Complex Survey Data Analysis: A Comparison of SAS, SPSS and STATA

We compared three statistical packages (SAS, SPSS and STATA) in analyzing complex survey data in the context of multiple regression analysis using concrete examples from two national healthcare database (MEPS and NDHS). The three packages are found to be efficient and flexible in analyzing complex survey data, but SAS in some cases seems to over estimate the variances of the sample statistics. Adjustment for stratification (incorporating stratification) is very important in complex survey analysis, especially if the stratification variable is endogenous.