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There are various softwares and applications that you could use for descriptive research, these include excel, SPSS, Matlab and other statistical figures like pie charts, graphs, histograms etc. You can use any of these but the software/application you use will depend on your research proposal, the objectives and hypothesis of your study and the nature of research you are proposing.

Hi! I had used descriptive statistics for a research project that I did, that’s when I got introduced to what descriptive statistics are. Descriptive statistics are mainly used to summarise when the range of data required for a research is very large due to a large sample size defined for the study. The basic approach to using them that I’m familiar with is that you acquire data through questionnaires and surveys organised, and then the collected data is tested for measures of central tendency such as the mean, median or mode, and the measures of variability such as the standard deviation or variance. The collected results are then represented graphically or visually as per the requirements of the study and the preference of the researcher.

Yes, SPSS is frequently used for researchers when doing quantitative studies (Although it can also be used for qualitative studies), and there are also some other advanced modules as well such as AMOS and Path Analysis which are used less frequently.  When I was working on my research I used SPSS for descriptive analysis such as screening of data, reliability modelling, expressing data through frequency intervals and through percentage figures. Further I used AMOS for Structured Education Modelling(SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis.