### 15.1 DESCRIPTIVES

    DESCRIPTIVES
            /VARIABLES=var_list
            /MISSING={VARIABLE,LISTWISE} {INCLUDE,NOINCLUDE}
            /FORMAT={LABELS,NOLABELS} {NOINDEX,INDEX} {LINE,SERIAL}
            /SAVE
            /STATISTICS={ALL,MEAN,SEMEAN,STDDEV,VARIANCE,KURTOSIS,
                         SKEWNESS,RANGE,MINIMUM,MAXIMUM,SUM,DEFAULT,
                         SESKEWNESS,SEKURTOSIS}
            /SORT={NONE,MEAN,SEMEAN,STDDEV,VARIANCE,KURTOSIS,SKEWNESS,
                   RANGE,MINIMUM,MAXIMUM,SUM,SESKEWNESS,SEKURTOSIS,NAME}
                  {A,D}

The `DESCRIPTIVES` procedure reads the active dataset and outputs descriptive statistics requested by the user. In addition, it can optionally compute Z-scores.

The `VARIABLES` subcommand, which is required, specifies the list of variables to be analyzed. Keyword `VARIABLES` is optional.

All other subcommands are optional:

The `MISSING` subcommand determines the handling of missing variables. If `INCLUDE` is set, then user-missing values are included in the calculations. If `NOINCLUDE` is set, which is the default, user-missing values are excluded. If `VARIABLE` is set, then missing values are excluded on a variable by variable basis; if `LISTWISE` is set, then the entire case is excluded whenever any value in that case has a system-missing or, if `INCLUDE` is set, user-missing value.

The `FORMAT` subcommand has no effect. It is accepted for backward compatibility.

The `SAVE` subcommand causes `DESCRIPTIVES` to calculate Z scores for all the specified variables. The Z scores are saved to new variables. Variable names are generated by trying first the original variable name with Z prepended and truncated to a maximum of 8 characters, then the names ZSC000 through ZSC999, STDZ00 through STDZ09, ZZZZ00 through ZZZZ09, ZQZQ00 through ZQZQ09, in that sequence. In addition, Z score variable names can be specified explicitly on `VARIABLES` in the variable list by enclosing them in parentheses after each variable. When Z scores are calculated, PSPP ignores `TEMPORARY`, treating temporary transformations as permanent.

The `STATISTICS` subcommand specifies the statistics to be displayed:

``ALL``

  All of the statistics below.

``MEAN``

  Arithmetic mean.

``SEMEAN``

  Standard error of the mean.

``STDDEV``

  Standard deviation.

``VARIANCE``

  Variance.

``KURTOSIS``

  Kurtosis and standard error of the kurtosis.

``SKEWNESS``

  Skewness and standard error of the skewness.

``RANGE``

  Range.

`MINIMUM`

  Minimum value.

`MAXIMUM`

  Maximum value.

`SUM`

  Sum.

`DEFAULT`

  Mean, standard deviation of the mean, minimum, maximum.

`SEKURTOSIS`

  Standard error of the kurtosis.

`SESKEWNESS`

  Standard error of the skewness.

The `SORT` subcommand specifies how the statistics should be sorted. Most of the possible values should be self-explanatory. `NAME` causes the statistics to be sorted by name. By default, the statistics are listed in the order that they are specified on the `VARIABLES` subcommand. The `A` and `D` settings request an ascending or descending sort order, respectively.