PSPP-BUG: PSPP bugs (was: Re: Membership request for group PSPP)

[Ben Pfaff]

Hi Thomas, I'm redirecting this to the PSPP bug list.

On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 07:38:31AM -0400, Thomas Hargrove wrote:
> 1. When running a 2x2 crosstab (each variable has two responses) the
> system completely freezes and PSPP must be reloaded if the Chi Square
> box is checked under the Statistics tab. (The Chi Square check is the
> default setting on first runs of crosstabs). Now I know that,
> statistically, you shouldn’t run chi on a 2x2 grid. But complete
> shutdown seems an excessive response. Is this a bug?

This is a bug.  Thanks for reporting it.

Probably, this behavior depends on the data to some extent.  Can you
provide sample data, and instructions to use with it, that demonstrates
the freeze?

> 2. When launching PSPPIRE, the display boxes never seem to be
> correctly sized. My workaround has been to click the yellow and green
> buttons until the boxes display correctly. I tried running PSPPIRE in
> a terminal window to watch what was transpiring and got these
> statements:

[...]

> Any thoughts? My best guess is that both of these issues are PSPP
> specific and not the result of a bug in Mac Ports.

That is harder for me to answer because I do not use a Mac and I have
not observed this problem in the GNU/Linux version that I do use.

> BTW, I just wanted to amplify a little more on why PSPP is such an
> important tool. We are a brand new nonprofit organization trying to
> reduce the number of homicides in the United States by carefully
> monitoring data coming into the FBI and making that information
> available to homicide investigators and the general public. In some
> cases, we are filing lawsuits against police organizations that refuse
> to report homicides to the U.S. Justice Department and to the public.
> 
> We have no funding and, so, could not afford SPSS. But we can afford
> PSPP. These datafilee are extremely complex and require either SPSS or
> SAS to load. Therefore, you have made it possible for us to
> operate. Thank you!

Thanks for the kind words!  We are glad to have users.