If the world of research across the domains of Finance, Accounting and Economics are being looked at, then it can be observed easily, that the nature and kind of data being used in these domains differ from each other to a great extent. For analyzing the properties of a particular variable over a long period of time, time series data is used, and tools like vector auto regression, cointegration, conditional heteroscedasticity etc. are applied on the data. For analyzing properties of a longitudinal data in a comparative or pooled scenario, panel data is used, and tools like panel regression, Haussmann test, Chow test, Bounds test etc. are applied on the data. If any time series data are used for forecasting purpose, then primarily artificial neural network models are applied. Now it is clearly understood that there is no software available so far, which can encompass all of these analytical tools. Therefore, researchers have to look for various softwares, which cater to their specific requirements regarding data analysis.
There are various softwares available in the market, which are specifically used for analyzing a particular type of data, or can be used. Following are some of those:
• EViews: This menu based software is primarily used for time series data analysis. It has direct menu based options for testing cointegration, causality, conditional heteroscedasticity, optimum lag length etc.
• Stata: This command and menu based software is primarily used for panel data analysis. It has direct commands for fixed and random effect panel regressions, Haussmann tests, Chow tests etc.
• SPSS: This menu based software can be used for artificial neural network analysis. It has direct menu based options for creating nodes, layers, and running simulations.
For more information about various aspects of analytical tools available in the market, kindly browse through the pages of www.elkstatistics.com.