The study of communication phenomena may be divided into the experimental
and the theoretical. Experimental studies of communication phenomena examine
how informative processes work and precisely what information is provided by
them. Statements are particular to a specific situation or domain and generalizability
often becomes problematic. Theoretical studies of communication, on
the other hand, address on a more abstract level the nature of processes and their
outputs, as well as the inter-relationships between processes and their inputs and
outputs. Mentioning inputs and outputs brings to mind introductory computer
classes where this terminology is often introduced. Theoretical communication
studies often use terminology similar to that used in computer science, with both
disciplines borrowing terminology from the interdisciplinary theory developing
in an area intersecting mathematics, computer science, communications, and engineering.
Process and information are based on concepts in this intersection of disciplines.