Export SPSS

The SPSS export is designed for users who want to take their survey results into IBM SPSS or a compatible statistics tool for deeper analysis. Unlike Excel, CSV, Word, or PDF exports, this export is not mainly for reading or presenting results directly. It is built for statistical processing.

This export is especially useful for researchers because it prepares the survey data in a structure that is easier to work with in SPSS. It comes in handy when you want to run descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, correlations, recoding, or other forms of formal data analysis. It also helps preserve the survey structure by including variable names, variable labels, value labels, and measurement levels.

How to export SPSS

To export the SPSS package:

1. On your dashboard, select the survey you want to export.
2. Click the Export button.

1. From the list of export options, select SPSS.
2. A ZIP file will download to your computer.
3. Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your local computer.

The exported ZIP contains three files:

• data.dat
• import_spss.sps
• README.txt

These files work together and should stay in the same folder.

How to use the SPSS export

After extracting the ZIP:

1. Open SPSS.
2. Go to File > Open > Syntax.
3. Open the file named import_spss.sps.
4. Check the GET DATA section and update the file path if needed so it points to your local data.dat file.
5. Select all the syntax.
6. Run it in SPSS.
7. Once the dataset is loaded, you can optionally save it as an .sav file.

This process imports the survey data into SPSS with the labels and settings already applied.

What the SPSS export contains

The SPSS export is different from the other export types because it does not come as one readable report file. Instead, it comes as an import package.

README.txt

The README.txt file gives the user instructions on how to import the survey data into SPSS. It explains that both files should be extracted into the same folder, that the syntax file should be opened in SPSS, and that the file path in the GET DATA command may need to be updated before running the syntax.

This file is useful because it guides the user through the import process. It also explains important details such as:

• the data file uses tab delimiters
• the encoding is UTF-8
• string values with tabs or newlines are wrapped in quotes
• missing values are represented as empty strings
• A03_date_finished = -1 means the respondent did not finish the survey

It also mentions that the same syntax can be used in PSPP, which is a free alternative to SPSS.

data.dat

The data.dat file contains the actual survey data. This is the raw tab-delimited data file that SPSS reads during the import process.

Each row represents one respondent, and each column represents one variable. The first row contains the variable names, such as:

• respondent fields
• start and finish dates
• completion status
• browser information
• question variables such as Q0001, Q0002_0001, Q0008_0003, and others

This file is useful because it holds the real dataset, but on its own it is not the most user-friendly file to interpret. The column names are coded, and many of the values need the syntax file to become fully meaningful inside SPSS.

import_spss.sps

The import_spss.sps file is the most important part of the package for SPSS users. This is the syntax file that tells SPSS how to import and understand the data.

It contains:

• the GET DATA command to read data.dat
• the list of variable names and formats
• variable labels that map codes to full question text
• value labels for coded responses
• missing value definitions
• measurement levels such as nominal, ordinal, and scale
• an optional command to save the imported file as a .sav file

This file is what turns the raw data into a properly labeled SPSS dataset.

What to pay attention to

The SPSS export is more technical than the other export types, so there are a few important things to note.

First, the ZIP contains three related files, and the user should not delete or rename them carelessly before importing. The syntax file depends on the data file.

Second, the import_spss.sps file includes coded variable names such as Q0001, Q0002_0001, and Q0011_0004. These may not be readable by themselves, but the syntax file adds full variable labels so that in SPSS you can see what each variable actually represents.

Third, not every question type is handled the same way. In the sample export:

• single-choice and matrix single-choice variables receive value labels
• multiple-choice style questions are split into separate columns
• open text, contact form, and date fields are stored as string variables
• ranking variables are separated into multiple fields
• measurement levels are assigned depending on the type of variable

This is useful for researchers because it makes the imported dataset much easier to analyze correctly.

Finally, the syntax file also defines at least one special missing value rule, where a finish date of -1 means the respondent did not finish the survey. This helps prevent incomplete records from being misunderstood during analysis.