Book Image

Data Analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics

By : Ken Stehlik-Barry, Anthony Babinec
Book Image

Data Analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics

By: Ken Stehlik-Barry, Anthony Babinec

Overview of this book

SPSS Statistics is a software package used for logical batched and non-batched statistical analysis. Analytical tools such as SPSS can readily provide even a novice user with an overwhelming amount of information and a broad range of options for analyzing patterns in the data. The journey starts with installing and configuring SPSS Statistics for first use and exploring the data to understand its potential (as well as its limitations). Use the right statistical analysis technique such as regression, classification and more, and analyze your data in the best possible manner. Work with graphs and charts to visualize your findings. With this information in hand, the discovery of patterns within the data can be undertaken. Finally, the high level objective of developing predictive models that can be applied to other situations will be addressed. By the end of this book, you will have a firm understanding of the various statistical analysis techniques offered by SPSS Statistics, and be able to master its use for data analysis with ease.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
4
Dealing with Missing Data and Outliers
10
Crosstabulation Patterns for Categorical Data

Clustering

Cluster analysis is a family of classification techniques for finding groups in data when both the number of groups, and which object falls in which group, are not observed at the start. The object is typically a case (data row), although it can be a variable. This makes cluster analysis a type of unsupervised learning, meaning that the data consists of inputs with no target variable. Since you are not aiming to predict or explain a target variable, you cannot turn to measures of model performance used in predictive modeling, such as classification accuracy or percent of variance explained.

Some researchers have contended that the idea of a cluster is ill-defined. However, most sources suggest that clusters are groupings of objects that can be understood in terms of internal cohesion (homogeneity) and external separation. Cluster analysis has been used in market research...