ASC Software Register

Register of Software for Statistical and Social Survey Analysis, 2006

ISSN: 1475-8121, iv+94 pages, listing details of 214 packages

Order Form

This year is the 32^nd anniversary of the ASC software register, and this is the 17^th paper version to be published. The first edition in 1973 contained 79 systems, and of these three have survived right through to today: BMDP, Genstat and SPSS.

The first two editions were published in the SSRC Newsletter and later editions were produced in collaboration with “Computer Weekly”, the British Computer Society or the Market Research Society. Since 1995 (the 10^th edition) we have published them ourselves.

The tenth edition was the last to be published only on paper. In 1999 we completed the process of transferring the information to a database, accessible over the Internet. The ASC web site is now the primary medium for both the collection and dissemination of information for the register – we generally produce paper versions at the beginning of each year.

This paper version of the register is produced for distribution to ASC members (and for sale to others), but does not contain as much detail as the web pages, which show detailed attributes with each package. The web version has search facilities, is updated frequently and also contains direct links to the software producers and distributors.

This is the seventh year of the web-based version of the register, and at the time of writing we have 214 package entries (up from 207 in the 2005 edition), supplied by 145 organisations (up from 143). New material continues to arrive: 18 of the package entries are new to the register since the previous paper edition, and 13 new suppliers are included. Our current policy is to withdraw entries where the information has not been updated or confirmed within the last four years – 10 were withdrawn this time, and an additional entry was withdrawn by request. Both new entries and ones in danger of being withdrawn next time are indicated in the listing.

Overall, the register is firmly established at the level of around 200 entries that it maintained during the 80’s and 90’s, when older mainframe packages were being phased out but many new PC ones were appearing. The numbers dropped sharply when we started the web version, because we also undertook a major cull of old entries at that point. Now the web is the driver for the current level, partly because entry is easier, but also because many of the new entries are about web-based data capture and analysis systems.

About 45% of the current entries are new or have been confirmed or updated since the previous edition, and only 49 are more than 2 years old – we show the last time information was received. We solicit updates each year by e-mailing to all the contact addresses that we hold. Some of these bounce, and we suspect that an increasing number are being swallowed by spam filters, so we ask all readers to use their own contacts to encourage updates for old or missing entries. Most new entries are unsolicited, coming from suppliers who have been referred to the site or have found it while browsing. There are some obvious omissions, but we continue to hope that publication of this version will generate additional entries. Do keep an eye on the web site, where there is a list of recently updated information, and do chase missing package suppliers to make entries.

Data is collected through a questionnaire page on the ASC web site. Respondents are asked to give a textual description of the main features of the package, and to classify the main function of the system. A number of explicit features of packages are listed and the respondent indicates whether these apply to the package. It is relatively easy to update the questionnaire, so if you feel that important features are missing, please let us know  and we will consider additions.

The first few pages of this register list the features requested and the packages that claim them. This is followed by an alphabetic list of the packages, with the textual descriptions, an indication of price and the number of sites using the package. Where we know about a web site dedicated to the package, that is also shown.

The other major section of the register lists the organisations that have submitted information, with contact details and their (organisational) web addresses. This is not an exhaustive list of the suppliers of the listed packages. It is recommended that you visit the web site of the main developer of a package to find out about suppliers in your own area. We do include multiple suppliers for packages, not in any attempt to be exhaustive, but rather to indicate that a supplier handles a range of packages.

The information presented within these pages has been supplied by the various organisations completing the register questionnaire. The ASC presents this information in good faith, but can give no undertaking as to its correctness or suitability for any purpose. Any errors or inconsistencies in the information presented here are the responsibility of the respondents, but may be reported to the Register Manager.