College of Graduate Studies

Software packages for Postgraduate students

Research Resources and Support for Postgraduate students

Software Packages

Software

Description

Availability

Procedure

SPSS

SPSS Statistics is a powerful statistical software platform with a user-friendly interface.

Available to all staff and postgraduate students.

To obtain SPSS:

Request to CGS Stats Support at Statssupport@unisa.ac.za

See: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ45kJKYgpbnIQC7Z7Q61o9dFG9n99Zyt&disable_polymer=true/ for online materials on how to use SPSS.

There are a number of online SPSS resources.

IBM SPSS resources:
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spss-statistics
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spss-statistics/29.0.0

Other online resources (including at other Universities):
https://cognitiveclass.ai/courses/statistics-101/
https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/spss/
http://calcnet.mth.cmich.edu/org/spss/toc.htm
https://www.spss-tutorials.com/
https://spsstools.net/en/resources/links/online-spss-tutorials/#GeneralTutorials
https://sites.tufts.edu/datalab/learning-statistics/stats-online-tutorials/spss-resources/
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/sociology/getting-started-spss/content-section-0

YouTube SPSS resources:

A large number of YouTube video tutorials are available for SPSS.  Search for “SPSS” on YouTube.com

SAS

SAS Provides advanced statistical analysis, data analytics, machine learning and AI tools.

Available to all staff and students, including undergraduate students (site licence)

To obtain SAS:

  • Staff: contact ICT-HELP@unisa.ac.za requesting installation of SAS.

  • Postgraduate students: request supervisor to email ICT-HELP requesting installation on your behalf.

  • Undergraduate students: the module lecturer will have provided access to SAS together with the course materials.

There are several options to increase your SAS skills.

  • Formal SAS classroom courses
  • Free e-learning
  • Licensed e-Learning
  • Free tutorials (videos)
  • Free teaching materials
  • Free SAS books

 

Free e-learning (introductory) can be access via this link.

 

UNISA has licensed access (unlimited) to the following SAS e-learning courses:

(Use Unisa’s SAS Site Number 51401706 when accessing these courses)

http://support.sas.com/training/elearn/renewal.html

 

  • SAS Programming 1: Essentials
  • SAS Programming 2: Data Manipulation Techniques
  • SAS Programming 3: Advanced Techniques and Efficiencies
  • SAS Macro Language 1: Essentials
  • SAS Macro Language 2: Advanced Techniques
  • SAS SQL I: Essentials
  • SAS Enterprise Guide 1: Querying and Reporting
  • SAS Enterprise Guide 2: Advanced Tasks and Query
  • SAS Enterprise Guide: ANOVA, Regression, and Logistic Regression
  • SAS Statistics 1: Introduction to ANOVA, Regression, and Logistic Regression
  • Introduction for Statistical Concepts
  • Predictive Modelling Using Logistic Regression

 

Free tutorials (videos) can be accessed at
https://video.sas.com/detail/videos/how-to-tutorials
New to SAS or need to learn the basics of SAS programming and analytics? These videos are great ways to start your SAS adventure.

Free teaching materials can be accessed at (for teaching staff):
https://www.sas.com/en_za/learn/academic-programs/resources/free-teaching-materials.html 
Everything you need to teach a SAS course at the undergraduate or graduate level – absolutely free. Building a class from scratch can be challenging. We make it easy by providing free teaching materials, developed by experts – whether you're teaching introductory statistics or a graduate-level course in quantitative analysis.

Free SAS books can be accessed at (for teaching staff):
https://www.sas.com/en_za/learn/academic-programs/resources/free-book-evaluation-copies.html
Qualified instructors at accredited academic institutions can get free academic evaluation copies – up to two per semester – of some of the most popular books offered by SAS. Evaluation copies are free and are yours to keep, whether or not you adopt the book for classroom use.

Mathematica and Wolfram System Modeller (WSM)

Wolfram Mathematica is a software system with built-in libraries for technical computing that allow symbolic algebra, machine learning, statistics, symbolic computation, amongst others.

Wolfram System Modeller (WSM) is a platform for engineering as well as life-science modelling and simulation for cyber-physical systems.

Wolfram Mathematica and Wolfram System Modeller and Wolfram are available to all staff and students (including undergraduate).

To obtain Mathematica or WSM, see instructions to the right.

For Mathematica or WSM, a personal license key is required for each staff member or student.

Licenses are automatically generated and sent to staff / students if they use their @unisa.ac.za or @mylife.unisa.ac.za email address when registering a Wolfram ID on Wolfram’s website.

  1. To obtain this license key:
    Create a personal Wolfram ID on the Mathematica Wolfram website https://user.wolfram.com  using @unisa.ac.za or @mylife.unisa.ac.za email address.
  2. Once this personal Wolfram ID has been activated, the following link should be used to request a personal license:

 

Staff: https://user.wolfram.com/portal/requestAK/7b601349c740124606acd389e84cb4316b258b13  

Students: https://user.wolfram.com/portal/requestAK/f01e0c1ad8d3a783181b894818f70292a5d0fb5a 

  1. These links will only work if a @unisa.ac.za or @mylife.unisa.ac.za email address was used to create the Wolfram ID. Other email addresses will allow a Wolfram ID to be created but will not generate a license.

 

  1. For Wolfram System Modeller (WSM) for Engineering students: same procedure as for Mathematica, using the following link to obtain the license activation key: https://user.wolfram.com/portal/requestAK/6f04e59e6dd59116098812da34ef2f067c41490a 

 

Additional resources:

A number of online Wolfram resources are available.
https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/
https://www.wolfram.com/system-modeler/

Getting started with Mathematica or WSM:
https://www.wolfram.com/start

WolframU – free online courses on Mathematica and WSM, covering Mathematics, Data Analytics, Machine Learning and AI, Finance, Visualization, amongst others: https://www.wolfram.com/wolfram-u/

Wolfram Video resources:
https://www.wolfram.com/broadcast

Documentation:
https://reference.wolfram.com/language
https://www.wolfram.com/language/fast-introduction-for-programmers/en/
https://www.wolfram.com/language/fast-introduction-for-math-students/en/

Matlab

MATLAB is a programming and numeric computing platform used by engineers and scientists to analyse data, develop algorithms, and create models.

Available to all staff and postgraduate research students.

To obtain Matlab:

  • Staff: contact ICT-HELP@unisa.ac.za requesting installation of Matlab. Must be on Campus, or connected via VPN. Licence in Matlab must be configured to point to lic.unisa.ac.za.

 

Licence is currently available on campus only, or via VPN from off campus (VPN currently only provided to staff).

 

  • Postgraduate students: request supervisor to email ICT-HELP requesting installation on your behalf. Licence in Matlab must be configured to point to lic.unisa.ac.za.

    For students, currently only available on Campus or any regional centre.

 

Additional resources:

Matlab YouTube tutorials, training and Master Classes: 
https://www.youtube.com/@MATLAB

Examples and tutorials on a wide range of topics: 
https://blogs.mathworks.com/

Matlab tutorial videos:
https://blogs.mathworks.com/videos/

Student focussed resources:
https://blogs.mathworks.com/student-lounge/

Atlas TI

Qualitative data analysis. Assists researchers to uncover and systematically analyse complex phenomena hidden in unstructured data.

All staff and students.

Request to CGS Stats Support at Statssupport@unisa.ac.za  

Office 365 (Microsoft Office Apps)

Microsoft Office Productivity suite, including Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.

All staff and students

Access via https://www.office.com/.
Sign in using Unisa myLife email and password to download MS Office.

RefWorks

This is reference management tool.

Soon the library will be subscribing to EndNote. Both software packages allow researchers to manage  references and full-text documents, and citations while writing.

Mendeley will be accessible  as a free management tool and will no longer be supported by the library. Some of its feature will be limited.

Unlimited access.
Available to all staff & all students.  Alumni access included if the account was created while still a Unisa student.

Managed by Library.  Access via Library guides, under Reference Management Tools

https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/reference_management_tools
Contact H Napaai at:
napaasg@unisa.ac.za

Research-Africa.Net

Provides the African research, science and development
communities with the most comprehensive online system of funding opportunities and research-related news.

All staff and Students

Managed by Library.  Access via Library website A-Z list of online resources.

https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/Search-library-resources

FREE ONLINE RESOURCES

Rayyan

Systematic literature reviews

Free

https://www.rayyan.ai/

ResearchRabbit

ResearchRabbit is an innovative “citation-based literature mapping tool” available online.

Free

https://www.researchrabbit.ai/

SageResearchMethods

Sage Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process.

Free

https://methods.sagepub.com/

Emerald

Emerald Publishing is leading digital-first publisher, commissioning, curating and showcasing research that can make a real difference. 

Free

https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/

Help and guidance on how to plan and optimise your research, data and insight collection, and analysis.
https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/how-to/research

 

Last modified: 2023/10/10