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[pathanalysis]

Hi, especially you social scientists,

Has anyone here bought a home copy of SPSS for personal use? If so, how much did it cost you? Did you run into any IRB issues having deidentified subject data on a password locked personal computer?

Thanks!

[locutus]

I looked into a while back, it was expensive enough that I just got MATLAB ($100). Though if you only know SPSS MATLAB will take a little learning. Have you looked into what sort of deals your school has? I know this varies from place to place, but you might be able to get a good deal.

[higherandhigher]

The student edition of SPSS costs about $200.
http://www.spss.com/vertical_markets/education/online.htm

As for IRB issues, depending on the nature of the data collection, you should encrypt the data or the entire harddrive (not just a user password).

[tee_bee]

I think my uni's license is for home or office use--no big deal whether at home, on personal machine.

The IRB issues are important. I'd indicate that the computer is password protected (perhaps at the boot up and OS levels). Mention any security at home as well (like you lock the laptop, if that's what you use, in a locking cabinet).

[dismal_sci]

Our university provides it for home use for around $75.

[pathanalysis]

I think my uni's license is for home or office use--no big deal whether at home, on personal machine.

Hmm... I don't think we get licenses by person here, but rather by lab/office. I wish it was the former!

Thanks for the suggestions!

[sprinkles]

I would definitely ask the IT person in your department to see if you could get SPSS from them since it usually does not matter if its a home/office machine. If that doesn't work then I would look into whether your university has a discounted software licensing and distribution program. SPSS/PASW (and other common programs) are typically offered through these programs at good prices (My school is $50/ for the base program and 50/ for additional modules). If you're not aware of your school's software program try asking around or googling your university name and software and see if anything comes up.

[prof_smartypants]

I purchased a student version from my uni's computer shop for about $175.
I had a crappy internet connection at home, so the way I had been accessing it (via remote desktop) wasn't working, and I wanted to be able to do all my dissertation analysis at home without the fear of losing all my work.

As for IRB issues, no. As long as the data is protected you should be OK. If you are concerned about this, create a new dataset without the identifying information and only bring that home. If you are REALLY concerned about it, ask your IRB folks.

[tee_bee]

I purchased a student version from my uni's computer shop for about $175.
I had a crappy internet connection at home, so the way I had been accessing it (via remote desktop) wasn't working, and I wanted to be able to do all my dissertation analysis at home without the fear of losing all my work.

As for IRB issues, no. As long as the data is protected you should be OK. If you are concerned about this, create a new dataset without the identifying information and only bring that home. If you are REALLY concerned about it, ask your IRB folks.

Ask your IRB folks only if you think they are helpful. My old uni's IRB was the research police--because they had only a slight familiarity with the very idea of research, they felt free to criticize everything from research question to method to the font in which consent forms were set. Many--not most, but many--IRBs have a disturbingly large number of professional busybodies who think they are better researchers than those whose work they review, yet they have no record to substantiate the claim. Am I still bitter? You bet I am.

Irony: when the IRB hired a competent lawyer (a lawyer!) they became less of a pain in the a$$. She told me that over half the stuff they reviewed could be dealt with administratively. Bottom line: unless you know your IRB well, never, ever ask them for guidance--they are not there to offer advice, they exist to promote compliance for its own sake, and will make your life a living hell forever.

[prof_smartypants]

Yeah, I agree with tee_bee on this - that's why I said, only if you're REALLY concerned. Otherwise, don't freaking mention it.

[runwithscissors]

You might want to consider getting PSPP instead of SPSS. Its a fully compatible open source alternative to SPSS that has a lot of the same features, though admittedly not all of them. I used it for a while when my SPSS licence ran out and honestly there isn't much difference in functionality.

[hiznik]

You could also consider a completely different software solution.  If you can use GoToMyPC (my university site license is about $130 a year, I think), you can log onto your work computer from your home computer and happily run SPSS or anything else on your work computer while sitting in your jammies in front of the TV. This also means you have access from home to any file on your work computer.