First developed at the University of Amsterdam, JASP is a popular software program for conducting and teaching statistics. The defining characteristics of JASP include the following:
- JASP is open-source: it is free to install and use anywhere, for whatever purpose.
- JASP has an intuitive graphical user-interface: progressive disclosure and dynamic updating of the results make the statistical output easy to interpret.
- JASP is responsive to user feedback: a dedicated team of software engineers constantly interact with users through the JASP GitHub page.
- JASP offers state-of-the-art analyses: in addition to common analyses such as ANOVA and regression, JASP offers more specialized analyses through add-on modules (e.g., machine-learning, quality control, auditing, meta-analyses, etc.).
- JASP is available in many languages (with more under development): the current list includes English, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, and Galician.
With JASP, the user can obtain output easily, without frustration or fuss. The responsive GUI will help users better understand the analysis output. The time saved in obtaining the output allows teachers to emphasize the correct interpretation of the results. An introductory video can be found here.
Currently, JASP already presents a full-fledged replacement to popular commercial software programs such as SPSS and Minitab. In the Netherlands, many of the larger universities have already switched to JASP. Worldwide, over 290 universities across 67 different countries have informed us that they use JASP in their curricula. Most importantly perhaps, students and teachers report finding JASP insightful and pleasant to use.
Our vision is to help institutions of higher learning transition away from closed-source statistical software programs by offering an alternative that is free, user-friendly, and flexible: JASP. Because JASP is open-source, its continued development also benefits underprivileged students and teachers worldwide. In line with our vision, our short-term goals are threefold:
- To actively support teachers who wish to switch to JASP.
- To continue the development of JASP so as to provide students with the best possible learning experience.
- To add functionality that meets particular needs in research and education.
We believe it is possible to continue developing a program that is intuitive, free to use, actively supported, and able to respond flexibly to concrete requests from lecturers and researchers at significantly reduced costs.
To achieve these goals, we have established an educational community between several institutions of higher learning. Through this non-commercial community, participating institutions can support the further development of JASP at a fraction of the costs currently spent on licensing fees for commercial programs.
The tab “Benefits and Tiers” outlines the concrete advantages of joining the JASP Community for your institution.