SPSS

Using SYNTAX to open a dataset, either one you have downloaded or inputted manually, in SPSS is rather easy. Once you have the data downloaded onto your computer the next step is to tell SPSS the location of the data, so it knows where to pull it from. You can find the path of a file by left clicking on the file, going to properties, and copying/pasting the path into the SPSS SYNTAX file.

If you have collected data and need to begin manually inputting it into SPSS by hand, you can click on                      "File" --> "New" --> "Data” and a blank dataset window will appear. In SPSS you can directly type in the data and SPSS will automatically produce a new observation for each row.

Below is the SYNTAX to open preexisting dataset files in SPSS.

SYNTAX

In this SYNTAX we have the function GET which tells SPSS to go and retrieve a FILE to upload into SPSS. In the parentheses, "C:\Users\ComputerName\Documents\Folder\Data.sav", is the pathway to the dataset that SPSS follows. 

Output

The output for the SYNTAX above is a new dataset window with the data that you specified SPSS to ‘go and get’. If a new dataset window does not appear, then check the pathway to the file to make sure it is correct. This is a common cause for issues when opening data in any statistical program. SPSS will also repeat the SYNTAX in the output window and if there are any errors they will appear in text.