Enhancing SPSS Proficiency and Operational Competencies Among 4th Year Statistics Students at Wolkite University: An Action Research Study

Statistics is essential in daily life, making it crucial for educators and learners to master its use and interpretation. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software helps avoid mathematical errors and ensures accurate results for researchers, students, and educators. Statistical analysis is crucial for drawing meaningful conclusions in modern research across various disciplines. It also helps students present their research effectively and empowers professionals to interact with data, promoting creativity and innovation in their fields. The main objective of the research was to improve the skills of Wolkite University's fourth-year statistics students by enhancing their operational skills in statistical SPSS software. The data from the student questionnaire was tabulated and analysed using descriptive statistical methods, and the student's performance before and after the training was recorded using inferential statistics. The SPSS version 27 software was used to analysed the collected data. From the descriptive statistics of the total 23 (100%) students, the proportion of male and female students is 20 (86.96%) and 3 (13.04%), respectively. Before the training, of the total of 23 (100%) students, 19 (82.6%) had good skills, and the remaining 4 (17.4%) students had very good skills. However, 13 (56.5%) students had excellent skills after training, and the remaining 10 (43.5%) had excellent skills in SPSS software. The proposed actions for increasing the performance of students in SPSS were focused on improving basic statistical data using SPSS statistical software.