Resources and practice tests to develop your understanding of statistical concepts and help you use statistics software.
We take an introductory look at some methods of data analysis and communication. We explain the different analyses that spreadsheets, statistical software and qualitative data analysis software can help with, and we investigate some of the principles and practice of data visualisation.
For more detail, see our dedicated guide to data analysis:
We offer a range of interactive workshops to help develop your skills in key areas.
Browse the workshop calendar for details of upcoming sessions and to book your place. You can also work through the workshop materials below at any time.
This session is for people who have never used SPSS before or who want a refresher. You will learn how to get data in, quick ways of cleaning your data and how to create graphs in SPSS. The session focuses on the basics of using SPSS software, rather than particular statistical analyses.
Use these datasets to complete the practice exercises in the workshop:
Knowing what statistical test to use can be difficult. This workshop uses a variety of data to reveal what you need to consider in order to choose a test. We will then use a Which Stats Test tool to identify the best tests to use. Suitable for anyone who will be analysing data using statistical tests for research or a dissertation.
This session explains various ANOVA tests, how to run them in SPSS, interpret the output and where to find help for running more complex analyses. There will also be brief explanations of statistical concepts such as effect size, power and type I and II errors.
Tests covered:
Use these datasets to complete the practice exercises in the workshop:
This session explains various regression tests, how to run them in SPSS, interpret the output and where to find help for running more complex analyses.
Tests covered:
Use these datasets to complete the practice exercises in the workshop:
This session is for people who will need to analyse questionnaire data in SPSS for their dissertation or other research project. Using example datasets, we will demonstrate getting data into SPSS, give practical advice on preparing data for analysis, share handy tips on calculating numbers that summarise the data and give advice on how you can decide what analyses are needed.
We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the example questionnaires used throughout the workshop:
This workshop introduces the RStudio interface and gets you started with importing, managing and plotting data. You don't need to have done any coding before!
This workshop will get you using STATA statistical software so you understand what the software is and the basics of the coding language used by STATA. In this introduction, you will look at data, clean data and run simple tests and graphs. No prior knowledge of computer coding needed to attend this session.
Use these datasets and do file to complete the practice exercises in the workshop:
Learn about a topic and complete tasks to check your understanding of statistical concepts or learn how to conduct a test using statistical software.
Clear explanations of how to run t-tests, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, regression and multiple regressions, Pearson's correlation or Spearman's correlation in SPSS and advice on writing up results. For other tests, search the internet for Laerd with the name of the test.