Compare spss sas minitab and stata?

Answer 1

SPSS is user friendly and for most people it is sufficient for all needs. I am not too familiar with Minitab but I have been told that it too is easy to use.

SAS is by far a more powerful program. It handles more advanced statistical methods and more. It has excellent programming ability, which SPSS and Minitab lack, and it allows quite a bit of database management activity (one of those things that you never knew you needed until you start using it). The drawback is that while SPSS is not inexpensive, SAS costs a fortune.

STATA is between SPSS and SAS in terms of capability. I understand that the price variations are also favorable for STATA. It is less user friendly but that may be a price of flexibility. ... To get power and low cost, at the price of an investment of learning time, consider freeware "The R project". (Google search it.