Improving the Operational Skills of SPSS Statistics Software for 3rd Year Statistics Undergraduate Students at Wolkite University: Action Research

Abstract

Statistics is essential in daily life, making it crucial for educators and learners to master its use and interpretation. SPSS statistical software helps avoid mathematical errors and ensures accurate results for researchers, students, and educators. Low proficiency in the operating skills of SPSS hinders students' academic achievement in science. The main objective of the research was to improve the skills of Wolkite University's third-year statistics students by improving the operational skills of statistical SPSS software. Hence, since the total population is small, all students were included in the sample. The data from the student questionnaire has been tabulated and analysed with the use of descriptive statistical methods, and the student's performance before and after the training was recorded using inferential statistics. The SPSS version 27 software was used for analysing the collected data. From the descriptive statistics of the total 23 (100%) students, the proportion of male and female students is 20 (86.96%) and 3 (13.04%), respectively. Before the training, of the total of 23 (100%) students, 19 (82.6%) had good skills, and the remaining 4 (17.4%) students had very good skills. However, after training, 13 (56.5%) students had very good skills, and the remaining 10 (43.5%) students had excellent skills in SPSS software. The proposed actions for increasing the performance of students in SPSS were focused on improving basic statistical data using SPSS statistical software.

Keywords: Operational, Statistics, SPSS, Statistical Software

DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/16-1-02

Publication date: April 30^th 2026