PSPP
Data analysis software
title: "PSPP" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["free-educational-software", "free-software-programmed-in-c", "free-statistical-software", "gnu-project-software", "science-software-that-uses-gtk"] description: "Data analysis software" topic_path: "general/free-educational-software" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSPP" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Data analysis software ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | PSPP |
| logo | Pspplogo.png |
| logo_size | 99px |
| logo_caption | PSPP logo |
| screenshot | PSPP-home-screen.png |
| caption | Screenshot of PSPP |
| developer | GNU Project |
| programming language | C |
| genre | Statistics |
| license | GNU General Public License |
| latest release version | |
| latest release date | |
| operating_system | GNU, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux |
| :: |
| name = PSPP | logo = Pspplogo.png | logo_size = 99px | logo_caption = PSPP logo | screenshot = PSPP-home-screen.png | caption = Screenshot of PSPP | developer = GNU Project | programming language = C | genre = Statistics | license = GNU General Public License | latest release version = | latest release date = | latest_preview_version = | latest_preview_date = | operating_system = GNU, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux
PSPP is a free software application for analysis of sampled data, intended as a free alternative for IBM SPSS Statistics. It has a graphical user interface and conventional command-line interface. It is written in C and uses GNU Scientific Library for its mathematical routines. The name has "no official acronymic expansion".
Features
This software provides a comprehensive set of capabilities including frequencies, cross-tabs comparison of means (t-tests and one-way ANOVA), linear regression, logistic regression, reliability (Cronbach's alpha, not failure or Weibull), and re-ordering data, non-parametric tests, factor analysis, cluster analysis, principal components analysis, chi-square analysis and more.
At the user's choice, statistical output and graphics are available in ASCII, PDF, PostScript, SVG or HTML formats. A range of statistical graphs can be produced, such as histograms, pie-charts, scree plots, and np-charts.
PSPP can import Gnumeric and OpenDocument spreadsheets, Postgres databases, comma-separated values and ASCII files. It can export files in the SPSS 'portable' and 'system' file formats and to ASCII files. Some of the libraries used by PSPP can be accessed programmatically; PSPP-Perl provides an interface to the libraries used by PSPP.
Origins
The PSPP project (originally called "Fiasco") was born at the end of the 1990s as a free software replacement for SPSS, which is a data management and analysis tool, at the time produced by SPSS Inc. The nature of SPSS's proprietary licensing and the presence of digital restrictions management motivated the author to write an alternative which later became functionally identical, but with permission for everyone to copy, modify and share.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/PSPP-home-screen.png" caption="PSPP 1.6.2"] ::
Third Party Reviews
In the book "SPSS For Dummies", the author discusses PSPP under the heading of "Ten Useful Things You Can Find on the Internet". Another review of free to use statistical software also finds that the statistical results from PSPP match statistical results for SAS, for frequencies, means, correlation and regression.
Research about PSPP
One study found that students who used PSPP became more positive about learning statistics while using PSPP.
Examples of Research Performed using PSPP
Among the studies done using PSPP are one about posttraumatic stress in adolescents, another about nutrition software, and another about internet addiction.
External Resources
References
References
- (2013). "PSPP Overview".
- "GNU PSPP — Frequently Asked Questions". [[GNU]].
- (2 June 2015). "SPSS Statistics for Dummies". John Wiley & Sons.
- (10 May 2022). "Free To Use Statistical Software: Comparing Statistical Analyses". SSRN.
- (2019). "The Use of PSPP Software in Learning Statistics". European Journal of Educational Research.
- (2019). "Prevalence and determinants of posttraumatic stress in adolescents following an earthquake". Indian J Psychiatry.
- (2019). "5PSQ-018 Implementation of parenteral nutrition prescribing software in a neonatal intensive care unit". European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy.
- (2022). "Prevalence and determinants of Internet addiction among the students of professional colleges in the Jammu region". J Family Med Prim Care.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::