Computing Variables in SPSS – Overview
Computing new variables -often as means or sums over other variables- is usually done with COMPUTE. If you want to do so for only some cases but not others, use IF instead.
Some alternatives for creating new variables in SPSS are RECODE, AUTORECODE, AGGREGATE and RANK.
Computing Variables Tutorials
SPSS Missing Values Functions
Most real world data contain some (or many) missing values. It's always a good idea to inspect the amount of missingness for avoiding unpleasant surprises later on. In order to do so, SPSS has some missing values functions. This tutorial demonstrates how to use them effectively. Read More
How to Compute Means in SPSS?
How to compute means in SPSS? This tutorial demonstrates simple but solid examples - with tips, tricks and pitfalls - for computing means over both variables and cases. Read More
SPSS COMPUTE Command
SPSS COMPUTE command sets the values for numeric variables and string variables. Simple as that may seem, there's a couple of things you need to be aware of. This tutorial quickly walks you through just those. Read More
SPSS IF Command – A Quick Tutorial
In SPSS, IF is a conditional COMPUTE command. It calculates a (possibly new) variable but only for those cases that satisfy some condition(s). It's usually an easier alternative for DO IF-END IF. Read More