Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:08:42 -0700
Reply-To: SR Millis <srmillis@yahoo.com>
Sender: "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: SR Millis <srmillis@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Can we "freeze" at SPSS 15 for several years?
In-Reply-To: <OF05CF845D.A96005AC-ON8525763C.004EC984-8525763C.00721875@ssss.gouv.qc.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Yves,
As a long-time user of SPSS, Stata, SAS, Systat, and R, I can say, without a doubt, it is time for you to switch to Stata.
I agree with all of your observations. Yes, the Stata Journal is outstanding.
The Stata listserv is much more active than this listserv. A much broader range of topics tends to be covered.
Scott Millis
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kunst ist schön, macht aber viel Arbeit."
Scott R Millis, PhD, ABPP (CN,CL,RP), CStat, CSci
Professor & Director of Research
Dept of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Dept of Emergency Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
261 Mack Blvd
Detroit, MI 48201
Email: smillis@med.wayne.edu
Tel: 313-993-8085
Fax: 313-966-7682
--- On Fri, 9/25/09, Yves Therriault <Yves_Therriault@ssss.gouv.qc.ca> wrote:
> From: Yves Therriault <Yves_Therriault@ssss.gouv.qc.ca>
> Subject: Re: Can we "freeze" at SPSS 15 for several years?
> To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 4:46 PM
>
> Dear SPSS listers,
>
>
>
> I've been using SPSS for almost 20 years in my work as
> a research analyst in public health. I've been a SPSS
> fan since the old days when I was working with SPSS Pc +. I
> rarely use the GUI and prefer to work with syntax. I learned
> a lot from this list (many thanks to Ray Levesque, Hector
> Malletta, and many others).
>
>
>
> Yet, I'm seriously considering to switch to Stata
> instead of upgrading to the new SPSS 18 release (from my
> current 12.01 version). I've had the opportunity to test
> a demo version of Stata (Stata intercooled) earlier this
> year and I'm very impressed with the software. I'm
> not a statistician, but it seems to me that Stata is
> generally superior to SPSS in many ways.
>
>
>
> - First of all, with Stata, we have the
> "complete" thing. No need to buy rather expensive
> add-on modules if one needs and wants to do more advanced
> statistical analysis or has to analyse data from complex
> samples. Even though Stata has a complete set of features,
> the IC version is less expensive than the SPSS Base version
> (sorry, I'm still not used to PASW name).
>
>
>
> - Stata syntax seems to be far more intuitive.
>
>
>
> - Better documentation.
>
>
>
> - Features and procedures very useful in public health
> (like the standardization of rates, direct or indirect).
>
>
>
> - For what I know, Stata is much more internet aware than
> SPSS. Updating Stata is really easy as Garry said. There
> are hundreds and hundreds of user-written routines that can
> be installed quicky and directly from the internet with a
> particular Stata command. No need no login to Stata website
> do so.
>
>
>
> - Stata website has much more useful resources. The
> information we seek is very easy to find.
>
>
>
> - Licensing policies that allow Stata users to use their
> license code to install the software on 3 computers (office,
> home, and personal laptop) provided of course that only one
> instance of Stata is running at the same time.
>
>
>
> - Stata concentrates its efforts into developing a product
> in a way I agree with. I never really agreed with the
> orientation that SPSS has taken in the last years (focusing
> on "predictive analysis" for big corporations in
> order to help them to make better decisions).
>
>
>
> - Stata publishes its own quarterly peer-reviewed journal
> in Statistics. I can't judge the merits of Stata journal
> nor its quality, but I think its a good indicator that Stata
> is very "statistically oriented". The journal also
> publishes notes, columns, comments and tips written by
> strong Stata users.
>
>
>
> I totally agree with Garry that SPSS output capabilities
> are far better than Stata's. Stata is currently light
> years behind SPSS regarding output management. It's the
> only advantage I see in SPSS over Stata and it's the
> only reason why I didn't switch to Stata yet.
>
>
>
> Nevertheless, is it time to see goodbye to an old friend ?
>
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Yves
> Therriault, Ph. D.
>
> Agent de recherche
>
> Surveillance de l'état de santé de la
> population (Santé publique)
>
> Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de la
> Côte-Nord
>
> Baie-Comeau
> (QC), Canada
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
>
>
> Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:23:04 +0100
>
> From: Garry Gelade
> <garry@business-analytic.co.uk>
>
> Subject: Re: Can we "freeze" at SPSS 15 for
> several years?
>
>
>
> Bruce
>
>
>
> One of the great advantages of Stata is the ease with
> which new statistical
>
> procedures can be added, eg if you want a robust statistics
> module, or a
>
> spatial autocorrelation module, you can just download the
> relevant package
>
> for free, and install it quickly. You don't have to
> 'upgrade'. SPSS on the
>
> other hand comes with a fixed set of procedures. Of course
> you can add on
>
> modules - at a price - but even then the range on offer is
> nowhere near as
>
> comprehensive as in Stata.
>
>
>
> That said, SPSS is a fantastic product in many ways,
> and its output
>
> capabilities are far better than Stata. But instead of
> spending development
>
> effort on annual upgrades, which are expensive and time
> consuming for many
>
> users, I'd like to see SPSS extending the Python and R
> side, and building a
>
> range of downloadable packages.
>
>
>
> Garry Gelade
>
> Business Analytic Ltd
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