Software for Data Analysis at Carleton

Carleton has support for many quantitative & qualitative data-related software packages. 

Here is a list of such software packages in parts: 

  1. Carleton-licensed Software (available in various labs on campus.)
  2. Software that are free and available in various labs on campus.  Free packages which are not available in the ITS labs are marked by *.  (Anything in bold is available in the labs.) 
  3. Help in using these packages.
  4. A list of common file extensions with their typical program associations.

Platforms on which the packages run are listed in parentheses following the package name.  For a more complete table of statistical packages with supported operating systems, go here.


Software Packages

Click column heading to sort by that criteria. Hold shift and click to select multiple columns (to sort by multiple criteria).

Software Package License PC Compatible Mac Compatible Linux Compatible Availability on campus Other
SPSS License paid for by Carleton Yes Yes No Yes For more information click here
STATA License paid for by Carleton Yes No No Yes For more information click here Mac version not yet available in the public labs at Carleton
SPlus License paid for by Carleton Yes No No Yes A one year license is available free to students in a course actively using SPlus
R Free Yes Yes Yes Yes Difficult to learn but very powerful. Also free, open-source, and strong community supported
ArcGIS License paid for by Carleton Yes No No Yes N/A
Microsoft Excel License paid for by Carleton Yes Yes No Yes almost everywhere N/A
Mathematica License paid for by Carleton Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A
eViews License paid for by Carleton Yes No No Yes N/A
Kaleidagraph License paid for by Carleton Yes Yes No Yes N/A
StatTransfer Licensed  (for one computer only) Yes No No Yes but only on the #3 computer in 3rd Willis lab N/A
StatPlus:Mac LE Free No Yes No Yes N/A
EditPad Free Yes No No Yes N/A
CSPro* Free Yes No No No For more information click here
PSPP* Free Yes No No No There is a Mac version but it doesn't work
Gnumeric* Free Yes No No No N/A
gretl* Free Yes Yes Yes No N/A
Survey Monkey* Free to use, small monthly fee to export Web-based Web-based Web-based Web-based Homepage
Transana Free (for version 2.12, more recent versions cost money) Yes Yes No Yes, somewhere (ask Paula) Qualitative Analysis. Steep learning curve. Talk to Paula for availability info
StatCrunch* Online, fee or membership based Web-based Web-based Web-based Web-based N/A

Licensed Social Science/Statistical Software (Unless otherwise noted, we may not give students a copy for your personal computers.  Any full time employee or faculty member should contact Paula Lackie for details on choosing and accessing licensed software.)

  • SPSS (Mac, PC)
  • STATA (PC) (Mac version not available at Carleton)
  • SPlus (PC) (a 1 year license is availble for students in a course actively using SPlus.)
  • ArcGIS (PC)
  • Microsoft Excel (Mac, PC)
  • Mathematica (Mac, PC, Linux)
  • eViews (PC)
  • Kaleidagraph (Mac, PC)
  • StatTransfer (PC) (Available to students only on the #3computer in the Econ Lab, 3rd floor Willis.)

Useful Free Social Science data-related Software

  • R (Mac, PC, Linux)
  • StatPlus:Mac LE (Mac)
  • EditPad (PC)
  • CSPro* (PC)
  • PSPP* (PC) (There is a Mac version, but it does not work)
  • Gnumeric* (PC)
  • gretl* (Mac, PC, Linux)
  • Survey Monkey* (Web-based - free for use but you must pay a small monthly fee for the ability to get data out)
  • Transana (Qualitative Analysis -- After version 2.12 they began charging for this, but they still have version 2.12 available for free.  Know that the learning curve is daunting.) (Mac, PC)

A cheap, online statistical analysis program can be found at http://www.statcrunch.com/.

There are other sources of free statistical software, BUT beware of fully accepting the phrase "easy and intuitive interface" and always suspect getting “free” software which is not from a trusted site.  This is a major vector of malicious Trojan-style code.  Go cautiously and with secure backups of your system and your precious files.

Documentation and Tutorials for Using Statistics Packages

  • The UCLA Academic Technology Services site offers a variety of online resources, including videos, for learning how to use these programs, which are available here.
  • Paula Lackie can also provide help.  x5607
  • A more complete comparison of data analysis packages is available here.

File extensions and their associated software

File Extension
Type of File
Associated Software
Important Details
.sav
data file
SPSS

.spo
data output file SPSS

.xpt
portable data file
SAS
.spv
output file
SPSS

.por
portable data file
SPSS
Good for interoperability
.dta
data file
Stata

.txt
ASCII text file
anything.. but..
.txt files can have the data arranged many ways (comma or tab delimited, flat, rectangular, hierarchical, no delmiiters ...) It also may not have metadata associated with it. The metadata will need to come from someplace else (typically a "data dictionary" or "Codebook".)
.sps
syntax/program/code file
SPSS
 Creating syntax files makes it easy to reproduce your work in a matter of moments (without a lot of clicking around).  You usually need a syntax file to access “raw” (just a file full of numbers, not in any format) data.
.sas
syntax/program/code file SAS
We don't have any publicly available SAS licenses.  If this code is all you can get your hands on with bare text data, get it! Paula will help you translate it into something you can use in other stats packages.
.dct or .do
syntax/program/code file Stata

.csv comma separated values most packages This is the native version for R, and it's easily opened in most data packages. It is likely to have column headers (variable names) but no labels or other useful metadata.
.tsv tab separated values most packages This is easily opened in most data packages. It is likely to have column headers (variable names) but no labels or other useful metadata.  This is a good format to use when you export your file if *any* of your fields could have commas in them. (Surveys, for instance.)
.xls Excel® versions before 2007 Excel and many/most others This format is easily accessible to most stats packages. Like .tsv or .csv, there is likely to be column headers but no labels or other useful metadata.   Also, if any fields have special identifying characteristics, it's inconsistent how they will be translated into other programs. (eg: date, time and currency)