Advanced statistical analysis packages such as SAS, SPSS, STATA and others all allow you to enter your data straight into them. However, I do not always advocate this, because each has their own format and you cannot always easily translate a spreadsheet saved in a given program into another statistical package.

Intermediate database and spreadsheet hardware and software (such as data storage systems or even – in the case of very small and stable datasets – Microsoft Excel) are sometimes a better starting point for data capture, at least where data volume is low or the speed of arrival is moderate. Once the raw data is captured in such systems, you can import the data into any of the major statistical analysis suits.

Chapter 18 does discuss big data situations in which alternatives to traditional data storage might be required.