Information

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For the Danish newspaper, see Dagbladet Information. For the formal criminal charge, see Information (formal criminal charge).
For other uses, see Information (disambiguation).

Communication

 Portal
 History

General aspects
 Communication theory
 Information
 Semiotics
 Language
 Logic
 Sociology

Fields
 Discourse analysis
 Linguistics
 Mass communication
 Organizational communication
 Pragmatics
 Semiotics
  Sociolinguistics

Disciplines
 Public speaking
 Discourse
 Culture
 Argumentation
 Persuasion
 Research
 Rhetoric

Categories
 Outline

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Part of a series on Statistics

Data visualization

Major dimensions

 Exploratory data analysis

 Information design
 Interactive data visualization
 Descriptive statistics
 Inferential statistics
 Statistical graphics
 Plot
 Data analysis
 Infographic
  Data science

Important figures
 Tamara Munzner
 Ben Shneiderman
 John W. Tukey
 Edward Tufte
 Simon Wardley
 Hans Rosling
 David McCandless
 Alexander Osterwalder
 Ed Hawkins
 Hadley Wickham
 Leland Wilkinson
 Mike Bostock
 Jeffrey Heer
 Ihab Ilyas

Information graphic types

 Line chart
 Bar chart
 Histogram
 Scatterplot
 Boxplot
 Pareto chart
 Pie chart
 Area chart
 Tree map
 Bubble chart
 Stripe graphic
 Control chart
 Run chart
  Stem-and-leaf display
 Cartogram
 Small multiple
 Sparkline
 Table
 Marimekko chart

Related topics
 Data
 Information
 Big data
 Database
 Chartjunk
 Visual perception
 Regression analysis
 Statistical model
 Misleading graph

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Information is processed, organized and structured data. It provides context for data and enables decision making process. For
example, a single customer’s sale at a restaurant is data – this becomes information when the business is able to identify the most
popular or least popular dish.[1]
More technically, information can be thought of as the resolution of uncertainty that manifests itself as patterns;[2] it answers the
question of "What an entity is" and thus defines both its essence and the nature of its characteristics. The concept of information has
different meanings in different contexts. [3] Thus the concept becomes synonymous to notions
of constraint, communication, control, data, form, education, knowledge, meaning, understanding, mental
stimuli, pattern, perception, proposition, representation, and entropy.
Information is associated with data. The difference is that information resolves uncertainty. Data can represent redundant symbols, but
approaches information through optimal data compression.
Information can be transmitted in time, via data storage, and space, via communication and telecommunication.[4] Information is
expressed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation. That which is perceived can be construed as a
message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always conveyed as the content of a message.
Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation (for example, information may be encoded into
a sequence of signs, or transmitted via a signal). It can also be encrypted for safe storage and communication.
The uncertainty of an event is measured by its probability of occurrence. Uncertainty is inversely proportional to the probability of
occurrence. Information theory takes advantage of this fact by concluding that more uncertain events require more information to
resolve their uncertainty. The bit is a typical unit of information. It is 'that which reduces uncertainty by half'. [5] Other units such as
the nat may be used. For example, the information encoded in one "fair" coin flip is log 2(2/1) = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log2(4/1)
= 2 bits. A 2011 Science article estimated that 97% of technologically stored information was already in digital bits in 2007, and that the
year 2002 was the beginning of the digital age for information storage (with digital storage capacity bypassing analog for the first time). [6]