortunately I have yet to find
> the novice's guide to statistical analysis software so your input is
> greatly appreciated.
>
> All the best,
>
> Bahiyyih Maroon
> Ph.D. Candidate
> UC Santa Cruz
>
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