SPSS AMOS for Data Analysis 1

Introduction

AMOS is a subsidiary of IBM SPSS data analysis software with the full meaning of Analysis of Moment Structures. AMOS applies the general approach of data analysis called structural equation modelling (SEM), also called analysis of covariance structure, or causal modelling. With AMOS many well-known conventional analysis techniques can be done such as linear regression and factor analysis (IBM) among others.

AMOS has a very friendly user-interface, and it makes the structural equation modelling (SEM) test quite easier compared to other software for performing the same tasks.

In this first blog, importing data into the AMOS primarily will be addressed.

Opening the SPSS AMOS

There are two ways by which AMOS can be launched: (1) from start menu direct, (2) from SPSS software. AMOS is an independent software so it can be alone without launching SPSS itself. However, when AMOS is installed then it is added to SPSS automatically and it is found under the “Analyze.” The AMOS icon is shown below

Figure 1: AMOS logo.

After you launch the AMOS software you should have the figure below displaying, and there you can start the structural equation modelling (SEM) and both the graphs and models can be developed within the space provided.

Importing Data

To import data into Amos, click on the red icon with dotted square.

Then the window below displays where you click on the File Name, and you will need to navigate to the location of the data.

After you’ve imported the data, no apparent action will display but you can check the variables in your data by clicking the icon below.

With this your data is ready to be analysed. Some possible analyses will be introduced in the subsequent blogs.

Conclusion

In this blog, the SPSS AMOS has been introduced briefly and the blog focused on the importing of data into the workspace. AMOS primarily applies the structural equation modelling (SEM) for data analysis.