Introduction to the use of

Statistical and
Econometric Software
School of Statistics
University of the Philippines Diliman

What is EViews?

EViews provides sophisticated data analysis,

regression, and forecasting tools on Windowsbased computers.
Areas where EViews can be useful:
Scientific data analysis and evaluation;
Financial analysis;
Macroeconomic forecasting;
Simulation;
Sales forecasting;
Cost analysis.

and,

The EViews window

When you launch the program, you will see the EViews window.

Title bar

The EViews window

Selecting an item from
the menu will open a
drop-down menu
containing additional
commands.
Main
menu

Dropdown
menu

A grayed-out
command means the
command is not
currently available.
An ellipse ()
following the command
means that a dialog
box (prompting you for
additional input) will
appear before the
command is executed.
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The EViews window

A right-triangle ()
means that additional
(cascading) menus will
appear if you select this
item.
Main
menu

Dropdown
menu

A check mark ()
indicates that the
option listed in the
menu is currently in
effect.
Most menu items
contain underlined
characters representing
keyboard shortcuts
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The EViews window

Command
window

EViews commands
may be typed in the
command window.
The command is
executed as soon as
you hit enter.

The EViews window

The area in the middle
of the window is the
work area where
EViews will display the
various object windows
that it creates.
Work
area

Only the active

window has a darkened
titlebar.

The EViews window

The status line
contains messages
sent to you by EViews,
the default directory,
name of the default
database, and name of
the active workfile.

Status line
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EViews
2. Workfile Basics

What is a workfile?
Most of the work in EViews will involve
objects that are contained in a workfile, so
the first step in any project will be to create
a new workfile or to load an existing
workfile into memory.
Workfiles hold a variety of EViews objects,
such as equations, graphs, and matrices.

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What is a workfile?

Workfiles primary purpose is to hold the

contents of datasets.
A

dataset is defined as a data rectangle,

consisting of a set of observations on one or
more variables.
Each observation in the dataset has a unique
identifier or ID. IDs contain important
information about the observation, such as a
date, a name, or an identifying code.
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Creating a workfile

Ways to create a workfile:

1.

Describing the structure of the workfile;

2.

employed if data will be entered into EViews by

typing or copy-and-pasting data.

Opening and reading data from a foreign

data source.

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Creating a workfile by describing its

structure

To create a new
workfile,
STEP 1: Select
File/New/Workfile
from the main menu
to open the Workfile
Create dialog.

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Creating a workfile by describing its

structure

STEP 2: Select the appropriate workfile

structure type:
1.

Unstructured/ Undated:

2.

For cross section data

Prompt: number of observations

Dated-regular frequency:

For time series data

Prompts:
1.
2.
3.

Frequency (Annual, Semi-annual, Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly,

Daily-5 day week, Daily-7 day week)
Start date
End date

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Creating a workfile by describing its

structure
3. Balanced Panel:

For panel data

Prompts:
1.

2.
3.
4.

Frequency (Annual, Semi-annual, Quarterly, Monthly,

Weekly, Daily-5 day week, Daily-7 day week)
Start date
End date
Number of cross sections

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Creating a workfile by describing its

structure

STEP 3: Click OK. The Workfile window

containing c and resid will pop up.

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Creating a workfile by reading from

a foreign data source

STEP 1: Select File/Open/Foreign Data as Workfile to

bring up the standard file Open dialog.
STEP 2: Click the Files of type combo box and select
from the list of the file types that EViews supports (Excel,
SAS, SPSS, Stata, Text, etc)
STEP 3: Select your file and click OPEN.

Note: A simple alternative to opening the file from the menu

is to drag-and-drop your foreign file into the EViews
window.

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Importing data
Entering data
For small datasets in printed form, you may wish
to enter the data by typing at the keyboard.
STEP 1: To open a temporary spreadsheet
window in which you will enter the data, choose
Quick/Empty Group (Edit Series) from the main
menu.
STEP 2: Do the following steps:
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Importing data
Entering data

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Importing data
Entering data
STEP 3: If you are done typing the data,
name the untitled group by clicking the
Name button.

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10

Importing data
Copy-and-pasting
Useful for small datasets and other software applications
(ex. Excel)
STEP 1: Highlight and copy the cells (including the
variable headings/names) to be imported into EViews.
STEP 2: In EViews, create or load a workfile and choose
Quick/Empty Group (Edit Series) from the main menu.
STEP 3: Place the cursor and click the upper-left cell just
to the right of the second obs label.
STEP 4: Select Edit/Paste from the main menu (or
simply use the right mouse click to paste).
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Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
STEP 1: Make sure you have an open workfile
and that the workfile window is active.
STEP 2: Click on Proc/Import/Read Text-LotusExcel You will see a standard File Open dialog
box. Select a file type and file name.
STEP 3: Click OK. EViews fill open a dialog
prompting you for additional information about
the import procedure.
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11

Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
(spreadsheet import)

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Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
(ASCII text files import)

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12

The workfile window:

Title bar

In the title bar you

will see the workfile
designation followed
by the workfile name.
If the workfile has
been saved to disk,
you will see the
name and the full
disk path.
Here, the name of
the workfile is
HPRICE.

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The workfile window:

Button bar

The button bar

provides you with
easy access to
useful workfile
operations.
Note that the
buttons are simply
shortcuts to items
that may be
accessed from the
main EViews menu..

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13

The workfile window:

Workfile range
and structure

Just click range to

structure or resize
your workfile.

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The workfile window:

Current
sample

The sample
displays the range of
observations that are
to be used in
calculations and
statistical operations.
Just click sample
to change the range
of observations you
want to use.

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The workfile window:

The main portion of
the window is the
workfile directory
where you will see
the contents (which
are called objects)
of your workfile page.

Workfile
directory

Click to scroll
page tabs

Workfile page tabs (click to

set active page)

Click here to create a

new workfile page
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The workfile window:

Current filter
(click to
change)

When working with

workfiles containing
a large number of
objects, you may use
filter to instruct
EViews to display
only a subset of
objects in the
workfile window.
Just click filter to
choose which objects
to display.

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Saving a workfile
To save your workfile, push the SAVE
button on the workfile toolbar.
You can also save a file using the
File/Save As or File/Save choices
from the main menu.

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Workfile save options

When you click on the SAVE button,
EViews will display a dialog showing the
current global default options for storing
data in your workfile.
Single vs. Double precision

Single

precision will create smaller files on

disk, but saves the data with fewer digits of
accuracy (7 versus 16).

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16

Workfile save options

Use compression
Choosing

this option will reduce the size of

the workfile on the disk.
A compressed workfile, however, will not be
readable by versions of EViews prior to 5.0.

Prompt on each save

Unchecking

this option instructs EViews to

hide this dialog on subsequent saves.

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Example on Creating a Workfile

Create an Eviews workfile from the Excel

file WAGE.XLS (cross section data)

Create an Eviews workfile from the Excel

file EXPORT.XLS (time series data)

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17

EViews
3. Object Basics

What is an object?
Information in EViews is stored in objects.
Each object consists of a collection of
information related to a particular area of
analysis.
Associated with each type of object is a
set of views and procedures which can be
used with the information contained in the
object.

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18

What is an object?

OBJECTS

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Object types

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19

Most common object types

SERIES
A collection of information related to a set of
observations on a particular variable;
Contain mostly numeric information;
Has a spreadsheet view, which shows the
raw data, a line graph view, distributional
plots, etc;
It also allows you to compute simple
hypothesis tests and statistics for various
subgroups.

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Most common object types

EQUATION
A collection of information related to the
relationship between a collection of variables;
Contain complete information about the
specification of the equation, the estimation
results, as well as references to the underlying
data used to construct the estimates;
Has a representation view showing he
equation specification, an actual-fitted-residual
view containing plots of fitted values and
residuals, etc
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Basic object operations

Creating objects
STEP

1: First make certain

that you have an open
workfile.
STEP 2: Select Object/New
Object from the main
menu. You will then see the
New Object dialog box.
STEP 3: Click on the type of
object you want, optionally
provide a name for the
object, and then click OK.
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Basic object operations

Selecting and opening objects

The

easiest way to select objects is to point-and-click

(for selecting multiple objects, hold the control button
while clicking the objects).
Another way of selecting objects is clicking the View
button in the workfile toolbar.
Keep in mind that if you are selecting a large number
of items, you may find it useful to use the display filter
before beginning to select items.

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Basic object operations

Selecting and opening objects

To

open an object window, double click on the

selected object.
If you select multiple graphs or series and
double click, a pop-up menu appears giving
you an option of opening new objects (group,
equation, VAR, graph) or displaying each of
the selected objects in its own window.
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The object window

Object windows are the windows that are

displayed when you open an object or object
container.
An objects window will contain either a view of
the object, or the results of an object procedure.
One of the more important features of EViews is
that you can display object windows for a
number of items at the same time.
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The object window

example: the equation window
Main menu

Workfile titlebar
(inactive)

Equation titlebar
(active)
Equation
window toolbar

Workfile
window

Equation
window

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The object window

Buttons found on all object toolbars

View
Lets

you change the view that is displayed in the

object window; the available choices will differ,
depending upon the object type.

Proc
Provides

access to a menu of procedures that are

available for the object.

Object
Lets

you manage your objects; you can store the

object on disk, name, delete, copy, or print the object.

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The object window

Buttons found on all object toolbars

Print
Lets

you print the current view of the object

(the window contents).

Name
Allows

you to name or rename the object.

Freeze
Creates

a new object graph, table, or text

object out of the current view.
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Working with objects

Naming objects

You must name an object if you wish to keep its results.

If you do not name an object, it will be called UNTITLED.
Unnamed objects are not saved with the workfile, so they are
deleted when the workfile is closed and removed from memory.
When you give an object a name, the name will appear in the
directory of the workfile, and the object will be saved as part of
the workfile when the workfile is saved.
The following names are reserved and cannot be used as object
names: ABS, ACOS, AND, AR, ASIN, C, CON, CNORM, COEF,
COS, D, DLOG, DNORM, ELSE, ENDIF, EXP, LOG, LOGIT,
LPT1, LPT2, MA, NA, NOT, NRND, OR, PDL, RESID, RND,
SAR, SIN, SMA, SQR, and THEN.
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Working with objects

Naming objects
STEP

1: Open the object

window.
STEP 2: Click the Name
button and the Object
Name window will appear.
STEP 3: Enter the name,
and optionally, a display
name to be used when
labeling the object tables
and graphs.
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Working with objects

Labeling objects
EViews

objects have label fields where you

can provide extended annotation and
commentary.

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Working with objects

Labeling objects
STEP

1: Open the object

window.
STEP 2: Click the View
button and the click Label.
STEP 3: You can edit any
of the fields, except the Last
Update field. Simply click in
the field cell that you want
to edit.
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Working with objects

Copy-and-pasting objects
Copying

an object means EViews will create a

new untitled object containing an exact copy
of the original object.
The new object duplicates all features of the
original except for the name.
When two workfiles are in memory at the
same time, you may copy objects between
them using copy-and-paste.
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Working with objects

Copy-and-pasting objects
STEP

1: Highlight the objects you want to copy in the

source workfile.
STEP 2: Select Edit/Copy from the main menu (right
clicking the object also works).
STEP 3: Select the destination workfile by clicking on
its titlebar.
STEp 4: Select either Edit/Paste or Edit/Paste
Special from the main menu (or simply Paste or
Paste Special following a right mouse click).

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Working with objects

Freezing objects
The

second method of copying information from an

object is to freeze a view of the object.
If you click Object/Freeze Output or press the Freeze
button on the objects toolbar, a table or graph object
is created that duplicates the current view of the
original object.
The primary feature of freezing an object is that the
tables and graphs created by freezing may be edited
for presentations or reports.
Frozen views do not change when the workfile
sample or data change.
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Working with objects

Deleting objects
STEP

1: To delete an object or objects from

your workfile, select the object/s in the
workfile directory.
STEP 2: Click Delete or Object/Delete
Selected on the workfile toolbar.
EViews will prompt you to make certain that
you wish to delete the objects.
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Working with objects

Printing objects

To print the currently displayed

view of an object, push the
Print button on the object
window toolbar.
You can also choose File/Print
or Object/Print on the main
EViews menu bar.
EViews will open a Print dialog
containing the default print
settings for the type of output
you are printing.
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EViews
4. Basic Data Handling

Basic data handling

The process of entering, reading, editing, manipulating,

and generating data forms the foundation of most data
analyses.
EViews provides you with a sophisticated set of data
manipulation tools that make the task as simple and
straightforward as possible.
There are three cornerstones of data handling in
EViews: the two most common data objects, series and
groups, and the use of samples which define the set of
observations in the workfile that we wish to use in
analysis.
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Data objects

The actual numeric values

that make up your data will
generally be held in one or
more of EViews data
objects.
For most users, series and
groups will by far be the
most important objects, so
they will be the primary
focus of our discussion.
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Series

An EViews series contains a set of observations on a

numeric variable.
For series in dated workfiles, the observations are
presumed to be observed regularly over time.
For undated data, the observations are not assumed to
follow any particular frequency.
Note that series object may only be used to hold
numeric data. If you wish to work with alphanumeric
data, you should employ alpha series.

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Series
Creating a series
STEP

1: In the main menu,

select Object/New Object
STEP 2: Select Series. You
may, at this time, provide a
name for the series.
STEP 3: Click OK. EViews
will open a spreadsheet
view of the new series
object.
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Series
Creating a series
You

may also create the numeric or alpha series by

entering a series or alpha command of the form:
series series_name = series_expr
alpha alpha_name = alpha_expr
If you leave out the right-hand side assignment portion
of the commands, the series or alpha will be initialized
to missing values (NA and blank strings, respectively).

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Series
Changing the spreadsheet display
Column widths
To

resize the width of a column, simply move

your mouse over the column separator until
the icon changes, then drag the column to its
desired width.

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Series
Changing the spreadsheet
display
Display type

The series display type, which is

listed in the combo box in the
series toolbar, determines how the
series spreadsheet window shows
your data.
Changing the display of your series
values does not alter the underlying
values in the series, it only modifies
the values shown in the
spreadsheet.
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Series
Changing the spreadsheet
display
Display formats
You

may customize the way

that numbers or characters in
your series are displayed in the
spreadsheet by setting the
series display properties.
To display the dialog, click on
Properties in the series toolbar.
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Series
Changing the spreadsheet display
Narrow versus Wide
The

narrow display displays the observations for the

series in a single column, with date labels in the
margin. The typical series spreadsheet display will
use this display format.
The wide display arranges the observations from left
to right and top to bottom, with the label for the first
observation in the row displayed in the margin.

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Series
Changing the spreadsheet display
Narrow versus Wide
Wide

display

For dated workfiles, EViews will, if possible,

arrange the data in a form which matches the
frequency of the data. (Semi-annual data will be
displayed with 2 observations per row, quarterly
data will contain 4 observations per row, etc)

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Series
Changing the
spreadsheet display
Narrow versus Wide
To

change the display

to show the
observations in your
series in multiple
columns by clicking on
the Wide +/- button on
the spreadsheet view
toolbar.
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Series
Changing the spreadsheet display
Sample subset display
By

default, all observations in the workfile are

displayed, even those observations not in the current
sample.
By pressing Smpl +/- you can toggle between
showing all observation in the workfile, and showing
only those observation included in the current sample.
Note that if you switch to wide display, EViews
automatically turns off the display filter so that all
observations in the workfile are displayed.

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Series
Editing a series
STEP 1: Open the spreadsheet view of the series.
STEP 2: Make certain that the spreadsheet window is in
edit mode. Use the Edit +/- button on the toolbar to
toggle between edit mode and protected mode.
STEP 3: To change a value for an observation, select
the cell, type in the value, and press ENTER.
Note: When editing series values, you should pay
particular attention to the series display format, which
tells you the units in which your series are displayed.

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Series
Editing a series
STEP 4: When you have finished editing,
you should protect yourself from
inadvertently changing values of your data
by clicking on Edit +/- to turn off edit mode.

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Series
Inserting and deleting observations in a series
STEP 1: Open the spreadsheet view of the
series and make certain that the spreadsheet
window is in edit mode.
STEP 2: Click on the cell where you want the
new observation to appear.
STEP 3: Right click and select InsDel. You will
see a dialog asking how many observations you
wish to insert or delete at the current position
and whether you wish to insert observations in
the selected series or in all of the series in the
group.
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Series
Sorting a series
From the spreadsheet view of a series,
you can sort by pressing the Sort button
on the button bar or by pressing the rightmouse button and selecting Sort.

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Groups

When working with multiple series, you will often

want to create a group object to help you
manage your data.
A group is a list of series names that provides
simultaneous access to all of the elements in the
list.
A set of variables may be analyzed, graphed, or
printed using the group object, rather than each
one of the individual series.
Once a group is defined, you can use the group
name in many places to refer to all of the series
contained in the group.
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Groups
Creating groups
STEP 1: In the main menu, select Object/New Object
STEP 2: Select Group. You may, at this time, provide a
name for the group.
STEP 3: Enter the names of the series to be included in
the group, separated by spaces.
Note that a group may be included to be a part of a
group. Series expressions (mathematical expressions
that may involve one or more series) may also be added
in a group.
STEP 4: Click OK. A group window will open showing a
spreadsheet view of the group.
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Groups
Creating groups
Alternatively, you can also create groups
by:
Selecting

Show from the workfile toolbar and

fill out the dialog; or
Using the command window and type:
group group_name series_names

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Groups
Editing in a group
STEP 1: Open the group window and make certain that
the group spreadsheet is in protected mode.
STEP 2: To change a value for an observation, select
the cell, type in the value, and press ENTER.
Note: Since groups are simply references to series,
editing the series within a group changes the values in
the original series.
Note: As with series spreadsheet views, you may click
Smpl +/- to toggle between showing all the observations
in the workfile and showing only those observations in
the current sample.
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Samples
The sample is the set (often a subset) of
observations in the workfile to be included
in the data display and in performing
statistical procedures.
Samples may be specified using ranges of
observations (usually for time series) and
if conditions that observations must
satisfy to be included.

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Samples
The workfile sample
When you create a workfile, the workfile sample
or global sample is set initially to be the entire
range of the workfile.
It tells EViews what set of observations you wish
to use for subsequent operations.
You can always determine the current workfile
sample of observations by looking at the top of
your workfile window.
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Samples
Changing the sample
There are 4 ways to set the workfile sample:
Clicking

the Sample button in the workfile toolbar;

Double-clicking the sample string display in the
workfile window;
Selecting Proc/Set Sample from the main workfile
menu;
Entering a smpl command.

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Samples
Changing the sample
If you use one of the first 3
options, EViews will open the
Sample dialog box.
From the Sample dialog, you will
be asked to specify a range
and/or an if condition.
In the example, typing 1 50 as the
sample range pair means that
observations 1 to 50 will be your
sample while observations 51
and above will excluded.

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Samples
Changing the sample
EViews provides special keywords that
may make entering sample date pairs
easier.
the entire workfile range;
@first first observation;
@last last observation.
@all

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Samples
Changing the sample
In the box for specifying the if conditions, operators may be used to allow
for the construction of more complex expressions.
Operators include (but are not limited to):

Expression
+
*
/
^
>
<
=
<>
<=
>=
and
or

Operator
add
subtract
multiply
divide
raise to the power
greater than
less than
equal to
not equal to
less than or equal to
greater than or equal to
logical and
logical or
83

Samples
Changing the sample
You may find it easier to set your workfile
sample from the command window using
the smpl command.
STEP 1:In the command window just type:
Smpl start_obs end_obs if if_command
STEP 2: Press enter.
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Samples
Changing the sample
Sample offsets (examples)
smpl

Sample that includes 12 observations in the

calendar year beginning in 1953m1.

smpl

1953m1 1953m1+11

@first+1 @last

Sample where the first observation is dropped.

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Sample Objects
It can become quite cumbersome and
time-consuming to re-enter sample
selection rules if you change samples
frequently.
EViews provides a method of saving
sample information in an object which can
then be referred to by name.

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Sample objects
Creating a sample object
STEP 1:In the main menu, select Object/New Object
STEP 2: Select Sample. You may, at this time, provide a
name for the group. If you do not provide a name,
EViews will automatically assign one for you.
STEP 3: Click OK. EViews will open the sample object
specification dialog.
Note: In the dialog, there is a check box for setting the
workfile sample equal to the sample object. This means
that defining a sample object does not automatically
apply the sampling procedure in the workfile.
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Sample objects
Creating a sample object
using a command:
sample sample_name start_obs end_obs
if if_command

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Sample objects
Using a sample object
To use a previously defined sample object to set
the workfile sample,
STEP 1: Open a sample object by double
clicking on the name or icon.
STEP 2: Click the Set workfile sample check
box.
STEP 3: Click OK.
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Sample objects
Using a sample object
Using a command: smpl sample_name
For many purposes, you may also use a named
sample object as though it were an ordinary
EViews series containing values 1 and 0, for
observations that are and are not included,
respectively.
This means that sample objects can be used in
EViews expressions and in the construction of
other sample objects.
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Importing data
Entering data
For small datasets in printed form, you may wish
to enter the data by typing at the keyboard.
STEP 1: To open a temporary spreadsheet
window in which you will enter the data, choose
Quick/Empty Group (Edit Series) from the main
menu.
STEP 2: Do the following steps:
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Importing data
Entering data

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Importing data
Entering data
STEP 3: If you are done typing the data,
name the untitled group by clicking the
Name button.

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Importing data
Copy-and-pasting
Useful for small datasets and other software applications
(ex. Excel)
STEP 1: Highlight and copy the cells (including the
variable headings/names) to be imported into EViews.
STEP 2: In EViews, create or load a workfile and choose
Quick/Empty Group (Edit Series) from the main menu.
STEP 3: Place the cursor and click the upper-left cell just
to the right of the second obs label.
STEP 4: Select Edit/Paste from the main menu (or
simply use the right mouse click to paste).
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Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
STEP 1: Make sure you have an open workfile
and that the workfile window is active.
STEP 2: Click on Proc/Import/Read Text-LotusExcel You will see a standard File Open dialog
box. Select a file type and file name.
STEP 3: Click OK. EViews fill open a dialog
prompting you for additional information about
the import procedure.
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Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
(spreadsheet import)

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Importing data
Importing data from a spreadsheet or text file
(ASCII text files import)

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Exporting data
Exporting to a spreadsheet or text file
STEP 1: Make sure you have an open workfile
and that the workfile window is active.
STEP 2: Click on Proc/Export/Read Text-LotusExcel You will see a standard SaveAs dialog
box. Select file name and the type of the output
file.
STEP 3: Click OK.
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EViews
5. Working with Data

Numeric expressions
An EViews expression is a combination of
numbers, series names, functions, and
mathematical and relational operators.
You can use these expressions to:

Calculate

a new series from existing series;

Describe a sample of observations;
Describe an equation for estimation or
forecasting.
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50

Numeric expressions: operators

Eviews follows the usual order in evaluating

expressions with operator precedence order as
follows (from highest precedence to lowest):
Unary minus/negation
Exponentiation (^);

(-), unary plus (+);

Multiplication

(*), division (/);

Addition (+), subtraction (-);
Comparison (<, >, <=, >=, =);
and, or.

To enforce a particular order of evaluation, you

can use parentheses.
101

Numeric expressions:
lags and leads

Lags are specified as negative numbers

example: x(-4) is the fourth lag of x.

Leads are specified as positive numbers

example: y(2) is the second lead of y.

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51

Numeric expressions: differences

EViews has several built-in functions for working

with difference data in either levels or in logs.
Examples:
d(x)
dlog(x)
d(x,4)
d(x,1,4)
d(x,0,4)

x x(-1)
log(x) log(x(-1))
fourth order difference of x
first order difference of x with a
seasonal difference at lag 4
x with a seasonal difference at lag 4

103

Series

One of the primary uses of expressions is

to generate new series from existing data
or to modify the values in an existing
series.

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52

Series
Creating/modifying a series
STEP 1: Select
Quick/Generate Series
or click the Genr button on
the workfile toolbar.
EViews opens a window
prompting you for
additional information

105

Series
Creating/modifying a series (STEP 2)
Basic assignment
Type

the series name, followed by an equal sign and

then an expression.
For example, in the previous slide, y = 2*x + 37*z
means that if there is no series named y, EViews will
create the y series and will fill each element of the y
series with the value of the expression.
If the series y exists, EViews will replace the y values.
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53

Series
Creating/modifying a series (STEP 2)
Dynamic assignment
You

can also perform dynamic assignment by

using lagged values of the destination series
on the right side of the equality.
Example: y = y +y(-1)
This creates a y series with the cumulative
sum of y.

107

Scalars

Scalar objects are different from series in that

they hold a single number instead of data for
each observation in the sample.
Scalars are created by the commands of the
form:
Scalar scalar_name = number
Scalar objects have no window views, to see the
value of the scalar, double click on the scalar
name in the workfile window and the value will
be displayed in the status line.
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54

Alpha series
An alpha series object contains a set of
observations on alphanumeric string
values.
If this type of data was entered into an
ordinary series, EViews will replace the
string with the numeric missing value, NA.

109

Alpha series
Creating an alpha series

STEP 1: In the main menu, select

Object/New Object
STEP 2: Select Series Alpha. You may,
at this time, provide a name for the
series.
STEP 3: Click OK. EViews will open a
spreadsheet view of the new series
object.
STEP 4: To modify truncation length,
from the main menu select
Options/Alpha Truncation. And enter
the desired length.
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55

Alpha series
Editing an alpha series
There is no difference between editing an
ordinary numeric series and editing an
alpha series.
Issues on working with strings shall be
addressed in later lectures.

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EViews
6. Basic Data Analysis

56

Basic data analysis

EViews provides various statistical graphs, descriptive

statistics, and procedures as views and procedures of
a numeric series.
Series views compute various statistics for single series
and display these statistics in various forms such as
spreadsheets, tables, and graphs.
Series procedures create new series from the data in
existing series. These procedures include various
seasonal adjustment methods, exponential smoothing
methods, and the Hodrick-Prescott filter.

113

Series

To access the views and procedures for

series, open the series window by double
clicking on the series name in the workfile,
or by typing show followed by the name of
the series in the command window.

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57

Series

The series view dropdown menu is divided

into four blocks.

115

Descriptive statistics and tests

Skewness positive
(negative) skewness
means that the distribution
has a long right (left) tail;
Kurtosis the kurtosis of
the normal distribution is 3;
if the kurtosis is greater
(less) than 3, the
distribution is leptokurtic
(platykurtic);
Jarque-Bera test statistic
for testing whether the
series is normally
distributed (null hypothesis:
normal distribution)
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58

Simple hypothesis tests

Mean test Ho: mean of

the series is equal to the
specified value;
Variance test - Ho:
variance of the series is
equal to the specified
value;
Median test - Ho: median
of the series is equal to the
specified value
Ha: mean/variance/median
is not equal to the specified
value
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Equality tests by classification

This view allows you to test equality of the

means, medians, and variances across
subsamples (or subgroups) of a single series.
For example, you can test whether mean income
is the same for males and females, or whether
the variance of education is related to race.
The tests assume that the subsamples are
independent.
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59

Equality tests by classification

Select View/
Descriptive Statistics
& Tests/ Equality
Tests by
Classification and
the Tests by
Classification dialog
box appears

119

Empirical distribution tests

You can test whether your

series is normally
distributed, or whether it
comes from, among others,
an exponential, extreme
value, logistic, chi-square,
Weibull, or gamma
distribution.
You may provide
parameters for the
distribution, or EViews will
estimate the parameters for
you.
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60

One-way tabulation

This view tabulates

the series in
ascending order,
optionally displaying
the counts,
percentage counts,
and cumulative
counts.

121

Correlogram

This view displays the

autocorrelation and
partial autocorrelation
functions up to the
specified order of lags.
These functions
characterize the pattern
of temporal dependence
in the series and typically
make sense only for time
series data.
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61

Unit Root test

This view carries out the Augmented

Dickey-Fuller (ADF), GLS transformed
Dickey-Fuller (DFGLS), Phillips-Perron
(PP), etc unit root tests for whether the
series (or its first or second difference) is
stationary.

123

Series procs overview

Series procedures may

be used to generate
new series that are
based upon the data in
the original series.
You may also use series
procs to resample from
the orginal series, to
perofrm seasonal
adjustment or
exponential smoothing.
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62

Graphing data
Constructing graphs from data is an
important part of the process of data
analysis and presentation.
The last part of this section shall focus on
describing the basics of graphing data in
series using the View/Graph menu item.

125

Graphing data

Another way of
graphing data is to
select Quick/Graph
You will then be
required to enter the
list of series, groups,
and/or series
expressions you want
to graph.
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63

Graphing data

After you click OK, the

Graph Options dialog will
appear.
The Graph Options dialog
has multiple pages that
specify various settings
for the graph view.
The Type page is of
central importance since
it controls the graph you
wish to display.
127

EViews
7. Basic Single-Equation
Analysis

64

Single-equation regression
Single-equation regression is one of the
most versatile and widely used statistical
techniques.
Basic regression techniques in EViews:

specifying and estimating a regression

model,
performing simple diagnostic analysis, and
using the estimation results in further
analysis.
129

Specifying an equation in EViews

Click Quick/Estimate
equation to open
the Equation
Estimation dialog.
You then have to
specify:
Equation

specification
Estimation settings

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65

Sample estimation output

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66