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Dates change by a week from Access to SPSS RRS feed

  • Question

  • I am experiencing a curious issue when importing data from Access 2016 (32-bit) to SPSS 24 (32-bit). The Access database contains historical dates, ranging from 1582 to 1800. Although SPSS correctly recognizes each variable that has a date-property (and therefore does not label them with a string-property), the program systematically introduces a change in the dates between the two programs. For example, the 6th of December 1729 in Access is converted in SPSS as the 30th of November 1729. The difference between the dates are the largest in 1582 (42 days) and then decreases by a day every four years until the difference is the smallest in 1753 (1 day). After 1753, the Access-dates are correctly transferred into SPSS.

    Firstly, I do not know why SPSS has wrongfully labelled 1581 (and subsequently 1585, 1589, etc.) as leap years. Historically, the leap years were 1584, 1588, etc. Second, I do not understand why SPSS has introduced this issue and leaves it be until the situation corrects itself in 1753. Is there a change I can make in Access to prevent this issue? Is there a way to correct SPSS and its understanding of leap years? Is there another solution to this issue?

    Thanks in advance!

    Thursday, April 5, 2018 3:51 PM

All replies

  • Hello LunnetteSoot,

    >>Is there a change I can make in Access to prevent this issue?

    Does the date in Access show correctly?

    >>Is there a way to correct SPSS and its understanding of leap years?

    What is SPSS? Do you mean the IBM SPSS Modeler?

    Best Regards,

    Terry


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    Friday, April 6, 2018 2:59 AM
  • I bet you SPSS = statistical package for the social sciences.

    Isn't it cool, at some level, that dates are not what they appear, and sometimes reasonable people can disagree? One example is "when is week 1 in the year?". There are at least 3 reasonable answers.

    To come back to 1753, this is a very auspicious year, and I bet you this has something to do with it: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3310569/what-is-the-significance-of-1-1-1753-in-sql-server


    -Tom. Microsoft Access MVP

    Friday, April 6, 2018 3:39 AM
  • Terry,

    Yes, Access shows the correct dates. I am working with historical sources and enter the dates as they are written in the sources in my Access database. The problem with these dates changing in SPSS is that this has a real impact on my calculated fields (people's age, duration of occupation, etc.). 

    IBM SPSS Statistics is a statististal tool for social sciences that I use because my version of Access (2016) does not allow me to create cross-tabs. I can't use Excel because this program only allows dates after 1900.

    Kind regards

    Friday, April 6, 2018 6:45 AM
  • Tom,

    I'm afraid that it is not a matter of accepting that dates are a construction in and of itself, but any difference in dates between Access and SPSS causes real issues for my calculated fields that are based on these dates. In my research, even the difference of a couple days or a week can introduce a large difference in the outcome. 

    Thank you for the link, very useful literature! 



    Friday, April 6, 2018 6:49 AM
  • Hello LunetteSoot,

    Since the data shows correctly in access, I think the issue is caused by SSPS.

    And SSPS is a third-part tool, so we would suggest you post your issue on its support forum for help.

    For current thread, I would move it to Off-Topic  forum.

    Thanks for understanding.

    Best Regards,

    Terry


    MSDN Community Support
    Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if not. This can be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. If you have any compliments or complaints to MSDN Support, feel free to contact MSDNFSF@microsoft.com.


    Friday, April 6, 2018 7:21 AM