On this page there will be links to SPSS and SAS macros that will go from "data to text." That is, you will just tell the program what variables you want analyzed, and the program will perform relevant analyses, "make sense" of the analyses, and then create text in English that summarizes those results. You should go to the log to look at the more detailed results from the relevant program (e.g., SPSS and SAS) and the macro will create syntax that you might want to use for future analyses. Later macros are planned to be written in R.
One should be very careful in making sure that the results from DataToText are correct. The macros are planned to give warnings about possible problems in the analyses and these should be noted and appropriate changes should be made. These macros still require careful thought and knowledge about the data analyses. In fact, I hope it will lead to a better understanding about the meaning of the analysis and less work learning about the details of a statistical program. I would appreciate that if you do use one of the macros in your research that you cite this website. One should NOT copy the output verbatim from DataToText to one's results section. DataToText is meant as a tutorial to inform researchers about the meaning of their data.
I am most interested in feedback about these programs, but I cannot take the time to assist you in the interpretation of your particular dataset.
These macros are quite preliminary. Make sure the dataset is backed up, as it is possible, but not likely that the macro can destroy all or parts of your data. Some macros will create new data sets that you may wish to save for future analyses. It may also create "junk" datasets that it fails to erase.
To run a macro you need to do the following:
1 Download the macro syntax (e.g., medtext.sps).
2. Download the call statement (e.g., medtext.sps).
3. Open SPSS or SAS.
4. Open (Load) your data file using the menu: File>Open>Data (this is not necessary when running SAS)
5. Open a Syntax Window using the menu: File>Syntax
6. Find the macro that you downloaded in Step 1 (e.g. medtext.sps) and open it.
7. Run the macro. To do so, use the menu: Run>All
8. Open a Syntax Window using the menu: File>Syntax
9. Find the call statement (e.g., callmedtext.sps) and open it.
10. Put in the names of variables and other information for your run.
11. Run the syntax: Run>All
12. When done, find and open the file you named in the call statement. It has the English text describing the results from your data analysis (e.g., medtext.txt).
If you are having trouble working with SPSS macros, check out some suggestions of Andrew Hayes.
The macros are as follows:
Mediation (just recently extensively revised)
Moderation (recently finished)
Univariate Social Relations Model Using SAS
Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Indistinguishable Dyads (available now; being revised)
Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Distinguishable Dyads (experimental version to be posted in January)
I am sorry, but I do not have time to teach you how to run a macro or to interpret the text. One should look not only at the text produced by DataToText, but also the output which contains syntax and the output.