I would be thankful if you can elaborate your ideas on R vs. Stata.
R is superior than SPSS and is quite similar to Stata to some extent, I think.
Ronggui
2009/7/19 Martin Weiss <[email protected]>:
>
> <>
>
>
> I have had pretty much similar experiences, although I came from "R" and not
> SPSS. Still, it is very good to see you here in this vibrant Stata
> community.
>
> Just to kill off that last point you mentioned favoring SPSS. Here is code
> that automatically converts a -log- to PDF on your windows machine. If you
> have a MAC, you can use -translate- directly, and if you do not, you simply
> install the free Miktex utilities and off you go:
>
> ***
> //to log in an additional log and have it transferred to pdf
>
> //can set -linesize-
> set linesize 120
>
> //close if open
> capt log close newlog
> di in red _rc
>
> log using mylog.smcl, name(newlog) replace
>
> sysuse auto, clear
> reg price we head gear
>
> log close newlog
>
> //translate
> translate mylog.smcl mylog.ps, replace
> //need Miktex utilities running on computer for this step
> !ps2pdf mylog.ps
> capt erase mylog.ps
> !start mylog.pdf
> ***
>
>
> HTH
> Martin
>
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] Im Auftrag von
> [email protected]
> Gesendet: Samstag, 18. Juli 2009 22:56
> An: [email protected]
> Betreff: st: Switching from SPSS to Stata
>
> Dear Statalisters,
>
> I'm working as a research analyst in public health since 1990. I've always
> used Spss for my statistical analysis (the current version I have is the
> outdated 12.1 release). I always work with the Spss syntax language, almost
> never with the GUI (maybe one or two times a year).
>
> Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to take a look at an evaluation
> copy of Stata 10. Although I'm not a statistician, it seems to me that
> Stata is a far more superior statistical software that Spss. One of the
> things I like about Stata, it's that Stata is a "complete package"
> relatively to the Spss base software (well, it's true that it is now known
> as PASW ...). In order to get with Spss what Stata offers, one has to buy
> rather expensive add-on modules. One of the features I like the most about
> Stata, is the possibility to analyse data from complex surveys (like the
> Canadian Community Health Surveys - CCHS). It's not possible to do that
> with the Spss base version. Stata also appears to me to have a much better
> online help and documentation. And, to the say the least, the Stata support
> staff is terrific.
>
> In my humble opinion, the only advantage I see in Spss over Stata is that
> the Spss output is nicer than Stata's. It's easy to edit an Spss output
> (insert a title for example) and distribute it as an PDF file to those who
> haven't Spss installed on their computer.
>
> I'm particulary interested to hear about the experience of former strong
> Spss users who decided to switch to Stata. Beside the fact Stata has much
> more statistical procedures, is more powerful, and is much less expensive
> to buy (as we don't have to purchase add-on modules to get "a complete set"
> of statistical procedures), for what reasons did you decide to do so ? I
> would be very grateful if you could give me a few reasons that could help
> me to convince the administration department here to purchase Stata instead
> of the next release of Spss (version 18.0)
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> P.S. Sincere apologies for the very bad English grammar and syntax.
>
> Yves Therriault, Ph. D.
> Agent de recherche
> Surveillance de l'état de santé de la population (Santé publique)
> Direction de la planification, des ressources informationnelles et
> financières
> Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de la Côte-Nord
> Téléphone (418) 589-9845 Poste 2312 ; Téléc. (418) 589-8574
> Courriel : [email protected]
>
>
> *
> * For searches and help try:
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> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
>
> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
--
HUANG Ronggui, Wincent
PhD Candidate
Dept of Public and Social Administration
City University of Hong Kong
Home page: http://asrr.r-forge.r-project.org/rghuang.html
*
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* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
