1. New SPSS version 12
a. New SPSS Complex Surveys Module
b. Improvements to SPSS Mixed Models Module
2. New Minitab version 14 available at Cornell
3. Inaccuracies in Excel's statistical functions
4. Group discount for AMOS 5.0 for structural equation modeling
5. New version of Oriana available for circular statistics
6. Statistical short courses and workshops
1. New SPSS version 12
SPSS released version 12, which is now available for researchers at Cornell.
A useful review of this version can be found in the November 2003 issue of the
American Statistician (Vol.5, No. 4, pg 310-315). We would like to offer you
the following inputs:
1. SPSS has also released a new module with
version 12 for analyzing complex surveys, those with clustering or stratification.
This module does descriptive statistics such as means and correlations, but
is unable to do any analysis beyond that, such as regression models. The module
is not available with the Cornell site license at this time. We remind researchers
that using the weight command in SPSS is not sufficient for taking a complex
survey design into account, and the result will be standard errors and p-values
that are inaccurately low. For more information on the issue, see Brogan's article
"Pitfalls of Using Standard Statistical Software Packages for Sample Survey
Data" at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~stats/survey-soft/donna_brogan.html. The
newly updated StatNews #35 has information on the available software choices
at http://www.human.cornell.edu/Admin/StatCons/statnews/stnews35.htm.
2. We previously announced that the SPSS Mixed Models procedures
had problems with random coefficient models. This has been fixed in version
12.0, and we can now recommend its use. The menus are still quite confusing,
and special care should be taken to make sure that the model is specified correctly.
The syntax, however, is quite straightforward and intuitive.
2. New Minitab version 14 available at Cornell
Minitab released version 14, which is now available for Cornell researchers.
Its main contribution is a much improved graphing capability. More information
can be found on the Minitab webpage at http://www.minitab.com/products/minitab/14/features.aspx.
3. Inaccuracies in Excel's statistical functions
A recent article by McCullogh and Wilson in "Computational Statistics and Data
Analysis" reports that many statistical procedures in Excel 2000 and 2002 are
inaccurate. Furthermore, inaccuracies which had previously been found in Excel
97 were not corrected in the more recent versions, and some were even made worse
by becoming less detectable, though equally inaccurate. Examples of statistical
procedures that were inaccurate include the normal random number generator,
descriptive statistics such as standard deviation and correlation, one-way ANOVAs,
and linear and nonlinear regressions. Please see this
website for more information.
4. Group discount for AMOS 5.0 for structural equation modeling
Smallwaters Inc. is offering a 25% discount on AMOS 5.0, software for Structural
Equation Modeling, if three or more copies are purchased together. If you are
considering purchasing or upgrading AMOS, please notify us so that we can coordinate
purchases to get you the discount. Regular price is $595.00.
5. New version of Oriana available for circular statistics
A beta-testing program for the new version of Oriana, software for analyzing
circular statistics, is now available. Please see http://www.kovcomp.com/oriana/
for more information about Oriana or http://www.human.cornell.edu/Admin/StatCons/statnews/stnews54.htm
for more information about Circular Statistics.
6. Statistical short courses and workshops
- The University of Florida's Department of Statistics is offering nine one-
and two-day short courses March 8-11. Topics include "Analysis of Repeated Categorical
Measurement Data," "Longitudinal Data Analysis," "Mixed Model and Hierarchical
Data Analysis,"and "Genetic Data Analysis." See http://www.stat.ufl.edu/info/shortcourses/
for more information.
- The University of Maryland's Department of Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation
is offering 2-day short courses on "Structural Equation Modeling"and "Multilevel
Models" in January. Call (301)405-3629 or email rm256@umail.umd.edu
for more information.
- The Center for Statistical Consulting and Research at the University of Michigan
is offering workshops on various statistical and statistical computing topics
throughout the academic year. See http://www.umich.edu/~cscar/workshops/index.html
for more information.
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