Using SAMHDA
- Overview
- Terms, formats, and statistical vocabulary
- Searching and finding the data you need
- Accessing data
- Downloading data
- Analyzing data using statistical software
- Online data analysis using SDA
- Producing Quick Tables
- More information
Analyzing data using statistical software
As mentioned above, statistical software is necessary to define, manipulate, and extract variables and records within data files. Furthermore, interpretation and analysis of the data require at least basic statistical skills.
Many of the SAMHDA studies now have software-specific data files. SAMHDA currently provides software-specific data files for SAS (transport files), SPSS (portable or system files), and Stata (system files). There are also SAS and Stata supplemental syntax files, which are used to apply values labels (SAS) or to apply the missing value recodes (SAS and Stata).
All SAMHDA studies include ASCII data files and setup files, which allow the user to read ASCII data files into statistical software packages. SAMHDA currently provides setup files for SAS, SPSS, and Stata, three of the more commonly used analytical software packages for the social sciences.
SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files and software specific data files can be used either with the procedural version of these packages or with their Windows counterpart. The following instructions explain the different components of SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files. Setup files for certain collections may not contain all of the commands listed below.
- Examples of Setup Files
- How to Use Setup Files to Read ASCII Data
Here are video tutorials on how to download and open data files.
Previous Page: Downloading data
Next Page: Online data analysis using SDA
