Syntax Rules (MVA command)

  • A variables specification is required directly after the command name. The specification can be either a variable list or the keyword ALL.
  • The CATEGORICAL, MAXCAT, and ID subcommands, if used, must be placed after the variables list and before any other subcommand. These three subcommands can be in any order.
  • Any combination of description and estimation subcommands can be specified. For example, both the EM and REGRESSION subcommands can be specified in one MVA command.
  • Univariate statistics are displayed unless the NOUNIVARIATE subcommand is specified. Thus, if only a list of variables is specified, with no description or estimation subcommands, univariate statistics are displayed.
  • If a subcommand is specified more than once, only the last subcommand is honored.
  • The following words are reserved as keywords or internal commands in the MVA procedure: VARIABLES, SORT, NOSORT, DESCRIBE, and WITH. They cannot be used as variable names in MVA.
  • The tables Summary of Estimated Means and Summary of Estimated Standard Deviations are produced if you specify more than one way to estimate means and standard deviations. The methods include univariate (default), listwise, pairwise, EM, and regression. For example, these tables are produced when you specify both LISTWISE and EM.