List and discuss seven characteristics of a good table

The essential characteristics of a good table are:

1) Headings: The headings used in the table must be highlighted by using some means of bold letters or underlining or changing the font and size of the text to make it more clear and visible.

2) Abbreviations/Key to Abbreviations: The use of abbreviations should be avoided in a table but in case it is necessary to include the abbreviations, a key to abbreviations should be provided at the end of the table and it should be clearly visible so that a reader can refer to and take note of it.

3) Footnotes: The footnotes should be provided to make the information conveyed more clear. Providing some additional important information is always counted as a plus.

4) Summary: There should be a row at the end of the table to represent the summary of the entire column such as the sum or average of particular information.