Restructure data using Syntax commands in SPSS
SPSS allows you to use Syntax code to reshape data from wide to long format, and vice versa. Below are data sets repeatedly measured in wide and long format. Note that the example data contain two participants measured on two outcome variables (weight and calories), under three different time points.
The wide format uses one row for each observation or participant:
ID WEIGHT1 WEIGHT2 WEIGHT3 CALORIE1 CALORIE2 CALORIES3 1 200 190 180 3500 3300 3100 2 160 150 140 3000 2900 2800
The long format uses multiple rows for each observation or participant:
ID WEIGHT CALORIES TIME 1 200 3500 1 1 190 3300 2 1 180 3100 3 2 160 3000 1 2 150 2900 2 2 140 2800 3
To restructure data from wide to long, use the
VARSTOCASES
command:
VARSTOCASES /make WEIGHT from WEIGHT1 WEIGHT2 WEIGHT3 /make CALORIES from CALORIES1 CALORIES2 CALORIES3 /index= TIME(3) /keep=ID.
To restructure data from long to wide, use the
CASESTOVARS
command:
CASETOVARS /id=ID /index = TIME.
Alternatively, you can use the Data Restructuring Wizard in SPSS; for more, see Restructure data in SPSS.
If you have questions about using statistical and mathematical software at Indiana University, contact Research Analytics.
This is document bclg in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2019-02-14 11:38:58.