Communications (communication studies) is the academic discipline which studies communication; subdisciplines include animal communication, information theory, intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication, marketing, propaganda, public affairs, public relations, speech communications, and telecommunications.
History
Various aspects of communicating have long been the subject of human study. In ancient Greece, the study of rhetoric, the art of effective speaking and persuasion, was a vital subject for students. In the early 20th century, many specialists began to study communication as a specific part of their academic disciplines. Communications began to emerge as a distinct academic field in the mid-20th century. Marshall McLuhan was one of the early pioneers.
See also: Constructivism
In telecommunication, the term communications has the following meanings:
1. Information transfer, among users or processes, according to agreed conventions (see communications protocol ).
2. The branch of technology concerned with the representation, transfer, interpretation, and processing of data among persons, places, and machines also known as information systems.
Note: The meaning assigned to the data must be preserved during these operations.
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188
- See also: Communications channel communication