Computing & Information Services

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StatView

This web page is designed to help you get started using StatView, a powerful program for the computation and presentation of statistical data. StatView interfaces through a series of on-screen buttons and pop-up windows, as well as the standard pull-down menus and command key functions. A contextual help window called Hints is available, and is highly recommended for first time users. Users requiring more advanced information about the analytical tools available in StatView should consult the StatView user and reference manuals, available in the Computer User Services or t-watcher office.

What is StatView?

StatView is a data analysis program where data is first entered in a spreadsheet-like window, called the dataset window. StatView performs analyses, then presents data in a second window called the View. Document windows containing analysis tables and graphs are arranged while in View mode. These items are linked to their source data, still in tabular form. Analysis charts and graphs created in View mode can easily be cut and pasted into other Macintosh applications, or saved in a variety of formats.

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StatView Versions

Several different flavors of StatView may be encountered. The one provided on our Courses Server is 5.0.1, however, you may also find older ones floating around on lab computers. StatView comes in several versions to accomodate different types of hardware. The lab computers at Reed already have the appropriate version installed, so skip to the next section if you are in a lab. If you're installing it on your own computer, the Academic Software server has all three. Look in the Data Processing and Analysis folder, and then find the folder called StatView. Choose the best one for your computer based on the following descriptions:

  • The PPC (Power PC) version is for newer computers, like Power Macs and Performas with four-digit model numbers, which have PowerPC printed on them somewhere.
  • The FPU (Floating Point Unit) version is designed for use on Mac computers with a microchip called a math coprocessor. These include some Mac IIsi's and LC's, and all IIcx, IIci and middle-aged Macs.
  • The Non-FPU version is for computers without a math coprocessor. These tend to be older Macs. This version will actually work on any computer, although performance will be slower than the version optimized for your computer.

The version type is listed both on the application icon and on the folder holding it on the Academic Software server. To install StatView, copy the folder containing the version you believe is correct over to your own hard drive. If you try to use the wrong version, it will either warn you, or crash your computer. Trash the improper version and try a different one.

When using the hit and miss method of which StatView to use, make sure there are no other applications open. If your computer crashes, any unsaved information will be lost.

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Data Files in StatView

When you open the StatView application, it will display an informational window. Click in the middle of it to make it disappear. If this is your first time working with StatView, you will need to start a document. From the File menu, select New (Command + N). A dataset window will open, as will the Hints window, which explains everything you click on.

StatView: Data Set

Initially, the dataset window contains only two columns, the rightmost of which is an actual data column, and the leftmost of which contains the row numbers and keys for the attributes of the data column. At the very top of the column is the column name, something like Column 1 by default. Click in that cell and type a new name to change it. There are five pop-up menus of attributes in each column that can be changed by clicking on them, and control the way data is presented in the column:

  1. Type can be one of several different types of integer formats, or a currency, date, string (words and letters) or category (one entry from a predefined list of words) formats.
  2. Source can be User Entered, or a Static or Dynamic Formula. User Entered mode shows just what you enter. Selecting the Formula modes bring up a dialog window with a list in the upper left corner of columns whose cells you can take data from. In the bottom-left corner of the window are a library of functions you can use, and there are scientific keys at the bottom of the window. Double click the column name to enter it in your formula, and build functions around it. When you're done, click the Compute button. Now a given cell in your current column will have a transformed value based on the cell that is in the same row but in the specified column. The difference between Static and Dynamic, is that a Dynamic column is updated whenever you change a cell in the column your formula was based on, whereas static columns change only when the dialog window is brought up and the Compute button is clicked.
  3. Class can be Continuous, Nominal, or Informative.
  4. Format refers to the Decimal format. Scientific, Engineering, Fixed, and various "Free" formats are available. Scientific mode is good if you can't decide.
  5. Decimal places control how many characters are displayed, and accepts values from 1-9.

There is also a scroll bar to the right of the attribute menus. You can scroll down past the attributes to see some useful statistics about your data, like the standard deviation, mean, and sum of all the data in the column. The rest of the window is all data. Initially, you will have one data column with a single gray data cell at the bottom. Click in that cell and type something to get StatView to make both a second column and a second row. The gray cells will now be on the frontier of the dataset, and entering data into them will create a new row, column, or both. If you need to add a new column or row into the middle of your dataset, press the command key while clicking on the thin divider between the column names or row numbers at the edges of the dataset. You can also change the height or width of your cells by clicking and dragging the dividers.

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Data Analysis

After entering and saving your data, a statistical analysis can be made by selecting New View from the Analysis menu. The View window is accompanied by a second window, called the Variable Browser. When a new View is created, the dataset that was active when the menu item was selected is the default data source used for analysis. If you want to change the data source, click on the pop-up-menu marked Data in the Variable Browser window, where all active datasets are listed, as well as the Other option, which lets you open a saved one. Analysis is performed on your data by column. Each column in your dataset represents a variable, and each cell in that column represents a different value of that variable. You first need to know what kind of analysis you want to perform on one or more columns of data. Most of the types of analysis that StatView can perform are located in a column at the left edge of the View window, and the rest are in the Analysis menu. Many are grouped together by type, and in the View window, you can expand a category by clicking on the hollow triangle to the left of the listing. In the Analysis menu, they are grouped into submenus. You can create an analysis by double-clicking on the appropriate one in the listing, or selecting one from the menu. A window will come up asking for additional information that relates directly to that type of analysis, and how it is to be performed. Change the settings or use the default ones, and click OK.

StatView: View

At this point, no variables have been selected for analysis, so an empty box will appear in the View window. In the Variable Browser, click on the name of a column or variable that you entered into your dataset, and click the Add button. Some analysis require that multiple variables be selected before they can be performed, and if this is the case, a line of text below the empty analysis box will say so. If you add too many variables, a new analysis box will be created. When enough variables have been chosen, the empty analysis box will be replaced by a table or chart representing your data.

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Page Layout

Analyzed data is presented in a layout document. Many datasets can be presented at the same time, and they can be resized and moved. To resize an analysis, select it by clicking on the graphical portion of it, and drag one of the little black handles (boxes) that appear around it until it reaches the desired size. To move it, just click on it once and drag it to a new location. Although StatView is not a full desktop publishing program, it has a number of layout and drawing tools available as well. The Draw menu has a number of tools that can be used to draw lines or boxes anywhere in the document. The text tool is represented by an upper-case 'A' in the menu, and can also be accessed by pressing the command key while clicking in an empty space, or on a graph's title or caption. There is a Text menu with some simple formatting options that can be used to alter your text's appearance.

StatView: Draw

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Printing

When printing your graphs, make sure that there aren't any extra blank pages. StatView often inserts blank pages when you've created and deleted graphs. You will be charged for all the pages you print, so specify the range of pages you want printed when you use the Print (Command + P) command. Before printing you may want to clean up your layout by going to the Layout menu and selecting Clean Up Items.

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Saving Files

When you enter data and perform an analysis, you are creating two separate files. If you want to work with them again, save the analysis sheet first, close it, then save the dataset sheet, close it, and put them in the same location so you can find them easily. When you open an analysis sheet, it will ask if you want to open the dataset sheet it was created from. If you create a graph or chart that you want to incorporate into a page-layout, graphics, or word-processing program, there are two ways you can transfer it:

  1. When you select Save (Command + S) from the File menu, below the spot where you enter the filename, you can select the format that it gets saved in. If you choose PICT, it will be saved in a graphics format that almost any Mac program can import or open.
  2. Drag the pointer across the graph, and all of its headers and other graphics that you want to transfer, select Copy (Command + C) from the Edit menu, move to the document that you want it to appear in, click where you want it, and select Paste (Command + V) from the Edit menu.

As far as dataset compatibility with other spreadsheet programs goes, StatView can open and save datasets in Excel 4.0 and Text formats.

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More Help

If you need more help, email the folks down in CUS or give us a call at x7525. There may be some books in the CUS office you can read. There is also a class that is held occasionally - ask CUS for more information.

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