

When specifying the formula for a new variable, you have to option to include or not include spaces after the commas that go between arguments in a function.SPSS is not case-sensitive with respect to variable names.When writing an expression in the Compute Variables dialog window: This expression must include one or more variables from your dataset, and can use arithmetic or functions. You can use this menu to add variables into a computation: either double-click on a variable to add it to the Numeric Expression field, or select the variable(s) that will be used in your computation and click the arrow to move them to the Numeric Expression text field (C).Ĭ Numeric Expression: Specify how to compute the new variable by writing a numeric expression. The default type for new variables is numeric.ī The left column lists all of the variables in your dataset. Once a variable is entered here, you can click on “Type & Label” to assign a variable type and give it a label. Simply type a name for the new variable in the text field. The Compute Variable window will open where you will specify how to calculate your new variable.Ī Target Variable: The name of the new variable that will be created during the computation. To compute a new variable, click Transform > Compute Variable. In this tutorial, we'll discuss how to compute variables in SPSS using numeric expressions, built-in functions, and conditional logic.


Compute a subscale score from items on a survey.Use a subject's height and weight to compute their BMI.Convert the units of a variable from feet to meters.Sometimes you may need to compute a new variable based on existing information (from other variables) in your data.
