Creating a New Dataset of Random Variables

This procedure creates a new dataset that contains variables with values that are drawn from any of a set of probability distributions plus an ID variable. The generated variables are optionally transformed to produce correlated variables according to various correlation structures.

About this task

This is a step-by step procedure to create a new dataset containing variables with values that are drawn from any of a set of probability distributions plus an ID variable.

Procedure

  1. Name for New Dataset: Enter a name for the dataset to be created. If that dataset name is already in use, it will be closed.
  2. Number of Random Variables to Create: Specify the number of variables to create.
  3. Number of Cases to Create Specify the number of cases.
  4. Distribution of Variables Choose a probability distribution to use to generate the variables. For the selected distribution, enter the appropriate number of parameter values in the First, Second, and Third Parameter fields. For details about the parameterizations, see the Help on the random number creation functions in the Compute dialog box or the Transformations section of the Command Syntax Reference, except for the triangular distribution. Always use the period as the decimal point.