SPSS Statistics is a software program for statistical data analysis. Commands can be executed using the menu system or using command syntax. It is available for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
Note: SPSS originally stood for "Software Package for Social Sciences". SPSS Statistics has also gone by the name PASW Statistics, which stood for "Predictive Analytics Software".
Note: Viewer files with *.spo extensions were created in SPSS Statistics version 15 or earlier. These files can not be opened in SPSS Statistics versions 16 and later.
As of June 2023, Kent State has licenses for SPSS Statistics Standard versions 27 through 29 for Windows and and Mac.
IBM SPSS Amos is a specialized statistical software program that can fit a class of statistical models called structural equation models (SEM). Unlike SPSS Statistics, SPSS Amos is only available for the Windows operating system.
SPSS Amos is a "standalone" program that can be installed and used with or without an installation of SPSS Statistics.
However, if you plan to use SPSS Amos to fit structural equation models, it is useful to have access to SPSS Statistics. SPSS Amos can read data files saved in SPSS's proprietary *.sav format, but Amos itself does not have the ability to perform common data cleaning tasks that may be necessary to prepare your data for analysis (such as filtering observations, reverse-coding items, centering variables, computing interaction terms, etc.)
As of June 2023, Kent State has licenses for SPSS Amos versions 27 through 29. SPSS Amos is only available for Windows.
Kent State University maintains a university-wide, limited seat license for SPSS Statistics Standard and SPSS Amos. These programs can be installed on any university-owned computer at no charge. SPSS licenses must be renewed yearly, typically in August. SPSS Statistics is compatible with Windows and Mac and operating systems, but SPSS Amos is only compatible with Windows. (Note for Linux users: Support for the Linux platform has been dropped as of the SPSS Statistics v28 release. The last version of SPSS Statistics to support Linux is SPSS Statistics v27.)
SPSS Statistics and SPSS Amos are separate programs. They must be installed separately, and their licenses must be renewed separately. Renewing your SPSS Statistics license will not automatically renew your SPSS Amos license (and vice versa).
Currently, Kent State's licensing agreement only permits SPSS products to be used for teaching and research purposes. If you need to use SPSS for any reason outside of teaching or research, please contact the Division of Information Technology.
Please contact your local support person to receive a copy of the software or to renew your existing license.
Faculty who wish to install SPSS Statistics or SPSS Amos on their personally owned computers may purchase an educational license through one of IBM's selected list of vendors.
Note that faculty and staff wishing to purchase Amos this way are only able to purchase it in a bundle with SPSS Statistics.
Students can purchase the SPSS Statistics or SPSS Amos GradPacks through one of IBM's selected vendors.
To determine which edition of the GradPack to purchase, please consult with your instructor.
Most public computer labs on campus have SPSS installed. Information Technology has a list of public computer lab locations and hours at the Kent campus.
All books and ebooks on this list are available through KentLINK or OhioLINK.