The first thing that
you need to do when designing a table is to figure out what you are
trying to show. Suppose your manager just came to you and asked you
to build a table that shows whether having a college degree is related
to income. This is a very simple example, but it’s a good illustration
of the basics of table design.
You could generate a
printout that shows income for non-college graduates and a printout
that shows income for college graduates, but what you really want
is a cross-tabulation that shows income and college graduate status
in the same table.
Using pencil and paper, instead of a computer, we can quickly draw a sketch of your table to use as a guide for constructing the table. A simple ...