pro/cons of statistical software for newbie (SPSS, SAS, JMP)

[S. Brar]

Could I get some input on the pro/cons of the big statistical packages
out there (SPSS, SAS, JMP). I ama resident in Internal medicine and
will be using the software for research purposes. Before I invest time
and money I'd like to get peoples impressions on the various packages.
Any input/advice would be helpful.
Thanks,
-Sam

[George]

If statistical software will be used regularly in your career,
the most important factor is which will your future employers be
using. If not, does your employer already have licenses that
residents can use? SAS has an annual license that expires unless
renewed. The license for SPSS is good forever and many companies
have several that have been left behind by former employees.
You don't need the latest version.

If you are paying for this yourself, a permanent license makes the
most sense. Both SAS and SPSS require additional modules to go
beyond basic statistics, so check this out carefully before you
decide. The greatest expense in the long run is your time to
learn how to use the software. It helps to have an expert
user around to answer questions.

"S. Brar" <sbr...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:819c171.03050...@posting.google.com...

[Szasz]

sbr...@hotmail.com (S. Brar) wrote in message news:<819c171.03050...@posting.google.com>...

SPSS is the most user friendly and probably the best for you. I
recommend that before you get into something complicated like SAS or
S. I'm not familiar with JMP.

[Timothy W. Victor]

One might also consider Stata. It too has a perpetual license, it's also
very inexpensive relative to SAS and SPSS.

[Arthur J. Kendall]

I have been using and a variety of stat packages since 1970.
I have been consulting on methods and stat since 1972.
I am a social psychologist and recently retired from a position as sr
math statistician in a Congressional agency doing oversight of gov't
activities including government stat. In my opinion, the difference in
packages is predominantly in human factors. Because I consider time
very valuable, ease of learning, debugging, documenting, and reviewing
results is very important. In most circumstances, SPSS is the clear choice.

Hope this helps.

Art
A...@DrKendall.org
Social Research Consultants
University Park, MD USA
(301) 864-5570

[Alan C. Acock]

Another note on Stata. I is much better at some areas of statistics than
SPSS (limited dependent variables, as an example). You get the entire
package for one price (complex samples analysis is a huge extra cost with
SPSS). Depending on the kind of license your university has, you can get
Stata and a manual for as little as $39.

Stata 8 has a graphic user interface, although it is not as simple to use as
the one in SPSS.

--
Alan C. Acock
ac...@attbi.com
alan....@oregonstate.edu
http://www.orst.edu/dept/hdfs/acock/
"Timothy W. Victor" <tvi...@dolphin.upenn.edu> wrote in message
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[aniram]

What about Systat ?
If I am not mistaken, I used SPSS before but it was in DOS version
(more than 15 years ago). Is this software the same as Sigma-stat (the
company that also makes Sugma Plot) ?
I check the websites and Systat package is about US$1200. Sigma stat
is only US$699. I wonder which one is better ?

sz...@my-deja.com (Szasz) wrote in message news:<eea9c00d.03050...@posting.google.com>...