So, you want to get started with Stata?
Good choice!
At The Analysis Factor we recommend first becoming proficient in one statistical software. Then once you’ve progressed up to learning Stage 3 skills, adding a second statistical software. Whether it’s your first, second, or 5th statistical software, Stata has a lot that makes it worth learning.
When I first started using Stata, I remember being confused by the variety of menus and windows, the strange syntax of the code, the way it handled datasets… and what the heck is a do file? (more…)
Many data sets are challenging and time consuming to work with because the data are seldom in an optimal format.
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In this 8-part tutorial, you will learn how to get started using Stata for data preparation, analysis, and graphing. This tutorial will give you the skills to start using Stata on your own. You will need a license to Stata and to have it installed before you begin.
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Of all the stressors you’ve got right now, accessing your statistical software from home shouldn’t be one of them. (You know, the one on your office computer).
We’ve gotten some updates from some statistical software companies on how they’re making it easier to access the software you have a license to or to extend a free trial while you’re working from home.
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Choosing statistical software is part of The Fundamentals of Statistical Skill and is necessary to learning a second software (something we recommend to anyone progressing from Stage 2 to Stage 3 and beyond).
You have many choices for software to analyze your data: R, SAS, SPSS, and Stata, among others. They are all quite good, but each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
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Sometimes what is most tricky about understanding your regression output is knowing exactly what your software is presenting to you.
Here’s a great example of what looks like two completely different model results from SPSS and Stata that in reality, agree.
The Model
I ran a linear model regressing “physical composite score” on education and “mental composite score”.
The outcome variable, physical composite score, is a measurement of one’s physical well-being. The predictor “education” is categorical with four categories. The other predictor, mental composite score, is continuous and measures one’s mental well-being.
I am interested in determining whether the association between physical composite score and mental composite score is different among the four levels of education. To determine this I included an interaction between mental composite score and education.
The SPSS Regression Output
Here is the result of the regression using SPSS:
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