Exhibit 99.0

                                  RISK FACTORS

     Fluctuations  in  Quarterly  Operating  Results.  The  Company's  quarterly
operating  results  can  be  subject  to  fluctuation  due to  several  factors,
including   the  number  and  timing  of  product   updates   and  new   product
introductions,  delays  in  product  development  and  introduction,  purchasing
schedules of its customers,  changes in foreign currency exchange rates, product
and market development expenditures, the timing of product shipments, changes in
product mix,  timing,  costs and effects of  acquisitions  and general  economic
conditions.  Because the Company's expense levels are to a large extent based on
its forecasts of future revenues, operating results may be adversely affected if
such revenues fall below  expectations.  Accordingly,  the Company believes that
quarter-to-quarter   comparisons  of  its  results  of  operations  may  not  be
meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.
The Company has  historically  operated  with very  little  backlog  because its
products are generally shipped as orders are received. As a result,  revenues in
any  quarter  are  dependent  on orders  shipped  and  licenses  renewed in that
quarter. The Company has experienced a seasonal pattern in its operating results
with the fourth  quarter  typically  having the highest  operating  income.  For
example,  excluding acquisition and other non-recurring  charges, the percentage
of the  Company's  operating  income  realized in the fourth  quarter was 33% in
1994,  34% in 1995,  32% in 1996 and 35% in 1997.  In  addition,  the timing and
amount of the  Company's  revenues  are subject to a number of factors that make
estimation  of  operating  results  prior to the end of a quarter  uncertain.  A
significant  portion of the Company's  operating  expenses are relatively fixed,
and  planned  expenditures  are  based  primarily  on  revenue  forecasts.  More
specifically,  in the fourth  quarter,  the  variable  profit  margins on modest
increases in sales volume at the end of the quarter are significant.  Should the
Company fail to achieve such fourth quarter  revenue  increases,  net income for
the fourth quarter and the full year could be materially affected. Generally, if
revenues do not meet the Company's expectations in any given quarter,  operating
results will be adversely affected. There can be no assurance that profitability
on a quarterly or annual basis can be achieved or sustained in the future.

     Dependence  on a  Single  Product  Category;  Declining  Sales  of  Certain
Products.  The  Company  derives  the major part of its  product  revenues  from
licenses of  statistical  software.  Accordingly,  any decline in revenues  from
licenses of the  Company's  statistical  software,  or  reduction  in demand for
statistical  software  generally,  could have a material  adverse  effect on the
Company.



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                  In recent years,  SPSS,  excluding the effects of the Quantime
Limited  and  In2itive   Technologies  A/S   acquisitions,   has  experienced  a
significant  shift in the  sources of its  revenues.  Historically,  the Company
derived a large  portion of its  revenues  from  licenses of its  mainframe  and
minicomputer  ("Large  Systems")  products.  As a result of the general shift by
computer users from Large Systems to desktop computers,  the Company experienced
a decline in revenues  from Large  Systems  products in the last several  years,
although in 1996 sales of Large Systems products stabilized. Revenues from Large
Systems  licenses  declined  from  approximately  $15.6  million in 1991 to $8.9
million in 1997, while sales of desktop products increased from $14.7 million in
1991 to $74.5 million in 1997.  Revenues from Large Systems  licenses  decreased
from 1996 to 1997, by $1.9 million.  Management is unable to predict whether the
decline in Large  Systems  licenses  will continue or at what rate such licenses
will  decline.  Revenues  from the  Company's  products  for  desktop  computers
("Desktop  products")  now account for nearly  three-quarters  of the  Company's
revenues and this percentage may continue to increase.

                  Risk  Relating  to  Business  Integration  in Europe and Other
Acquisitions.   In  recent  years,  SPSS  has  made  a  significant   number  of
acquisitions,  including  the  acquisition  of  businesses  based outside of the
United States.  While SPSS has substantial  international  operations,  it faces
challenges and business integration issues with its September  1997  acquisition
of Quantime and its  November  1997  acquisition of In2itive.  Although  persons
whom the Company  believes are  qualified and trained will continue to work with
Quantime and In2itive,  there can be no assurance that Quantime or In2itive will
be able to retain these  employees or hire  suitable  replacements  in the event
they should leave the employ of SPSS. If the Company  loses key  personnel  from
Quantime or In2itive or is unable to integrate Quantime's or In2itive's business
into its own  effectively,  the Company may experience a material adverse impact
on its financial  condition.  While SPSS believes that it has been successful in
integrating the  acquisitions it has made in the past, there can be no assurance
that the recent acquisitions of Quantime or In2itive or future acquisitions will
be successfully integrated into SPSS.

                  Rapid Technological  Change. The computer software industry is
characterized by rapid technological advances, changes in customer requirements,
frequent  product  enhancements  and new product  introductions.  The  Company's
future success will depend upon its ability to enhance its existing products and
introduce new products that keep pace with technological  developments,  respond
to evolving customer requirements and achieve market acceptance.  In particular,
the Company  believes it must  continue to respond  quickly to users'  needs for
greater  functionality,  improved  usability  and support for new  hardware  and
operating  systems.  Any  failure  by  the  Company  to  respond  adequately  to
technological developments and customer requirements,  or any significant delays
in product development or introduction, could result in loss of revenues. In the
past, the Company has, on occasion,  experienced  delays in the  introduction of
new  products  and product  enhancements,  primarily  due to  difficulties  with
particular  operating  environments and problems with software provided by third
parties. The extent of these delays has varied depending upon the size and scope
of the project and the nature of the problems encountered. Such delays have most
often  resulted from "bugs"  encountered  in working with new and/or  beta-stage
versions  of  operating  systems and other  third  party  software,  and bugs or
unexpected  difficulties  in existing  third  party  software  which  complicate
integration with the Company's software. From time to time,


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the Company has  discovered  bugs in its  products  which are  resolved  through
maintenance  releases or through periodic updates depending upon the seriousness
of the defect.  There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in
developing and marketing new products or product  enhancements on a timely basis
or that the Company  will not  experience  significant  delays or defects in its
products  in the  future,  which  could  have a material  adverse  effect on the
Company.  In addition,  there can be no  assurance  that new products or product
enhancements  developed by the Company will achieve  market  acceptance  or that
developments  by others will not render the Company's  products or  technologies
obsolete or noncompetitive.

                  International   Operations.   The   Company's   revenues  from
operations outside of North America accounted for approximately 52%, 53% and 50%
of the Company's net revenues in 1995, 1996 and 1997  respectively.  The Company
expects that revenues from international operations will continue to represent a
large  percentage  of its net revenues and that this  percentage  may  increase,
particularly  as the  Company  further  "localizes"  the  SPSS  product  line by
translating  its products into  additional  languages and expands its operations
through  acquisitions  of  companies  outside the United  States.  International
revenues are subject to a number of risks,  including  greater  difficulties  in
accounts  receivable  collection,  longer payment  cycles,  exposure to currency
fluctuations,  political and economic  instability  and the burdens of complying
with a wide variety of foreign  laws and  regulatory  requirements.  The Company
also  believes  that it is  exposed  to  greater  levels of  software  piracy in
international  markets because of the weaker protection afforded to intellectual
property in some foreign jurisdictions. As the Company expands its international
operations,  the risks described  above could increase and, in any event,  could
have a material adverse effect on the Company.

                  Potential   Volatility   of  Stock   Price.   There  has  been
significant  volatility  in  the  market  prices  of  securities  of  technology
companies,  including  SPSS,  and, in some  instances,  such volatility has been
unrelated to the operating  performance of such companies.  Market  fluctuations
may adversely  affect the price of the Common  Stock.  The Company also believes
factors such as announcements of new products by the Company or its competitors,
quarterly  variations  in  financial  results,  recommendations  and  reports of
analysts,  acquisitions and factors beyond the Company's control could cause the
market price of the Common Stock to fluctuate substantially.

                  Reliance  on  Relationships  with Third  Parties.  The Company
licenses certain software from third parties.  Some of this licensed software is
embedded in the Company's products,  and some is offered as add-on products.  If
such licenses are discontinued, or become invalid or unenforceable, there can be
no  assurance  that the  Company  will be able to develop  substitutes  for this
software  independently or to obtain alternative sources in a timely manner. Any
delays in obtaining or developing substitutes for licensed software could have a
material adverse effect on the Company.

                  In February  1993,  the  Company  entered  into an  exclusive,
worldwide  agreement (the "Prentice Hall  Agreement")  with Prentice Hall,  Inc.
("Prentice  Hall") under which  Prentice  Hall  publishes  and  distributes  the
student version of the Company's software and all of the Company's publications.
As a result,  the Company is dependent on Prentice Hall for the  development and
support of the markets for student software and its publications. The failure of
Prentice Hall to


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perform its obligations under the Prentice Hall Agreement  adequately could have
a material  adverse  effect on the Company.  The Prentice Hall  Agreement has an
initial term which  expires in 1998,  with an option to renew for an  additional
five years under certain conditions. Currently, this Agreement is still in force
and negotiations regarding renewing this Agreement are taking place.

                  In January  1997,  the  Company  entered  into a Banta  Global
Turnkey Software  Distribution  Agreement (the "Banta  Agreement"),  under which
Banta Global Turnkey  ("Banta")  manufactures,  packages,  and  distributes  the
Company's   software  products  to  the  Company's  domestic  and  international
customers  and certain  international  subsidiaries.  The Banta  Agreement has a
three-year term and automatically  renews  thereafter for successive  periods of
one year.  Either party may terminate  the Banta  Agreement for cause by written
notice if the other  materially  breaches its  obligations.  Such a  termination
notice for cause must specifically  identify the breach (or breaches) upon which
it is based and will be  effective  180 days after the notice is received by the
other  party,  unless the  breach(es)  is (are)  corrected  during the 180 days.
Either party may also terminate the Banta  Agreement on 180 days' notice for any
other reason.  If Banta  terminates the Banta Agreement other than for cause, it
is required  to assist the  Company in finding a new  vendor.  If Banta fails to
perform  adequately  any of its  obligations  under  the  Banta  Agreement,  the
Company's operating results could be materially adversely affected.

                  Changes in Public  Expenditures and Overall Economic  Activity
Levels. A significant  portion of the Company's  revenues comes from licenses of
its products directly to foreign and domestic government entities.  In addition,
significant  amounts of the  Company's  revenues  come from licenses to academic
institutions,  healthcare  organizations  and private  businesses which contract
with or are funded by government entities.  Government  appropriations processes
are often  slow,  unpredictable  and subject to factors  outside  the  Company's
control. In addition, proposals are currently being made in certain countries to
reduce   government   spending.   Reductions  in  government   expenditures  and
termination or  renegotiation of  government-funded  programs or contracts could
have a material adverse effect on the Company. In addition,  declines in overall
levels of economic  activity  could also have a material  adverse  impact on the
Company.

                  Competition.  The market for the statistical  software is both
highly  competitive  and  fragmented.  The Company  primarily  competes with one
general statistical  software provider which is larger and has greater resources
than the Company, as well as with numerous other companies offering  statistical
applications  software,  many  of  which  offer  products  focused  on  specific
statistical applications. The Company considers its primary worldwide competitor
to be the larger and better-financed SAS Institute ("SAS"), although the Company
believes that SAS's revenues are derived principally from products that are used
for  purposes  other than  statistics  and operate on large  systems  platforms.
StatSoft Inc., developers of the Statistica product ("Statistica"),  Manugistics
Group, Inc., distributors of the Statgraphics Plus product ("Statgraphics"), and
Minitab,  Inc. ("Minitab") are also competitors,  although their annual revenues
from statistical products are believed to be considerably less than the revenues
of SPSS.

                  In the future,  SPSS may face  competition  from new  entrants
into  the  statistical  software  market.  The  Company  could  also  experience
competition from companies in other sectors


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of the broader market for data management,  analysis and presentation  software,
such as providers of spreadsheets,  database management systems,  report writers
and executive information systems.  These companies have added, or in the future
may add,  statistical  analysis  capabilities to their  products.  Many of these
companies have significant name  recognition,  as well as substantially  greater
capital   resources,   marketing   experience   and  research  and   development
capabilities  than the Company.  There can be no assurance that the Company will
have  sufficient  resources  to make the  necessary  investment  in research and
development and sales and marketing,  or that the Company will otherwise be able
to make  the  technological  advances  necessary  to  maintain  or  enhance  its
competitive   position.   The   Company's   future   success  will  also  depend
significantly  upon its ability to continue  to sell its  Desktop  products,  to
attract new customers looking for more sophisticated or powerful software and to
introduce  additional  add-on  products to existing  customers.  There can be no
assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully in the future.

                  Dependence on Key  Personnel.  The Company is dependent on the
efforts of certain  executives  and key  employees,  including its President and
Chief  Executive  Officer,  Jack Noonan.  The Company's  continued  success will
depend in part on its ability to attract and retain highly qualified  technical,
managerial, sales, marketing and other personnel. Competition for such personnel
is intense.  There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to continue
to attract or retain such highly qualified personnel. No life insurance policies
are maintained on the Company's key personnel.

Intellectual   Property;   Proprietary   Rights.   The  statistical   algorithms
incorporated in the Company's software are not proprietary. The Company believes
that the proprietary technology constituting a portion of the Company's software
determines the speed and quality of displaying the results of computations,  the
connectivity of the Company's products with third party software and the ease of
use of its products.  The Company's success will depend, in part, on its ability
to protect the  proprietary  aspects of its  products.  The Company  attempts to
protect  its   proprietary   software   with  trade  secret  laws  and  internal
nondisclosure   safeguards,   as  well  as  copyright  and  trademark  laws  and
contractual  restrictions on copying,  disclosure and  transferability  that are
incorporated  into its software  license  agreements.  The Company  licenses its
software only in the form of executable code, with  contractual  restrictions on
copying, disclosures and transferability. Except for licenses of its products to
users of Large System products and annual licenses of its Desktop products,  the
Company  licenses its products to  end-users by use of a  "shrink-wrap"  license
that  is not  signed  by  licensees,  as is  customary  in the  industry.  It is
uncertain whether such license  agreements are legally  enforceable.  The source
code for all of the  Company's  products is  protected  as a trade secret and as
unpublished  copyrighted  work.  In  addition,  the  Company  has  entered  into
confidentiality  and  nondisclosure  agreements with its key employees.  Despite
these restrictions,  it may be possible for competitors or users to copy aspects
of the Company's  products or to obtain information which the Company regards as
a trade  secret.  The  Company  has no  patents,  and  judicial  enforcement  of
copyright  laws  may  be  uncertain,  particularly  outside  of  North  America.
Preventing  unauthorized  use of computer  software is  difficult,  and software
piracy  is  expected  to be a  persistent  problem  for  the  packaged  software
industry.  These problems may be particularly acute in international markets. In
addition,  the laws of certain countries in which the Company's  products are or
may be licensed do not protect the Company's products and intellectual  property
rights to the same extent as the laws


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of the United States.  Despite the precautions  taken by the Company,  it may be
possible  for  unauthorized  third  parties  to  reverse  engineer  or copy  the
Company's  products or obtain and use  information  that the Company  regards as
proprietary.  There can be no  assurance  that the steps taken by the Company to
protect its proprietary rights will be adequate to prevent  misappropriation  of
its technology.

                   Although the  Company's  products have never been the subject
of an infringement  claim, there can be no assurance that third parties will not
assert  infringement  claims  against the Company in the future or that any such
assertion will not result in costly  litigation or require the Company to obtain
a license to use the  intellectual  property of third  parties.  There can be no
assurance that such licenses will be available on reasonable  terms,  or at all.
There  can  also  be no  assurance  that  the  Company's  competitors  will  not
independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior
to the Company's technologies.

                  Control by Existing Stockholders;  Antitakeover Effects. As of
March  16,  1998,  the  Company's   executive   officers  and  directors   owned
beneficially approximately 19.5%  of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. The
Norman H. Nie  Revocable  Trust  Dated  March 15,  1991  (the "Nie  Trust")  and
affiliates of the Nie Trust are entitled to nominate a director for inclusion in
the  management  slate for  election  to the Board if the Nie Trust owns no less
than 12.5% of the outstanding  shares of Common Stock. As of March 16, 1998, the
Nie Trust and affiliates of the Nie Trust beneficially owned approximately 12.7%
of the  outstanding  shares  of  Common  Stock.  The  Company's  Certificate  of
Incorporation  and Bylaws contain a number of provisions,  including  provisions
requiring  an 80% super  majority  stockholder  approval of certain  actions and
provisions for a classified Board of Directors, which would make the acquisition
of the Company,  by means of an  unsolicited  tender  offer,  a proxy contest or
otherwise, more difficult or impossible.

                  Shares  Eligible  for Future  Sale.  The  Company  has filed a
Registration  Statement  to permit  transactions  with  respect to the shares of
Common Stock issued in connection with the Quantime and In2itive transactions.

                  In  addition   to  the  shares  of  Common   Stock  which  are
outstanding, as of March 20, 1998, there were vested options outstanding held by
management  to purchase  approximately  an additional  616,000  shares of Common
Stock,  with an average exercise price of $13.26 per share, and unvested options
to purchase  approximately  an additional  254,000  shares of Common Stock.  The
Company has also established a stock purchase plan available to employees of the
Company, which permits employees to acquire shares of Common Stock at the end of
each  quarter at 85% of the market price of the Common Stock as of the day after
the end of the quarter.

                  No  prediction  can be made  as to the  effect,  if any,  that
future sales,  or the  availability  of shares of Common Stock for future sales,
will have on the market price prevailing from time to time. Sales of substantial
amounts of Common Stock by the Company or by shareholders or the perception that
such sales may occur,  could adversely affect  prevailing  market prices for the
Common Stock.



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                  Accumulated Deficit.   The Company had an accumulated deficit
of $10,874,000  as of December 31, 1997.



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