Tabulation

Tabulation is the act or process of arranging data in a tabular form, or in general terms, organizing information into rows and columns for presentation, analysis, or reference. It encompasses creating tables, compiling data into structured formats, and summarizing content through counts, percentages, or other aggregates. Tabulated data enhances readability and supports comparison across categories.

In statistics and data processing, tabulation refers to the systematic organization of raw data into a table. This often involves frequency counts, grouping by variables, and computing row or column totals. Cross-tabulation or contingency tables extend tabulation to examine relationships between two or more variables.

In computing and algorithms, tabulation is a bottom-up dynamic programming approach. A table is constructed to store solutions to subproblems, and the final answer is obtained from this table. This avoids recomputation and can improve efficiency. Examples include computing Fibonacci numbers or solving optimization problems like the knapsack problem.

In typography and word processing, tabulation denotes aligning text along tab stops to form columns. Although modern editors emphasize tabbed or CSS-based alignment, traditional tabulation remains a term used for tab-delimited alignment.

Historically, tabulation has played a central role in census data, statistical reports, and scientific experiments, where presenting data in a consistent, tabular form is essential.

See also: tables, cross-tabulation, contingency table, dynamic programming, tab stop.