Different Types of Statistical Software

Table of Contents

What is Software?

“The term ‘software’ refers to the set of electronic program instructions or data a computer processor reads in order to perform a task or operation.”
In a computer system, software is a type of program which enables to perform some special tasks or operate the computer.
Software increases the efficiency and accuracy of the work.
It basically directs the peripheral devices on the entire computer system- what and how exactly to perform the task.
“A set of instruction or programs instructing a computer to do specific tasks” – Technopedia

Statistical software are specialized programs designed to perform complex statistical analysis.
They are the tools that assist in the organization, interpretation, and presentation of selected data sets to provide science-based insights into patterns and trends
Statistical software use statistical analysis theorems and methodologies such as regression analysis, time series analysis to perform data sciences

1. In public health programs: Software are used for:

2. In public health research:

In hospitals and health care centers
Operation of information systems (E.g.: Health Management Information System, Logistic Management Information System, GIS etc.)
In health economics and health care centers
Libraries, academics and many more.

SPSS is the most widely used powerful software for complex statistical data analysis.
It easily compiles descriptive statistics, parametric and non- parametric analysis as well as delivers graphs and presentation ready reports to easily communicate the results.
More accurate reports are achieved here through estimation and uncovering of missing values in the data sets.
SPSS is used for quantitative data analysis.

Stata is also a widely used software that enables to analyze, manage, store and produce graphical visualization of data.
Coding knowledge is not necessary to use it.
Presence of both command line and graphical user interface makes its use more intuitive.
It is generally used by researchers in the field of economics, social sciences and bio-medicine to examine the data patterns.
Stata is used for quantitative data analysis.

‘R’ software is widely used free statistical software that provides statistical and graphical techniques including linear and non-linear modeling.
Toolboxes essentially plugins are available for great range of applications. Knowledge of coding is required here.
It provides interactive reports and applications, leverage large amount of data and is complaint with security practices and standards.
R is used for quantitative data analysis.

It is a cloud based platform that provides ready to use programs for data manipulation, information storage and retrieval.
Its procedures are multithreadede. performing multiple operations at once.
It is primarily used for statistical modeling, observing trends and patterns in data and aiding in decision-making by business analysts, statisticians, data scientists, researchers and engineers.
Coding can be difficult to those new to this approach.
It is used for quantitative data analysis.

MATLAB stands for MATrix LABoratory.
MATLAB is software that provides an analytical platform and programming language
It expresses matrix and array mathematics, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces.
Live Editor is also included which creates a script that combines code, output, and formatted text in a executable notebook.
It is widely used by engineer and scientist.
MATLAB is used for quantitative data analysis.

Epi-data is free widely used data software designed to assist epidemiologist, public health investigators and others to enter, manage and analyze data in the field.
It performs basic statistical analysis, graphs and comprehensive data management.
Here user gets to create own forms and database.
Epi-data is used for quantitative data analysis.

It is a public domain suite software tool designed for researchers and public health practitioners of the globe developed by Centre for disease control and prevention (CDC)
It provides easy data entry form and database construction, and data analyses with epidemiologic statistics, maps, and graphs for those who may lack an information technology background.
It is used for outbreak investigations; for developing small to mid-sized disease surveillance systems; as analysis, visualization, and reporting (AVR) components of larger systems.
It is used for quantitative data analysis.

It is a software tool which allows to organize and store qualitative data for analysis
NVivo is used for the analysis of unstructured text, audio, video, and image data, including interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), surveys, social media, and journal articles.
Word docs, pdf, video, images, and audio can also be imported here
It help the users to organize, analyze and find insights from structured or qualitative data more efficiently
The interface is easy to use and makes it instantly familiar and intuitive for the user
It offers automated transcription and auto coding and has a free version too.
NVivo is used for qualitative data analysis and mixed method research.

Mini-tab offers both basic as well as fairly advanced statistical analysis tools.
It can analyze all kinds of data sets, automates statistical calculations, creations of stunning visualization
Mini-tab helps to look at current and past data to discover trends and patterns, uncover hidden relationships between variable, allowing users to focus more on data analysis.
It makes it simpler to get the insights of the data.
Mini-tab is used for qualitative data analysis.

Dedoose is 100% web-based tool for qualitative analysis but can also analyze quantitative data.
This inexpensive software is team-oriented and user-friendly with easy import of both text and visual data
It has access to advance data security tools

It is a leading software for qualitative analysis and has incorporated AI technology as it has evolved.
This is best for research organization, corporations and academic institutions. As it be expensive for individual research
It is more powerful, boating both sentiment analysis and auto coding
It offers the possibility to work in any language or character set

12. MAXDQA

It is a professional software for quantitative, qualitative and mixed method data analysis
It imports the data and review of the data in one central location with easy categorization of any unstructured data
Creation of literature review is also possible with this software
It is not available for free and can be difficult to work collaboratively in a team