How to import SPSS and other data file formats

This tutorial explains how to import data into Excel from other sources, such as SPSS, using the XLSTAT-R engine.

For this purpose, we will use the Foreign File Formats feature developed in XLSTAT-R. This feature selects a function from the foreign R package (R Core Team) depending on the type of data we want to import and then calls that function. Here, our goal is to import an SPSS (.sav) file so the read. spss R function will be called.

Setting up the Foreign File Formats dialog box

Once XLSTAT is open, select the XLSTAT-R / formats / foreign file format command as shown below:

The foreign file format dialog box appears. Select SPSS in the Format field and click OK to continue.

A new window appears. Select the data file from your computer and click Open.

Output

The data are now imported into a new Excel sheet. Variables are stored into columns and headers into the first row of the data table. On the top of the sheet, you can use the action buttons to relaunch the procedure or import a new data file as well as to copy-paste the table into Word/PowerPoint.

Going further

You can follow the same steps to import data stored by other software such as Minitab, SAS and Stata.