The best SPSS Free Resources

📚 1. Free SPSS Courses & Structured Learning

Open University – Getting Started with SPSS (OpenLearn)

A self‑paced starter course with no software required. It covers SPSS basics, variable creation, data input, hypotheses testing, and offers a free statement of participation reddit.com+8getspsshelp.com+8reddit.com+8open.edu.

Keywords: free SPSS course, SPSS beginner course, Getting Started SPSS.

Coursera / edX “audit” options

Many SPSS data analysis courses offer free access if you choose audit mode. Look for Coursera SPSS or edX SPSS to find them.

Keywords: free SPSS certification, audit SPSS course.

🎥 2. Top Free SPSS Video Tutorials

Carnegie Mellon University – 33 Free SPSS Videos

A CMU professor published 33 detailed SPSS instructional videos covering data prep, descriptive stats, t‑tests, ANOVA, regression, cluster/factor analysis, etc. A Redditor shared:

“Topics include … working with data, descriptive stats … regression of all forms … factor analysis, and a whole lot more!” getspsshelp.comreddit.com+1reddit.com+1

Find the playlist linked in the Reddit post.

Keywords: free SPSS video tutorials, SPSS YouTube playlist.

Research By Design + Laerd + Dr Todd Grande + Stats Made Easy

These free YouTube channels offer beginner‑friendly SPSS walkthroughs, hypothesis testing help, and real‑world examples reddit.com+1reddit.com+1.

Keywords: SPSS tutorial YouTube, SPSS walkthrough videos.

SPSS Analytics Partner

A video tutorial series focusing on creating custom tables, chi‑square, t‑tests, decision trees, and predictive modeling davenport.libguides.com+15spssanalyticspartner.com+15reddit.com+15.

Keywords: SPSS decision tree tutorial, SPSS custom tables.

💻 3. Text & PDF Tutorials

IBM SPSS Official Resources

IBM offers free online manuals—including a Stats 101 module—and official documentation for all SPSS versions libguides.library.kent.edu+6sites.tufts.edu+6getspsshelp.com+6.

Keywords: IBM SPSS manual PDF, SPSS documentation.

SPSS‑Tutorials.com (by Ruben van den Berg)

Fully illustrated, step‑by‑step tutorials ranging from basic functions to advanced modeling, syntax, and data management .

Keywords: SPSS tutorials detailed, SPSS syntax guide.

UCLA Institute for Digital Research & Education

An extensive online guide with annotated outputs, examples, case studies, and syntax across hundreds of SPSS topics open.edu+15sites.tufts.edu+15getspsshelp.com+15.

Keywords: UCLA SPSS guide, SPSS examples PDF.

SSRIC – Basic SPSS Tutorial

Provides free downloadable tutorials for Windows versions (SPSS 25/26) with data sets, exercises, screenshots, and chapter review questions getspsshelp.com.

Keywords: SPSS tutorial PDF, SPSS exercises dataset.

“SPSS Survival Manual” by Julie Pallant

Though a paid book, many free excerpts and companion files circulate online. One Reddit user said students “found it helpful especially starting out” reddit.com.

Keywords: SPSS Survival Manual, SPSS beginner PDF.

🗄️ 4. Practice Datasets with Exercises

• Kent State University SPSS LibGuide provides sample .sav, .csv, .xlsx datasets and accompanying syntax for hands‑on practice across topics like recoding, merging, and multiple regression libguides.library.kent.edu.

Keywords: SPSS practice data, free SPSS datasets.

• Reddit recommendation: SPSS built‑in case studies accessible via Help → Topics include datasets that come packaged with SPSS reddit.com.

Keywords: SPSS demo dataset, SPSS case study.

🔄 5. Community, Forums & Q&A

r/SPSS, r/statistics, r/psychologystudents

Active Reddit communities offering Q&A, resource links, dataset tips, and real‑world problem solving
.

StackOverflow (SPSS tag)

Great for syntax/programming questions and troubleshooting specific errors .

IBM SPSS Community Forums

Official discussion boards where IBM specialists and users help each other.

Stats student forums

e.g. Laerd, Statquest, SPSS Survival Manual companion forums.

Keywords: SPSS forum help, SPSS reddit.

🛠️ 6. Plugins & Open‑Source Alternatives

PSPP

A free, open‑source SPSS‑style program that supports frequencies, t‑tests, regression, factor/cluster analysis, etc. Compatible with SPSS syntax and .sav files reddit.com+9reddit.com+9getspsshelp.com+9libguides.library.kent.edu+6en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6.

Keywords: PSPP free SPSS alternative, SPSS open source.

JASP

An intuitive, free and open‑source program offering both classical and Bayesian analyses. It’s GUI‑based, SPSS‑like, and integrates with Open Science Framework en.wikipedia.org.

Keywords: JASP free SPSS alternative, SPSS Bayesian software.

🎯 7. Books & Interpreting SPSS Results

Andy Field – Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS

Frequently cited as “my SPSS stats Bible” reddit.com+1reddit.com+1. His accompanying YouTube tutorials make this accessible for self‑study.

Keywords: Andy Field SPSS book free excerpts, Discovering Statistics SPSS tutorial.

Barry Cohen, Julie Pallant, David Howell

Recommended classic statistics texts offering SPSS examples and interpretations spssanalyticspartner.com+2reddit.com+2reddit.com+2.

Keywords: SPSS statistics book free, Barry Cohen statistics PDF.

📝 8. SPSS Syntax & Exporting Outputs

GitHub – Learn‑SPSS

A beginner‑friendly repository with sample datasets, syntax examples, and visualization guides (exporting tables/graphs/logical code) github.com.

Keywords: SPSS syntax examples, GitHub SPSS code.

LibGuides – Kent State

Includes sections on SPSS syntax for data transformation, merging, and exporting results to PDF/Word/Excel .

Keywords: SPSS export to Excel, SPSS syntax guide.

✔️ 9. How to Use These Resources Effectively

1. Start with fundamentals – learn basic stats (e.g., hypothesis testing).

2. Choose one structured tutorial – e.g., OpenLearn course or Coursera audit.

3. Complement with videos – CMU SPSS playlist and Research By Design YouTube.

4. Practice with datasets – Kent State or SSRIC files.

5. Dive deeper with syntax – use GitHub & UCLA’s annotated code.

6. Join forums – Reddit and IBM SPSS community for help.

7. Explore alternatives – PSPP or JASP for additional practice.

8. Refer to books – Andy Field or Pallant’s SPSS Survival Manual for interpretation.

🔑 High‑Volume Keywords Recap

• free SPSS tutorials, SPSS free video tutorials, SPSS beginner course

• free SPSS practice datasets, SPSS syntax examples, SPSS export guide

• PSPP SPSS alternative, JASP SPSS alternative, Andy Field SPSS

✅ TL;DR – Quick Resource Reference

By combining these free resources—structured courses, video series, written tutorials, downloadable datasets, syntax guides, community forums, and open‑source tools—you can become proficient in SPSS without spending a dime. Happy analyzing!

✅ Next Steps

• Dive into one of the CMU SPSS playlists and follow along with the free datasets.

• Practice a few analyses in PSPP or JASP to reinforce SPSS workflow knowledge.

• Join Reddit’s r/SPSS for daily Q&A and tips from the community.

Let me know if you’d like direct links, more examples, or help integrating any of these into your studies.