Structural Analysis of Information: Search for Methodology

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the need for the structural analysis of information as a distinctive methodological tool for two reasons. The first is that this form of inquiry is underrepresented and inadequate in the study of information. The second, a closely related reason, is that there are many misconceptions about the distinction between different forms of inquiry reduced to only two, characterized as qualitative and quantitative, with surprisingly little attention paid to the role of structural analysis, not only in the study of information, but in all scientific and intellectual domains. Since the first step towards this structural analysis is in defining concepts in structural terms, the established structural methodology may also contribute to choosing a satisfactory-for-all definition of information and to develop its uniform theory.

Keywords

• information
• structural methodology
• qualitative methodology
• quantitative methodology
• measure of information
• structure of information