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:
- Carleton-licensed Software (available in various labs on campus.)
- 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.)
- Help in using these packages.
- 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.
- http://directory.fsf.org/category/mathstat/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statistical_packages
- http://statpages.org/javasta2.html
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) |