The data files used in the examples can be found in the \tutorial\sample files\ subdirectory of the directory in which you installed SPSS.

Following are brief descriptions of the data files used in the examples:

  • adl.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns efforts to determine the benefits of a proposed type of therapy for stroke patients. Physicians randomly assigned female stroke patients to one of two groups. The first received the standard physical therapy, the second received an additional emotional therapy. Three months following the treatments, each patient's abilities to perform common activities of daily life were scored as ordinal variables.
  • aflatoxin.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the testing of corn crops for aflatoxin, a poison whose concentration varies widely between and within crop yields. A grain processor has received 16 samples from each of 8 crop yields, and measured the alfatoxin levels in parts per billion (PPB).
  • aflatoxin20.sav. This data file contains the aflatoxin measurements from each of the 16 samples from yields 4 and 8 from the aflatoxin.sav data file.
  • autoaccidents.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the efforts of an insurance analyst to model number of automobile accidents per driver, while also accounting for driver age and gender. Each case represents a separate driver, and records the driver's gender, age in years, and number of automobile accidents in the last 5 years.
  • bankloan.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a bank's efforts to reduce the rate of loan defaults. The file contains financial and demographic information on 850 past and prospective customers. The first 700 cases are customers who were previously given loans. The last 150 cases are prospective customers that the bank needs to classify as good or bad credit risks.
  • brakes.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns quality control at a factory that produces disc brakes for high-performance automobiles. The data file contains diameter measurements of 16 discs from each of eight production machines. The target diameter for the brakes is 322 millimeters.
  • car_sales.sav. This data file contains hypothetical sales estimates, plus list prices, and physical specifications for various makes and models of vehicles. The list prices and physical specifications were obtained alternately from edmunds.com and manufacturer sites.
  • cellular.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a cellular phone company's efforts to reduce churn. Churn propensity scores are applied to accounts, ranging from 0 to 100. Accounts scoring 50 or above may be looking to change providers.
  • ceramics.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a manufacturer's efforts to determine whether a new premium alloy has a greater heat resistance than a standard alloy. Each case represents a separate test of one of the alloys; the heat at which the bearing failed is recorded.
  • clothing_defects.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the quality control process at a clothing factory. From each lot produced at the factory, the inspectors take a sample of clothes and count the number of clothes that are unacceptable.
  • contacts.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the contact lists for a group of corporate computer sales representatives. Each contact is categorized by the department of the company in which they work and their company ranks. Also recorded are the amount of the last sale made, the time since the last sale, and the size of the contact's company.
  • creditpromo.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a department store's efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of a recent credit card promotion. To this end, 500 card holders were randomly selected. Half received an ad promoting a reduced interest rate on purchases made over the next 3 months. Half received a standard seasonal ad.
  • demo.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a purchased customer database, for the purpose of mailing monthly offers. Whether or not the customer responded to the offer is recorded, along with various demographic information.
  • dietstudy.sav. This data file contains the results of a study of the "Stillman diet" (Rickman et al., 1974). Each case corresponds to a separate subject, and records their pre- and post-diet weights in pounds and triglyceride levels in mg/100 ml.
  • dischargedata.sav. This is a data file concerning Seasonal Patterns of Winnipeg Hospital Use, (Menec, Roos, Nowicki, MacWilliam, Finlayson, and Black, 1999) from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy & Evaluation.
  • dvdplayer.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the development of a new DVD player. Using a prototype, the marketing team has collected focus group data. Each case corresponds to a separate surveyed user, and records some demographic information about them and their responses to questions about the prototype.
  • grocery_1month.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that contains survey data collected by a grocery store chain interested in the purchasing habits of their customers. Each case corresponds to a separate customer, and records information about where and how the customer shops, including how much they spent on groceries in the last month.
  • healthplans.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns an insurance group's efforts to evaluate 4 different health care plans for small employers. Twelve employers are recruited to rank the plans by how much they would prefer to offer them to their employees. Each case corresponds to a separate employer, and records their reactions to each plan.
  • hivassay.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the efforts of a pharmaceutical lab to develop a rapid assay for detecting HIV infection. The results of the assay are 8 deepening shades of red, with deeper shades indicating greater likelihood of infection. A laboratory trial was conducted on 2000 blood samples, half of which were infected with HIV, and half of which were clean.
  • hourlywagedata.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the hourly wages of nurses from office and hospital positions and with varying levels of experience.
  • mailresponse.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the efforts of a clothing manufacturer to determine whether using first class postage for direct mailings results in faster responses than bulk mail. Order-takers record how many weeks after the mailing each order is taken.
  • marketvalues.sav. This data file concerns home sales in a new housing development in Algonquin, IL during the years 1999-2000. These sales are a matter of public record.
  • mutualfund.sav. This data file concerns stock market information for various tech stocks listed on the S&P 500. Each case corresponds to a separate company.
  • polishing.sav. This is the Nambeware Polishing Times data file from the Data and Story Library. It concerns the efforts of a metal tableware manufacturer (Nambe Mills, Santa Fe, New Mexico) to plan its production schedule. Each case represents a different item in the product line. The diameter, polishing time, price, and product type are recorded for each item.
  • property_assess.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a county assessor's efforts to keep property value assessments up to date on limited resources. The cases correspond to properties sold in the county in the past year. Each case in the data file records the township in which the property lies, the assessor who last visited the property, the time since that assessment, the valuation made at that time, and the sale value of the property.
  • salesperformance.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the evaluation of two new sales training courses. Sixty employees, divided into three groups, all receive standard training. In addition, group 2 gets technical training; group 3, a hands-on tutorial. Each employee was tested at the end of the training course, and their score recorded. Each case in the data file represents a separate trainee, and records the group to which they were assigned and the score they received on the exam.
  • satisf.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a satisfaction survey conducted by a retail company at 4 store locations. 582 customers were surveyed in all, and each case represents the responses from a single customer.
  • shampoo_ph.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the quality control at a factory for hair products. At regular time intervals, six separate output batches are measured and their pH recorded. The target range is 4.5-5.5.
  • site.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a company's efforts to choose new sites for their expanding business. They have hired two consultants to separately evaluate the sites, who, in addition to an extended report, summarized each site as a "good", "fair", or "poor" prospect.
  • siteratings.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the beta testing of an e-commerce firm's new web site. Each case represents a separate beta tester, who scored the usability of the site on a scale from 0-20.
  • smokers.sav. This data file is abstracted from the 1998 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse, and are a probability sample of American households. Thus, the first step in an analysis of this data file should be to weight the data, to reflect population trends.
  • storebrand.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a grocery store manager's efforts to increase sales of the store brand detergent, relative to other brands. She puts together an in-store promotion and talks with customers at check-out. Each case represents a separate customer.
  • tastetest.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns the effect of mulch color on the taste of crops. Strawberries grown in red, blue, and black mulch were rated by taste-testers on an ordinal scale of 1 to 5 (far below to far above average). Each case represents a separate taste-tester.
  • telco.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a telecommunications company's efforts to reduce churn in their customer base. Each case corresponds to a separate customer, and records various demographic and service usage information.
  • telco_extra.sav. This data file is similar to the telco.sav data file, but the "tenure" and log-transformed customer spending variables have been removed and replaced by standardized log-transformed customer spending variables.
  • waittimes.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns customer waiting times for service at 3 different branches of a local bank. Each case corresponds to a separate customer, and records the time spent waiting and the branch at which they were conducting their business.
  • webusability.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns usability testing of a new e-store. Each case corresponds to one of 5 usability testers, and records whether or not the tester succeeded at each of 6 separate tasks.
  • workprog.sav. This is a hypothetical data file that concerns a government works program that tries to help disadvantaged people into better jobs. A sample of potential program participants were followed, some of whom were randomly selected for enrollment in the program, while others were not. Each case represents a separate program participant.