The Data Editor displays the contents of the active data file. The information in the Data Editor consists of variables and cases.

- In Data View, columns represent variables and rows represent variables.
- In Variable View, each row is a variable, and each column is an attribute associated with that variable.

Variables are used to represent the different types of data you have compiled. A common analogy is that of a survey. The response to each question on a survey is equivalent to a variable. Variables come in many different types, including numbers, strings, currency, and dates.