SPSS Statistics

A few weeks ago, we were analyzing some text data in IBM SPSS Statistics and wanted a tool that would count the occurrence of each word in a column. Even though this is not a native feature of the software, we could use Python (or R) to create an extension to complete this task. To make this extension we enlisted the help of Jon Peck, a Senior Software Engineer here at IBM. He developed an extension that is available for free download from within IBM SPSS Statistics (version 18 or later) or on the IBM developerWorks download page.

Next week I will post a detailed look at this extension and break down some of the code where Python is connecting to IBM SPSS Statistics. This will be a good overview to help anyone get started creating extensions with Python for SPSS Statistics.

Follow these steps to install the extension:

• Open IBM SPSS Statistics


• Navigate to Utilities -> Extension Bundles -> Download and Install Extension Bundles





• Search for ‘wordcount’ and click Filter. This will show the extension, click the box below Select then click OK at the bottom of the window.




• This extension will install to a menu named “Custom”

Click here to see the second part of this post.

#SPSSStatistics