Using SPSS to Understand Research and Data Analysis.

• 2.3d Saving files in the data editor : The .SAV File extension

When you name and save files created in the Data Editor to a hard drive or disk, SPSS by default adds the three letters, .SAV, (called the file extension) to these file names. That is, just as Microsoft Excel adds the file extension, .xls, to file names created and saved from Excel, SPSS adds the extension, .SAV to files created and saved in the SPSS Data Editor.

This is how your computer knows which program or editor to use when opening a given file. Each application (e.g., Excel, Notepad, SPSS Data Editor) has a unique file extension which causes the computer to use the appropriate program to open the file.

We recommend that you create a folder in which to save all of the examples and exercises you complete in this text. This folder can be on a floppy disk, your computer hard drive, a network drive, or some other media. This way you can always go back to look over examples you have completed.

To save your Data Editor file, follow the same procedure you would in saving any other file in another software application. From the drop-down menu at the top of your Data Editor window, select File, Save (Figure 2.11) .

Then navigate to the folder you created for saving files. For this example, we recommend typing example1.SAV in the filename box of your Save Data As box (Figure 2.12).

To view a video of this procedure, click Play below: