In my last blog I wrote about why you’re always going to be better off buying SPSS from an IBM partner such as Smart Vision than from IBM itself (and why IBM is perfectly happy with that arrangement!). However there may be some situations where IBM should still be your first port of call. In …
Where to go for help, support and advice on SPSS products Read More »
IBM have released the latest version of SPSS Statistics. Version 30 includes new statistical procedures as well as a few additional functional improvements. Bland-Altman Analysis Bland-Altman analysis is a method used to compare two different measurement techniques or instruments. In particular it helps researchers to assess the level of agreement between them by visualizing the …
If you want to buy SPSS and you know that it’s developed by IBM then you might think (not unreasonably!) that IBM should be your first port of call. However, unless you’re planning a massive investment in SPSS along with a whole range of other IBM products, IBM will then direct you to a specialist …
When budgets and time are both limited it can be hard to justify investing in training, particularly training for things you’re already using. However, investing time and money in exchange for the right training generally pays for itself (both financially and in terms of time saved) through attendees gaining additional skills which allow for more efficient and accurate work.
Smart Vision Europe has a decades long track record of working with the IBM SPSS software suite. Over this time, we have worked with many clients across a range of industry sectors and with diverse use cases and requirements. There is one remarkably consistent use case application. We see it time and again. Hundreds of …
NHS Trusts (and their predecessors) have always been some of the most loyal and regular users of IBM SPSS Statistics since its launch in 1968. Back in 1968 the process for buying SPSS was straightforward but as time has gone on the product itself has become much more sophisticated and the options for how to …
For more than a decade we have been helping social housing providers gain insight and understanding into how their tenants think they are performing by helping make it easier for them to analyse both their primary research data (usually collected from tenant satisfaction surveys) and other operational data. The matching and joining of tenant research …
How SPSS can make tenant satisfaction surveys easier for social housing providers Read More »
The volume and nature of the data that most organisations hold these days mean that the analytical possibilities are great. Organisations are constantly seeking ways to extract valuable insights from their data to gain a competitive edge, using advanced analytics to help them make data driven decisions. However, as with everything, it’s really important to …
Why SPSS is a much better choice than Excel for data analytics Read More »
While data science and machine learning are related, they are very different fields. In a nutshell, data science brings structure to big data while machine learning focuses on learning from the data itself. This post will dive deeper into the nuances of each field. What is data science? Data science is a broad, multidisciplinary field that extracts value from today’s …
What is the difference between data science and machine learning? Read More »
In this four-part blog series, we’re going to take a look at working with R in SPSS. We’ll begin by exploring the basics of running R procedures in SPSS syntax and end up showing you how to create your own SPSS custom dialogs based on R code. We’re able to run R code in SPSS …
In the previous blog post, we looked at the basics of running R procedures in SPSS syntax. In this post, we’re going to explore how to work with R packages. Packages are collections of functions and pre-built compiled code that enable R users to carry out a vast range of analytical and data manipulation tasks. …
Working with R in SPSS Part 2 – Working with R Packages Read More »
Previously, we explored how to install and load an R package to generate correlograms by executing R code within SPSS syntax. In this post, we’re going to look at how we can build a custom dialog in SPSS Statistics that encapsulates much of our previously created code and allows us to share the procedure with …
Working with R in SPSS Part 3 – Creating Custom Dialogs Read More »
In the previous blog post, we created a basic custom dialog using R code in SPSS Statistics that allowed us to generate a visual representation of a correlation matrix i.e., a correlogram. In this final posting, we will see how to add a number of additional elements that control the styling and appearance of the …
Working with R in SPSS Part 4 – Adding options to Custom Dialogs Read More »
PS Imago Pro is a result of the mature and long established IBM SPSS Partner Ecosystem. IBM encourages its partners to use their skills and expertise to develop additional functions and features that further enhance the core SPSS product that IBM offers, without diluting any of the existing functionality of that core product.
Here are a list of some of the most common data cleaning problems that you are likely to encounter and which SPSS procedures help to resolve them.
Data and analytics are becoming ever more central to businesses and their operations. The growth of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning means that advanced analytics plays an ever-growing role in traditionally data-heavy businesses, from retail and heathcare to finance and ecommerce. How is this likely to develop further in 2023? In this blog …
Key analytics trends for 2023 and how they will affect your business Read More »
IBM SPSS Statistics provides a powerful suite of data analytics tools which allows you to quickly analyze your data with a simple point-and-click interface and enables you to extract critical insights with ease. During these times of rapid change that demand agility, it is imperative to embrace data driven decision-making to improve business outcomes. Organisations …
Resources to help you accelerate your data analysis with SPSS Read More »
With v29 of IBM SPSS Statistics just released, should you consider an upgrade if you are running an unsupported version of SPSS? In terms of eagerness to upgrade, our customers fall in to a few categories: Some will upgrade as soon as they feasibly can – either due to IT policy or because they would …
In September this year, IBM released the latest version of SPSS Statistics. Version 29 introduces some new analysis procedures and includes more recent versions of R and Python Parametric Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) Models Version 29 brings a new addition to the SPSS family of Survival analysis procedures. Unlike the existing Life Tables, Kaplan-Meier and …
How to turn insights into action One of the challenges that organisations most commonly face when conducting data science and advanced analytics projects is how to take the findings of their analysis and use them to generate value for the business. In short, how to turn insights into action. It’s not unusual for such projects …
How can you best turn your data science insights into action? Read More »
Lorna – Can you start just by telling me a little bit about your background and how you came to be where you are now in your career? Bethan – I started out doing a maths degree at Lancaster University. And then I did a master’s in operational research, which was data science really, just …
Expert insights: Bethan Blakeley, Analytics Director, Boxclever Read More »
Smart Vision Europe recently announced an exciting new partnership with DataRobot, a rapidly rising player in the data science market with ambitions to be the de-facto leader of cloud-based AI for all. Over the past few months, I’ve been playing around with the platform, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with what I …
Cloud AI at the cutting edge: taking DataRobot for a spin Read More »
At Smart Vision Europe we have many years of experience helping our customers successfully get started with applying and getting value from data science, AI and machine learning. We have set up and delivered numerous successful data science programmes across a range of industries as well as in the public sector. Under the collective banner …
Announcing Smart Vision’s new business partner relationship with Data Robot Read More »
IBM has just announced the general availability of IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0.1. This modification release introduces new statistical tests, enhancements to existing procedures and functional enhancements that will improve everyday usability. In this blog post we outline some of the new features and functionality. New statistical procedures and algorithm enhancements Kernel Ridge Regression As part …
SPSS Modeler is a robust data science software for professional analysts and data scientists. The software scales from supporting line-of-business predictive analysis to enterprise-scale implementation.Consisting of IBM SPSS Modeler Desktop 18.3 and IBM SPSS Modeler Server 18.3, SPSS Modeler delivers a robust predictive analytics solution for a holistic approach to predictive analytics. It brings predictive intelligence to decisions made by individuals, …
In my most recent blog post I wrote about the benefits and opportunities that cloud computing brings to data science projects and reciprocally, how data science projects provide a great way to demonstrate the value of cloud computing. In this post I want to discuss the cloud computing skills challenge and provide some advice on …
What skills are needed to successfully run data science projects in the cloud? Read More »
IBM is about to release the latest version of SPSS Statistics. Here’s a summary of some of the new enhancements that existing users can look forward to. Meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a well-established analytical approach that combines the results from a range of studies with a view to estimating the effect size of the treatment in question. …
What is unstructured data? The data you have access to within your organisation can be broadly sorted into two categories: structured and unstructured. Structured data is quantitative data that can be organised into a format that can neatly be fitted into the fields and columns of relational databases or spreadsheets. Examples might include things like …
Using text analytics to get value from unstructured data Read More »
We are living through a golden age of technological innovation and revolution. Whether it’s the blending of real time data, technical software and hardware instrumentation to deliver efficient, user friendly and zero carbon buildings or the combination of data, artificial intelligence algorithms and automotive technology to enable semi-autonomous vehicles, we are witnessing rapid expansion of …
Why data science presents the best use cases for cloud computing Read More »
How COVID-19 is changing the nature of advanced analytics We’re over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic now and it seems that everyone is an amateur statistics expert. Concepts like the R number, exponential growth and, most recently, probability and assessment of risk that used to be really only for discussion amongst epidemiologists and statisticians …
How COVID-19 is changing the nature of advanced analytics Read More »
One of the wonderful things about IBM SPSS Statistics is its ubiquity. I realise that it is not a household name in the way that big consumer brands are, but if you have ever had the need to analyse data, either professionally, in an academic context or in the public realm, the chances are that …
5 reasons why an SPSS subscription makes data science more accessible Read More »
How can a data scientist access training in 2021? 3 trends things to look out for… I have been involved in the delivery and implementation of data science software applications, data science projects and solutions that have advanced and predictive analytics at their core, in one form or another, for almost 30 years. Of course, …
How can a data scientist access training in 2021? 3 trends things to look out for… Read More »
Lorna: Can you just start off by telling me a little bit about yourself, what your background is and how you came to be where you are now? Diana: I’m a psychologist. I did psychology A-Level. That’s where it all started. Then I did an undergraduate course in psychology in London. With psychology, it’s 50% …
A fascinating recent report by MIT Sloan in collaboration with BCG has confirmed what many industry insiders have known for years: only a small minority of companies manage to make their initial AI projects succeed. Based on global survey of more than 3,000 managers and scholars in 29 industries, the report’s authors discovered that only …
In this series of ‘eat your greens‘ posts looking at core statistical concepts in more detail, we have looked closely at what a test of statistical significance actually is. In particular, we have focused on how to interpret the statistical probability value that various tests generate. This value, often labelled ‘P=’, ‘Prob’ or ‘Sig.’ in …
IBM have released a new update to SPSS v27. Interestingly, this is a ‘dot’ release that contains a number of useful functional improvements rather than the usual bug fixes or third-party compatibility enhancements. The new procedures include three additional statistical tests for comparing differences in proportions. These procedures were introduced as syntax only commands in …
A worked example of a classic inferential statistical procedure: the independent samples t-test.
This is the latest in our ‘eat your greens’ series – a back to basics look at core statistical concepts that are often misunderstood or misapplied. In everyday speech the term ‘correlation’ refers to a mutual connection or relationship between two things. In statistics correlations are specific measures or values that attempt to quantify the …
Spreadsheets have been much in the news over the last couple of days in the UK, and not for good reasons. It looks as though Excel’s limit on the number of rows of data possible in a spreadsheet has led to Public Health England misplacing more than 16,000 Covid test results. The implications of this …
This is the fifth post in our ‘eat your greens’ series – a back to basics look at some of the core concepts of statistics and analytics that, in our experience, are frequently misunderstood or misapplied. In this post we’ll look in more depth at the concept of the standard error and confidence intervals. In …
The gateway to inference – the standard error and confidence intervals Read More »
This is the fourth post in our ‘eat your greens’ series – a back to basics look at some of the core concepts of statistics and analytics that, in our experience, are frequently misunderstood or misapplied. In this post we’ll look in more depth at the concept of the normal distribution. One of the first …
None of us can have failed to notice the recent debacle over Ofqual’s (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) use of an algorithm to predict pupil grades. Once again, ‘algorithm fever’ has generated a flurry of news articles questioning whether we are sleepwalking into a dystopian future where human expert decision-making is replaced with …
This is the third post in our ‘eat your greens’ series – a back to basics look at some of the core concepts of statistics and analytics that, in our experience, are frequently misunderstood or misapplied. In this post we’ll look in more depth at the concept of the standard distribution. I’m often struck by …
This is the second post in our ‘eat your greens’ series – a back to basics look at some of the core concepts of statistics and analytics that, in our experience, are frequently misunderstood or misapplied. In this post we’ll look in more depth at the concept of testing versus inferring. One of most daunting …
What do we mean when we say something is statistically significant? A guide to one of the most misused concepts in statistics.
In June of this year, IBM released the latest version of SPSS Statistics. Version 27 introduces several additional analysis procedures as well as new system enhancements. In this report we take a tour of some of the most valuable improvements that have been made. There’s a video of this tour here as well. Bootstrapping and …
PS Imago Pro is a statistical analysis and reporting solution based on IBM SPSS Statistics. Indeed, apart from the inclusion of an additional menu, users of SPSS Statistics may find that the data analysis module of PS Imago Pro looks almost identical to its SPSS counterpart. However, as Figure 1 shows, this additional menu contains …
Lorna: Could you start just by talking a little bit about your own background and how you’ve come to be working with data? Mark: I suppose my background’s different from a lot of people who do this kind of work. They often come from a maths, stats or science background, but I didn’t do A-level …
Expert insight – Mark Langer Crame, Senior Data Intelligence Team Lead, Jisc Read More »
You may have noticed that many media outlets are illustrating the tragic course of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by employing charts with log scales. These log values refer of course to the mathematical concept of logarithms. This is something that most of us learn about in school when we are taught that a logarithm is …
IBM SPSS Modeler supports Python scripting using Jython, a Java[tm] implementation of the Python language. Modeler versions 16 and 17 use Jython 2.5.1 which includes a number of useful and popular modules. However, many other modules are available and customers often want to use their own so a frequent question is how to include them. There …
Adding New Modules To Jython Scripting In IBM SPSS Modeler Read More »
