R and SPSS difference

user_213334 0
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I will be analysing vast amount of network traffic related data shortly, and will pre-process the data in order to analyse it. I have found that R and SPSS are among the most popular tools for statistical analysis. I will also be generating quite a lot of graphs and charts. Therefore, I was wondering what is the basic difference between these two softwares.

I am not asking which one is better, but just wanted to know what are the difference in terms of workflow between the two (besides the fact that SPSS has a GUI). I will be mostly working with scripts in either case anyway so I wanted to know about the other differences.

spss data-analysis statistics r
12 Answers

SPSS provides a GUI to easily integrate existing R programs or develop new ones. For more info, see the SPSS Community on IBM Developer Works.

user_30328180

@Henrik, I did the same task you have mentioned (C++ and R) on SPSS. And it turned out that SPSS is faster compared to R on this one. In my case SPSS is aprox. 7 times faster. I am surprised about it.

Here is a code I used in SPSS.

data list free
 /x (f8.3).
begin data
1
end data.

comp n = 1e6.

comp t1 = $time.

loop #rep = 1 to 10.
comp x = 1.
loop #i=1 to n.
comp x = 1/(1+x).
end loop.
end loop.

comp t2 = $time.

comp elipsed = t2 - t1.

form elipsed (f8.2).

exe.
user_5778570

The truth is: both packages are useful if you do data analysis professionally. Sure, R / RStudio has more statistical methods implemented than SPSS. But SPSS is much easier to use and gives more information per each button click. And, therefore, it is faster to exploit whenever a particular analysis is implemented in both R and SPSS.

In the modern age, neither CPU nor memory is the most valuable resource. Researcher's time is the most valuable resource. Also, tables in SPSS are more visually pleasing, in my opinion.

In summary, R and SPSS complement each other well.

user_101948700
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