Date:         Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:10:02 -0400
Reply-To:     Patricia Cleland <Patricia.Cleland@eqao.com>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Patricia Cleland <Patricia.Cleland@eqao.com>
Subject:      Rounding in output--accounting for only 100% of cases
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

As near as I can see, SPSS rounds up starting at .5 in frequency (pivot) tables.  That is 95.5=96 and 4.5=5.  This has the effect of accounting for 101% of your cases.  (This is particularly embarrassing when you're reporting the results of math assessments.  People who teach math notice things like that.)  What do other people and organizations do, besides issuing the 'Totals may not come to 100% due to rounding error" disclaimer?

Is there a way to get SPSS to use "banker's rounding" in the output?  That is, .5 rounds to the nearest even number, so that 1.5=2 and 2.5=2.  That way you round up half the time and down half the time and only account for 100% of your cases, i.e., 95.5=96 and 4.5=4 for a total 100.

Thanks,

Pat