© 2014 IBM Corporation

The risks of using spreadsheetsfor statistical analysis

What you’ll learn

Applications of spreadsheets

Limitations of spreadsheets

How to overcome these issues with IBM SPSS Statistics

Next steps

Why use spreadsheets?

Familiarity and ease of use

Simple to get an answer out of a spreadsheet

Easy to share with others

Low cost

Business uses for spreadsheets

Financial and cost accounting– Balance sheets– Profit and loss accounts– Cash Books

Data collection and analysis– Analyze survey results– Present results to others in tabular or

visual format

Mathematics– Calculate trigonometric and

logarithmic functions– Standard deviations, averages,

means, and more

Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in most organizations, especially for certain tasks.

Spreadsheets are prone to errors

P. Brown, J. Gould. An experimental study of people creating spreadsheets, ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems 5

– 17 errors in one spreadsheet– 94% of deployed spreadsheets contained errors– Average: 5.2% of cells were in error

Philip Howard, Managing Spreadsheet fraud– According to PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG– 90% of corporate spreadsheets have material errors– Cost: $10-$100K per error per month

Computational Statistics and Data Analysis– Ran standardized tests for accuracy in Excel

and concludes it is inadequate for substantivestatistical analysis

– Flaw was clearly in Excel’s algorithms

Spreadsheets can be frustrating

“… On average, people spend about 12 hours per month consolidating, modifying and correcting spreadsheets. That’s about a day and a half per month – or about 5 to 10 percent of their time.”

-- Ventana Research, Spreadsheets in Today’s Enterprise: Making Intelligent Use of a Core Technology, 2013

Causes of spreadsheet errors

Mistakes in logic Incorrectly copied formulasAccidentally overwritten formulasMisuse of built-in functionsOmitted factorsData input errorsSorting numbersCell orientationAdding new data

There are many reasons your spreadsheet can fail you.

Limitations of spreadsheets for analysis

Limited formulasLack of metadataNo data validation capabilitiesAbsence of data preparation

and data manipulationFew analytical techniquesNo automated reporting Inability to project the future

But what is the alternative…?

IBM® SPSS® Statistics for analysis and reporting

Advantages of IBM SPSS Statistics

Prevent errorsFollow the analytical processAccess data from multiple data sourcesProcess raw dataApply advanced analytical techniquesExport results to multiple formatsAutomate time-consuming manual processes

4.

Supports the entire analytical lifecycle

Planning

Data Collection

1. Data Access

2.Data Preparation &

Cleansing

Data Manipulation 3.

Deployment 5.& Automation

Data Analysis & Reporting

Improves data access

Survey data Email data Corporate databasesWeb site data IBM Cognos dataAnd more…

IBM SPSS Statistics……

Streamlines data preparation

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Assign detailed labels to your variable names.

Assign code to categories (1=Male,2= Female).Specify which values are missing. Select specific individuals for

analysis.Create rules to validate data and

catch data entry errors.plicate IDs.

IBM SPSS Statistics automates the time-consuming task of getting your data ready for analysis. techniques to help you ensure your data is ready for

Eliminate the need to label all data.

Make sure your data is clear andproperly organized for analysis.

Find duplicate cases automatically.

Simplifies data manipulation

Actions are driven by drag-and-drop dialog boxes.

It’s easy to create new variables..

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IBM SPSS Statistics looks like a spreadsheet, but behaves very differently.

Wizards simplify calculations with dates and times. Organize data into

categories, such as age groups, for more insightful analysis.

Produces more accurate data analysis

Go beyond summary statistics and row-and-column math.

Design your own reports andgraphs using drag and dropfunctions.

Edit output after you create it.Uncover hidden patterns in your

data that can provide new insights.

With IBM SPSS Statistics, data analysis is simple and intuitive.

Provides flexible deployment options

Deploy SPSS Statisticsoutput to smart devices.

Export to Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF.

Save your code for easyreuse.

Create recurring reports faster and more efficiently.

Key takeaways

Spreadsheets are widelyused for data analysis.But more than 90% of

spreadsheets contain at leastone error.IBM SPSS Statistics can

help you overcome commonerrors, increasing the accuracy of your analytical results.

© 2014 IBMM Corporation

Next steps:Read the white paper: The Risks of Using Spreadsheets

Visit our website: www.ibm.com/spss

Talk to a representative: 800-543-2185