# What is the best way to enter data to analyze answers from a Likert scale?

I need to analyze data regarding an item based on a Likert scale. Field data was arranged in Excel using tables that show the frequency of answers among respondents. What is the best approach to enter data in the statistical software in order to analyze it?

An example of what I have in Excel is attached. I have a list of 32 occupations (rows) that need to be analyzed among 8 different industrial sectors. Sample size = 100.

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Aren't the rows you showed about industrial sectors, and not occupations? In any case, a common distinction between data format is the wide and long format but I think it all depends on the software you use and what statistic(s) you want to produce. –  chl Jan 16 '13 at 22:35
chl: thank you for your comment. I will be using Stata. Is a stacked graph an appropiate option for visualizing the data presented in the table above. –  Wendy Alfaro Jan 16 '13 at 23:07
Stata - reshape - should take care of the long <-> wide conversion. These threads might be of interest for data visualization with stacked barcharts: Visualizing Likert responses using R or SPSS, Visualizing Likert Item Response Data. –  chl Jan 17 '13 at 9:23
Ok. I am using a stach hgrap. Is it ok if I just use frequencies instead of percentages? See attached file please. –  Wendy Alfaro Jan 17 '13 at 12:58