Data Analysis
SPSS or R for Your UK Dissertation? Honest Comparison
A frank comparison of SPSS and R for UK undergraduate, Master's and PhD dissertation data analysis.
Short answer
If you've never coded, use SPSS. If you'll do any kind of research career, learn R. For a UK undergraduate dissertation either is fine.
Where SPSS wins
Point-and-click for standard tests (t-tests, ANOVA, regression). Output is well-formatted for inclusion in your appendix. Most UK universities provide free SPSS access.
Where R wins
Free, reproducible, infinitely extensible. ggplot2 produces publication-quality figures. Modern UK PhDs increasingly require R or Python literacy.
What about Python or Stata?
Stata is common in economics. Python is excellent if you'll combine analysis with data scraping or ML. Pick based on what your discipline uses.