In SPSS, what does Syntax refer to?

• A. Predefined written commands that instruct SPSS what to do
• B. A data transformation
• C. A file path
• D. An output viewer

Answer: (A)

Syntax in SPSS is the scripting language—the set of written commands you create to tell SPSS exactly what analyses to run, how to transform data, and how to format or save outputs. Using syntax lets you automate tasks, reproduce analyses on different datasets, and batch-process work by running a single script rather than clicking through menus. For example, you can write commands to run descriptive statistics, recode variables, or export results. It’s not the data transformation itself, which is an operation you perform via commands, nor is it a file path or an output viewer.