USEFULNESS OF SPSS SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Abstract

Faculty of Economics and Business (University of Maribor) offers complex and useful knowledge in the field of statistics, so among other things the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is part of students’ courses. SPSS is the most widely used statistical package that is applied by professionals as well as by higher education institutions, and it represents the important IT support. For that reason in this paper we present conceptual model of the usability of IT SPSS support, which was tested on a sample of 300 undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics and business. The basis for conceptual model developed in this paper represents the expanded TAM model (Technology Acceptance Model). The conceptual model was verified using structural equation modeling (SEM). Based on the set of basic models, we examined connections between formed constructs of the TAM model and in this way we presented the results of the conceptual models. The study reveals that there is a positive relationship between perceived usefulness of statistics and perceived usefulness of SPSS, perceived ease of use of SPSS, and attitude towards using the SPSS. Research model was analyzed by using the SmartPLS and WarpPLS approaches. The examination of the usefulness of statistical information support for educational institutions represents a starting point for further pedagogical and software development, and it also provides an opportunity to increase the value of SPSS in planning of IT support