User Guide

151
Data Transform
ations
Figure 7-16
Date and Time Wizard introduction screen
 Learn how dates and times are represented in SPSS. This choice leads to a screen
that pro
vides a brief overview of date/time variables in SPSS. By clicking on the
Help button, it also provides a link to more detailed information.
 Create a date/time variable f rom a string c ontaining a date or time. Use this option
to create a date/time variable from a string variable. For example, you have a
string
variable representing dates in the form mm/dd/yyyy and want to create a
date/time variable from this.
 Create a date/time variable from variables holding parts of dates or times. This
choice allows you to construct a date/time variable from a set of existing
varia
bles. For example, you have a variable that represents the month (as an
integer), a second that represents the day of the month, and a third that represents
the year. You can combine these three variables into a single date/time variable.
 Calculate with dates and times. Use this option to add or subtract values from
date/
time variables. For example, you can calculate the duration of a process
by subtracting a variable representing the start time of the process from another
variable representing the end time of the process.