What is Tallying? Definition, Examples, and Purpose

Tallying refers to the process of counting or keeping track of something, usually by marking tallies or counts on a piece of paper or a board. The term can also be used more broadly to refer to any method of keeping track of something, such as a list or a count of items.

For example, you might use tallying to keep track of the number of people who attend an event, the number of votes received by each candidate in an election, or the number of items sold at a store. The process typically involves marking a tally mark or a checkmark next to the item or name being counted, which allows you to easily see the total number of items or votes that have been counted.

In statistics, tallying is often used to collect data and calculate frequencies, which can then be used to create graphs and other visualizations. For example, if you were conducting a survey and asked respondents to indicate their gender, you might use tallying to count the number of males and females who responded, and then use this information to create a bar graph showing the distribution of genders among your sample.