A spreadsheet is a great tool for certain jobs. But you may use spreadsheets for tasks that are beyond their capabilities, causing problems that range from small annoyances to costly business errors. Learn about the limitations of spreadsheets, and find out how easy it is to carry out your analytical tasks with IBM SPSS Statistics.

1. © 2014 IBM Corporation
The risks of using spreadsheets
for statistical analysis

2. What you’ll learn
 Applications of spreadsheets
 Limitations of spreadsheets
 How to overcome these issues with IBM SPSS Statistics
 Next steps

3. Why use spreadsheets?
 Familiarity and ease of use
 Simple to get an answer out of a spreadsheet
 Easy to share with others
 Low cost

4. Business uses for spreadsheets
 Financial and cost accounting
– Balance sheets
– Profit and loss accounts
– Cash Books
 Data collection and analysis
– Analyze survey results
– Present results to others in tabular or
visual format
 Mathematics
– Calculate trigonometric and
logarithmic functions
– Standard deviations, averages,
means, and more
Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in most organizations, especially for certain tasks.

5. Spreadsheets are prone to errors
 P. Brown, J. Gould. An experimental study of
people creating spreadsheets, ACM Transactions
on Office Information Systems 5
– 17 errors in one spreadsheet
– 94% of deployed spreadsheets contained errors
– Average: 5.2% of cells were in error
 Philip Howard, Managing Spreadsheet fraud
– According to PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG
– 90% of corporate spreadsheets have material errors
– Cost: $10-$100K per error per month
 Computational Statistics and Data Analysis
– Ran standardized tests for accuracy in Excel
and concludes it is inadequate for substantive
statistical analysis
– Flaw was clearly in Excel’s algorithms

6. Spreadsheets can be frustrating
“… On average, people spend
about 12 hours per month
consolidating, modifying and
correcting spreadsheets.
That’s about a day and a half
per month – or about 5 to 10
percent of their time.”
-- Ventana Research,
Spreadsheets in Today’s
Enterprise: Making
Intelligent Use of a Core
Technology, 2013

7. Causes of spreadsheet errors
 Mistakes in logic
 Incorrectly copied formulas
 Accidentally overwritten formulas
 Misuse of built-in functions
 Omitted factors
 Data input errors
 Sorting numbers
 Cell orientation
 Adding new data
There are many reasons your spreadsheet can fail you.

8. Limitations of spreadsheets for analysis
 Limited formulas
 Lack of metadata
 No data validation capabilities
 Absence of data preparation
and data manipulation
 Few analytical techniques
 No automated reporting
 Inability to project the future

9. But what is the alternative…?

10. IBM® SPSS® Statistics for analysis and reporting
Advantages of IBM SPSS Statistics
Prevent errors
Follow the analytical process
Access data from multiple data sources
Process raw data
Apply advanced analytical techniques
Export results to multiple formats
Automate time-consuming manual processes

11. 4.
Supports the entire analytical lifecycle
Planning
Data Collection
1. Data Access
2.
Data Preparation &
Cleansing
Data Manipulation 3.
Deployment 5.
& Automation
Data Analysis &
Reporting

12. Improves data access
 Survey data
 Email data
 Corporate databases
 Web site data
 IBM Cognos data
And more…
IBM SPSS Statistics……

13. Streamlines data preparation
13
Assign detailed labels to your
variable names.
Assign code to categories (1=Male,
2= Female).
 Specify which values are missing.
 Select specific individuals for
analysis.
 Create rules to validate data and
catch data entry errors.plicate IDs.
IBM SPSS Statistics automates the time-consuming task of getting your data
ready for analysis. techniques to help you ensure your data is ready for
Eliminate the need to label all data.
 Make sure your data is clear and
properly organized for analysis.
Find duplicate cases automatically.

14. Simplifies data manipulation
Actions are driven by drag-
and-drop dialog boxes.
It’s easy to create new
variables..
14
IBM SPSS Statistics looks like a spreadsheet, but behaves very differently.
Wizards simplify
calculations with dates and
times.
Organize data into
categories, such as age
groups, for more insightful
analysis.

15. Produces more accurate data analysis
 Go beyond summary statistics
and row-and-column math.
 Design your own reports and
graphs using drag and drop
functions.
 Edit output after you create it.
Uncover hidden patterns in your
data that can provide new insights.
With IBM SPSS Statistics, data analysis is simple and intuitive.

16. Provides flexible deployment options
Deploy SPSS Statistics
output to smart devices.
 Export to Excel, Word,
PowerPoint and PDF.
Save your code for easy
reuse.
Create recurring reports
faster and more efficiently.

17. Key takeaways
Spreadsheets are widely
used for data analysis.
But more than 90% of
spreadsheets contain at least
one error.
IBM SPSS Statistics can
help you overcome common
errors, increasing the
accuracy of your analytical
results.

18. © 2014 IBM
M Corporation
Next steps:
Read the white paper: The Risks of Using Spreadsheets
Visit our website: www.ibm.com/spss
Talk to a representative: 800-543-2185