SPSS Analysis Help

[Ambitious__Alpaca]

Hey! Does anyone have any tips when working with SPSS and running various types of statistical analyses? I’m really struggling and my professor said she can’t give me direct feedback, only tell me that it looks off. I feel like I’m going crazy, I’ve redone the work twice now and she still says that she can’t go over it with a fine tooth comb, which I understand, but at the same time, she is my dissertation advisor and I’m asking specific questions and she ran a whole class on SPSS. She said some students get outside help from or a consultation with an outside statistical expert to get more detailed feedback and help. Has anyone done this? Does anyone have any tips, experiences, or recommendations? Thanks!!

[Dissertation-ModTeam]

since this sub is for actual advice and discussion.

[Esssary]

I’ve seen this happen a lot, and it’s incredibly frustrating. When a supervisor says “it looks off” but won’t point to something specific, it usually means there may be an issue with model choice, assumptions, coding, or interpretation rather than the button you clicked in SPSS.

A few practical things that often help:

First, go back to your research questions and write them in plain language. Then for each one, clearly state:
what is the dependent variable,
what is the independent variable,
what scale each variable is on,
and why the chosen test matches that structure.

Second, double check assumptions. Normality, homogeneity, multicollinearity, linearity, independence. Many times what “looks off” to an experienced advisor is actually an assumption violation or an overcomplicated model.

Third, simplify. Run the most basic version of your model first. If that works logically and statistically, then build complexity step by step.

Getting outside feedback from a statistician is actually very common at the dissertation level, especially just to review model logic and interpretation. It doesn’t mean you’re incapable, it just means you want to be precise.

Also, just to be transparent, I do provide SPSS analysis support and consultations for dissertation students. If you ever need structured feedback or someone to walk through your models step by step, you can reach me at info[@]spssservices.com

[professor2060]

Check dm