SigmaPlot Technical Support
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Types of Questions SPSS Science Technical Support Can Answer
"What does this mean ... "

   * Clarify SigmaPlot definitions, assumptions, computational methods and
     output presentation.
   * Identify procedures that will produce particular statistical analyses
     which are provided in the manual/help documents.
   * Clarify documentation examples which may not be clear or may be
     ambiguous. Expand on the example or definitions if necessary to
     comprehensively define a concept.

In addition to the above, Technical Support has a fundamental
responsibility to the customer to help use what is in the documentation to
get a specific task done by expanding on what is documented and giving an
example of how to do it. This does not include major data restructuring or
getting SPSS to do something in a complicated way that another module or
third party product will do simply.

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Types of Problems SPSS Science Technical Support Cannot Address

It is not the responsibility of Technical Support to show the customer how
to manipulate and plot/analyze their data in SigmaPlot or go beyond the
standard documented examples to provide sophisticated programming
solutions.

   * Writing original syntax for a customer using the customer's data.
   * Debugging customer written macros, scripts or input programs.
   * Writing elaborate programs, even if using sample data, which produce
     results far beyond those available through the standard SPSS
     procedures.
   * Making statistical recommendations for the proper analyses.
   * Consultation regarding the appropriateness of various statistical
     procedures
   * Explaining basic statistical concepts to a customer because the
     customer has no statistical training and has not read the manuals.

Situations such as the above will be referred to the Consulting Department.
Detailed examples follow.

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What products are supported by SPSS Science Technical Support

SigmaPlot, SigmaPlot Enzyme Kinetics module, SigmaStat, SigmaScan Pro,
SigmaGel, and SigmaPlot Electrophysiology module

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What to do before contacting SPSS Science Technical Support

In general SPSS Technical Support can answer 80-85% of all the calls that
come into the department on the first contact. However there are a few
things that you can do to help us out:

  1. Read the manual. A large number of the questions we receive can be
     answered by reading the manual.
  2. Check the help files. We have added numerous sections that explain
     frequently asked questions.
  3. Carefully read the error message. Most error messages will indicate
     which command or command lines caused the error. Some will actually
     point to the offending text.

When contacting Technical Support, please provide the following:

  1. Your SPSS ID or serial number available when you call. The Support
     Representatives must have this information in order to verify your
     eligibility for Technical Support.
  2. The product name with version number (e.g. SigmaPlot 5.05) and the
     release of the operating system (e.g. Windows 98, NT etc.) you are
     running on.
  3. If appropriate, the error number and message, as well as the command
     file that produced the error message and the resulting output.

 Note:

    * Be prepared to engage in trial and error investigative techniques.
      Often we can quickly deduce that your problem could be caused by one
      of several things, but we need to systematically find the cause.
    * A Technical Support Representative may need to refer you to a page
      in a manual, so have available manuals near the phone when you call.



  SPSS Technical Support Worldwide: http://www.spss.com/tech/techworld.html

         Submit A Question: http://www.spss.com/tech/MailForm.html

                SPSS Science Training Contact: 800-841-0056

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