Research Guides: SPSS: Finding & Using Data

Where to Find Existing SPSS Datasets?

Many data repositories, particularly in the social sciences, may collect and share data in SPSS formats. If you'd like to try some analytic practice on some curated datasets, check repositories such as

Dryad This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore and discover curated research data in this multidisciplinary repository.
Content type: Data sets
Language: English

Figshare
Figshare is a multi-disciplinary data repository that makes it easy to search for and cite datasets.

ICPSR Data Archive This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access data in various downloadable formats from a broad range of social science fields.
Content type: Data
Special Note: Some content requires an individual user account.
Language: English
Keywords: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

Importing Data

SPSS allows you to import data from other formats, such as statistical packages like SAS and Stata, and directly from spreadsheets in either CSV or Excel file.

You will want to use the Edit>Import Data function (and not Open) when you are bringing in a different file format so SPSS knows how to interpret the data correctly.