Roles

Some dialogs support predefined roles that can be used to pre-select variables for analysis. When you open one of these dialogs, variables that meet the role requirements will be automatically displayed in the destination list(s). Available roles are:

Input. The variable will be used as an input (e.g., predictor, independent variable).

Target. The variable will be used as an output or target (e.g., dependent variable).

Both. The variable will be used as both input and output.

None. The variable has no role assignment.

Partition. The variable will be used to partition the data into separate samples for training, testing, and validation.

Split. Included for round-trip compatibility with IBM® SPSS® Modeler. Variables with this role are not used as split-file variables in IBM SPSS Statistics.

• By default, all variables are assigned the Input role. This includes data from external file formats and data files from versions of IBM SPSS Statistics prior to version 18.
• Role assignment only affects dialogs that support role assignment. It has no effect on command syntax.

To assign roles

1. Make the Data Editor the active window.
2. Double-click a variable name at the top of the column in Data View or click the Variable View tab.
3. Select the role from the list in the Role cell for the variable.