Delete variables based on the number of observations - spss

I have an SPSS file that contains about 1000 variables and I have to delete the ones having 0 valid values. I can think of a loop with an if statement but I can't find how to write it.

The simplest way would be to use the spssaux2.FindEmptyVars Python function like this:
begin program.
import spssaux2
spssaux2.FindEmptyVars(delete=True)
end program.
If you don't already have the spssaux2 module installed, you would need to get it from the SPSS Community website or the IBM Predictive Analytics site and save it in the python\lib\site-packages directory under your Statistics installation.
Otherwise, the VALIDATEDATA command, if you have it, will identify the variables violating such rules as maximum percentage of missing values, but you would have to turn that output into a DELETE VARIABLES command. You could also look for variables with zero missing values using, say, DESCRIPTIVES and select out the ones with N=0.

If you've never worked with python in SPSS, here's a way to get the job done without it (not as elegant, but should do the job):
This will count the valid cases in each variable, and select only those that have 0 valid cases. Then you'll manually copy the names of these variables into a syntax command that will delete them.
DATASET NAME Orig.
DATASET DECLARE VARLIST.
AGGREGATE /OUTFILE='VARLIST'/BREAK=
/**list_all_the_variable_names_here = NU(*FirstVarName to *LastVarName).
DATASET ACTIVATE VARLIST.
VARSTOCASES /MAKE NumValid FROM *FirstVarName to *LastVarName/INDEX=VarName(NumValid).
SELECT IF NumValid=0.
EXECUTE.
Pause here to copy the remaining names in the list and complete the syntax, then continue:
DATASET ACTIVATE Orig.
DELETE VARIABLES *paste_here_all_the_remaining_variable_names_from_varlist .
Notes:
* I put stars where you have to replace my text with your variable names.
** If the variables are neatly named like Q1, Q2, Q3 .... Q1000, you can use the "FirstVarName to LastVarName" form (Q1 to Q1000) instead of listing all the variable names.
BTW it is of course possible to do this completely automatically without manually copying those names (using only syntax, no Python), but the added complexity is not worth bothering with for a single use...

Related

Can I search through and compare commonly named variables in SPSS?

I have a list of about 30 variables, all named something like test_1, test_2, test_3, etc. I need to check if the values are all the same, and typically do so by exporting to excel and using an if statement comparing the min value to the max (i.e. if the min=max then all the values are the same).
Is there a way I can do this right in SPSS without having to export? It seems inefficient to compare if test_1=test_2 and test_2=test_3 etc.
This is sort of a hack, but it get's the job done: can calculate the standard deviation of all your variables:
compute sd_test=SD(test_1, test_2, ..., test_n).
EXECUTE.
sd_test=0 for records where all test_i variables are equal.

Question about SPSS modeler (There is an obstacle for make the stream run automatically)

I have SPSSmodeler stream which is now used and updated every week constantly to generate a certain dataset. A raw data for this stream is also renewed on a weekly basis.
In part of this stream, there is a chunk of nodes that were necessary to modify and update manually every week, and the sequence of this part is below: Type Node => Restructure Node => Aggregate Node
To simplify the explanation of those nodes' role, I drew an image of them as bellow.
Because the original raw data is changed weekly basis, the range of Unit value above is always varied, sometimes more than 6 (maybe 100) others less than 6 (maybe 3). That is why somebody has to modify there and update those chunk of nodes on a weekly basis until now. *Unit value has a certain limitation (300 for now)
However, now we are aiming to run this stream automatically without touching any human operations on it that we need to customize there to work perfectly, automatically. Please help and will appreciate your efforts, thanks!
In order to automatize, I suggest to try to use global nodes combined with clem scripts inside the execution (default script). I have a stream that calculates the first date and the last date and those variables are used to rename files at the end of execution. I think you could use something similar as explained here:
1) Create derive nodes to bring the unit values used in the weekly stream
2) Save this information in a table named 'count_variable'
3) Use a Global node named Global with a query similar to this:
#GLOBAL_MAX(variable created in (2)) (only to record the number of variables. The step 2 created a table with only 1 values, so the GLOBAL_MAX will only bring the number of variables).
4) The query inside the execution tab will be similar to this:
execute count_variable
var tabledata
var fn
set tabledata = count_variable.output
set count_variable = value tabledata at 1 1
execute Global
5) You now can use the information of variables just using the already creatde "count_variable"
It's not easy to explain just by typing, but I hope to have been helpful.
Please mark as +1 in this answer if it was relevant one.
I think there is a better, simpler and more effective (yet risky, due to node's requirements to input data) solution to your problem. It is called Transpose node and does exactly that - pivot your table. But just from version 18.1 on. Here's an example:
https://developer.ibm.com/answers/questions/389161/how-does-new-feature-partial-transpose-work-in-sps/

Using a variable in a conditional sentence

I want to save a value in a variable and then use it in a conditional sentence. To clarify this I'll give you a simpler example: Imagine that I have a database with the kind of animal(dogs and cats),their age(1 or 2) and their weight. I want to do the following conditional:
IF( animal=dog & age=1 & weight>= percentile75 ) Wdogs=1.
EXECUTE.
IF( animal=dog & age=1 & weight<percentile75) Wdogs=0.
EXECUTE
I want to calculate percentile75 automatically and save in a variable so I can use the code in any database I have. Also I want to rewrite the variables if I change the database and execute the code. Is there a way to do this?
Thanks a lot
You can use RANK in order to divide the weights into n groups. The command creates a new rank variable which you can then use in your conditionals.
For the ranking to be done separately in each relevant sub-group, use the BY sub-command.
In your example, each animal/weight subgroup will be ranked separately into weight quartiles, and the subsequent command will use the new variable:
RANK VARIABLES=weight (A) BY animal weight/NTILES(4).
IF(animal=dog & age=1 & Nweight=4) Wdogs=1.
IF(animal=dog & age=1 & Nweight<=3) Wdogs=0.
EXECUTE.
You can save a line of syntax by using (instead of the two if commands):
IF(animal=dog & age=1) Wdogs=(Nweight=4).
First thing mate is lose those EXECUTE commands (They are unnecessary and betray you as a noob point and clicker with default options). From other posts I discern you need to do that with multiple variables. Simplify your life by boning up on VARSTOCASES, maintain the current RANK with BY and put a f'ing Shrimp (or a PRAWN) on the Barbie Queue.

How do you include categories with 0 responses in SPSS frequency output?

Is there a way to display response options that have 0 responses in SPSS frequency output? The default is for SPSS to omit in the frequency table output any response option that is not selected by at least a single respondent. I looked for a syntax-driven option to no avail. Thank you in advance for any assistance!
It doesn't show because there is no one single case in the data is with that attribute. So, by forcing a row of zero you'll need to realize we're asking SPSS to do something incorrect.
Having said that, you can introduce a fake case with the missing category. E.g. if you have Orange, Apple, and Pear, but no one answered they like Pear, the add one fake case that says Pear.
Now, make a new weight variable that consists of only 1. But for the Pear case, make it very very small like 0.00001. Then, go to Data > Weight Cases > Weight cases by and put that new weight variable over. Click OK to apply. Now what happens is that SPSS will treat the "1" with a weight of 1 and the fake case with a weight that is 1/10000 of a normal case. If you rerun the frequency you should see the one with zero count shows up.
If you have purchased the Custom Table module you can also do that directly as well, as far as I can tell from their technical document. That module costs 637 to 3630 depending on license type, so probably only worth a try if your institute has it.
So, I'm a noob with SPSS, I (shame on me) have a cracked version of SPSS 22 and if I understood your question correctly, this is my solution:
double click the Frequency table in Output
right click table, select Table Properties
go to General and then uncheck the Hide empty rows and columns option
Hope this helps someone!
If your SPSS version has no Custom Tables installed and you haven't collected money for that module yet then use the following (run this syntax):
*Note: please use variable names up to 8 characters long.
set mxloops 1000. /*in case your list of values is longer than 40
matrix.
get vars /vari= V1 V2 /names= names /miss= omit. /*V1 V2 here is your categorical variable(s)
comp vals= {1,2,3,4,5,99}. /*let this be the list of possible values shared by the variables
comp freq= make(ncol(vals),ncol(vars),0).
loop i= 1 to ncol(vals).
comp freq(i,:)= csum(vars=vals(i)).
end loop.
comp names= {'vals',names}.
print {t(vals),freq} /cnames= names /title 'Frequency'. /*here you are - the frequencies
print {t(vals),freq/nrow(vars)*100} /cnames= names /format f8.2 /title 'Percent'. /*and percents
end matrix.
*If variables have missing values, they are deleted listwise. To include missings, use
get vars /vari= V1 V2 /names= names /miss= -999. /*or other value
*To exclude missings individually from each variable, analyze by separate variables.

Please help on using SPSS to add scales of Likert-type

Since the last post is closed due to unclear expression, here is a edited one.
There are in total 20 items from 5 Likert-type scale questions from a questionnaire. I need to add the 20 items from 5 separate questions to create a total scale. I already got the data.
The question is just like the picture above. How can I run the command to add the 20 items from 5 separate questions? What is the command?
Is it something like Transform > Compute variable. Enter a variable name, specify which items to add up, and hey presto (e.g. "V1+V2+V3" etc)?
You can do exactly as you suggested, using the Transform -> Compute variable... function. Simply type in the name of your new scale in the Target variable box and the addition you want in the Numeric variable box.
You will see that the following SPSS syntax command is run:
COMPUTE total=v1 + v2 + v3 + v4.
EXECUTE.
If any of the variables has a missing value, the simply adding them will result in a missing value as well. If you don't want to impute for missing values, using the MEAN command in syntax works well. Also, if the variables are contiguous in the data file, you can make the syntax much more readable by using the TO modifier.
COMPUTE myscore=MEAN(variable1 TO variable5)*5.
The resulting value provides an efficient expected value.
However, it seems like the problem in this case is that the data entry process has dummy coded all of the items, producing 20 separate variables instead of 5, where each block of 4 variables has a value of 0 or 1 but represents the values 1 to 4. In this case, you can use the following syntax:
COMPUTE mycounter=1.
COMPUTE myscore=0.
EXECUTE.
DO REPEAT a=variable1 TO variable20.
COMPUTE myscore=myscore+mycounter*a.
COMPUTE mycounter=mycounter+1.
IF (mycounter=5) mycounter=1.
END REPEAT.
EXECUTE.
Note that the variables from variable1 to variable20 must have each set of dummy codes from the original items clustered together in ascending order.

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