Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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G
eneral
S
tatiStical
P
ack aGeS
c
omPariSonS
Stata is a general-purpose statistical program that has some unique
features not found in other such general packages. Two other popu-
lar general-purpose statistical packages are SAS (Statistical Analysis
System) and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Each
of these has its strengths and weaknesses. SAS probably has the great-
est user base among agricultural researchers. It is a command-line
program that has a GUI (graphical user interface), but it is only avail-
able as an add-on. SAS does not maintain the same level of versions
across operating systems. So, for example, the latest version available
for Windows
®
is 9.3, while for the Macintosh
®
it is 6.12, which is not
supported in the current Macintosh operating system, and, since I use
a Macintosh, well, you get the picture.
SPSS is a statistical package that began life as Statistical
Programming for the Social Sciences. Obviously, with such a back-
ground, its strong suit is in the social sciences. SPSS, like SAS, does
not maintain the same versions across operating systems. The latest
available of SPSS uses a GUI exclusively unless you acquire the plug-
in for programming.
SAS and SPSS are modular programs with capabilities split over
several different modules. This means that certain capabilities may
not be available unless you purchase or acquire the necessary module.
For a more in-depth examination of all of these general-purpose sta-
tistical packages, there are many reviews available online.
Stata takes a much simpler approach to statistical analyses with a
single program interface. It, too, like SAS and SPSS, has many parts,
but they remain largely unseen by the user. The user does not have to
load different modules or pay for additional modules to do specific
tasks. Stata does add additional commands, which are available as
official updates. There are user-written commands available as well.
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