Preparing ICPSR data for use with SPSS

When you have located the data you want on the ICPSR web site and click the "Download" link, you will get the following screen:

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You should download both the data file and the SPSS command file by right-clicking on "Data" and "SPSS command file" and choosing the option "Save Target as". You can obtain the codebook in the same way. You will get a dialog box asking you where you want to save the files. Do not click on "Downloads" as this will open up a zip file.

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You should download the data file as a text file, for example, "da####.txt". Download the SPSS command file as SPSS syntax by naming it "sp####.sps" in the file name portion of the dialog box. You must make sure the command file has an .sps extension, or SPSS will not recognize it when you try to use it to load the data.

You are now ready to enter the data into SPSS. After starting SPSS, go into the "File" menu at the upper left hand of the window. Select "Open", then "Syntax". An "Open file" dialog box will appear. Select the "sp####.sps" file you downloaded and open it. This will activate the SPSS Syntax window, with the command file loaded:

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Find the "DATA LIST FILE=" command line. Enter the location and name of your data file ("da####.txt"). Scroll to the bottom of the command file. To save the data as a SPSS file, type a command line reading "SAVE OUTFILE=" and enter the location and name you want the file saved under. Give the file name an .sav extension ("da####.sav"). Add the "EXECUTE" command as the final line:

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At the top of the SPSS syntax window, select the "Run" menu, then click on "All". This should read read your data into SPSS and save it as an SPSS data file (.sav file). Everything should now be ready for analysis.

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