Art Kendall: Sometimes. I try to use mnemonic names. I don’t use a lot of comments—I probably should. Some people use comments and use cryptic names. I try to use non-cryptic names. The working team should agree on the dictionary ahead of time to make sure that all the people who are going to be looking at the data agree that the labels are unambiguous in the context. It’s a quality step.

King Douglas: What SPSS timesavers do you employ most often? (e.g., snippets of code you can reuse, DO REPEAT statements, macros, etc.)

Art Kendall: I don’t use many macros because I’m not doing that many production level jobs. I use a lot of DO REPEATs. It would be nice if their vectors didn’t have to be contiguous variables. An MR set or MD set would be a form of vector. I do cannibalize in the same project a lot. A “Pretty” function would be nice: it makes sure there are two spaces on either side of an operator; it changes all your reserved words to CAPs, all your functions to First Caps, so there is a structured visibility, readability, a legibility in terms of a person’s perceiving the structure. Improved visual arrangement of the variable selection utility would be very helpful.

King Douglas: Do you have any hobbies, talents or interests outside your work?

Art Kendall: I’m learning about photography, I like to travel, I enjoy singing, and I like to read.

King Douglas: What is your opinion of the quality of science and math education available to the youth of the United States today?

Art Kendall: Highly varied. For the average student, woefully inadequate. For the advanced student, some of the best in the world—although sometimes the advanced students are too early allowed to be narrow. I believe that education is more than preparing for a particular job. I believe it’s the beginning of self-development, which is an ongoing process. The purpose of formal education is to prepare you for that continued self-development.

King Douglas: How could it be improved?

Art Kendall: The first thing to realize is that some children are much more difficult to teach than others. Teachers work extremely hard in the public and private school systems, working all kinds of extra hours. Rather than competition in the public school system, I think we need actual support for the school systems, including protecting teachers from arbitrary and capricious supervision, providing meaningful, supportive supervision, which helps the teachers develop. Much more carrot and much less stick.