Directory of Communication Related Mental Measures

Jason Wrench, Doreen Jowi, and Alan Goodboy have coauthored a new directory of over 500 mental measures published in communication journals. This new volume has been written for the National Communication Association's Non-Serial Publications Series and should be available Summer 2010 for purchase. More...

CommuniCast

Jason Wrench has initiated the field's first branded podcast series, CommuniCast. CommuniCast are interviews with the top scholars in communication today. More...

We Love Statistical Software

I wish we had enough time to go into all of the great statistical software packages that now exist. Unfortunately, we've limited ourselves to the two primary statistical packages (PASW/SPSS & SAS) and the two most user-friendly open-source software packages (R & PSPP). For PASW, R, and PSPP we've even included some great videos to help you learn how to use the software to calculate the basic statistical tests discussed in our text Quantitative Research Methods for Communication: A Hands-On Approach.

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PASW

PASW/SPSS/IBM SPSS Statistics, whatever the name, is one of the best statistical software packages for social scientists. As such, a great bulk of the research conducted in the field of Communication Studies and Media is conducted using this very versatile software program. The primary drawback to this software package is the price. While students can get a copy of the software for one-year for right around $100, the full price for professionals is right around $1800.

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SAS

SAS (Statistical Analysis System) is a very powerful statistical tool used by a range of industries from scientific research to modern day business analytics. In fact most major research firms rely on SAS and its range of statistical software packages. In many ways, SAS is the grand-daddy of all modern statistical software packages. Unlike PASW/SPSS, SAS is primarily a code-based statistical program, so the learning curve tends to be quite steep for novice users. Academic versions of the software run around $125 per year and full professional pricing starts at around $8100 for a one-year license.

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R

R is the open-access world equivalent to SAS. In fact, R is quickly overtaking SAS in popularity around the globe. Overall, R is one of the most versatile and useful statistical software programs we've found. While R itself is actually a programming language, do not fret. Thankfully, many developers have created add-in programs to R usable for those of us who aren't computer scientists. Probably the most popular and useful add-on program to R is called R Commander. R Commander functions similarly to SPSS, but gives you the complete statistical power of an expensive program like SAS.

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PSPP

The last major statistical package that we discuss on this website is PSPP. PSPP, originally code-named Fiasco, is an SPSS clone. In essence, PSPP is designed to look and mimic the normal functioning of SPSS. However, PSPP is still an ongoing project, so it doesn't have all of the statistical functionality of SPSS or PASW. With that said, PSPP has enough basic functioning to make it a great and free substitute for a costly statistical package.

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