Communication | Definition, Types, Examples, & Facts

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border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/communication">communication</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/communication">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref21920"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Models-of-communication">Models of communication</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21921"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Models-of-communication#ref21921">Linear models</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21922"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Models-of-communication#ref21922">Entropy, negative entropy, and redundancy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21923"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Models-of-communication#ref21923">Feedback</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21924"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Dynamic-models">Dynamic models</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21925"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Dynamic-models#ref21925">Applications of formal logic and mathematics</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref21926"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication">Types of communication</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21927"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication#ref21927">Nonvocal communication</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21928"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication#ref21928">Signals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21929"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication#ref21929">Signs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21930"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication#ref21930">Symbols</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21931"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Types-of-communication#ref21931">Icons</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21932"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Gestures">Gestures</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21933"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Gestures#ref21933">Proxemics</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21934"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Gestures#ref21934">Vocal communication</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21935"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Gestures#ref21935">Adaptability of language</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21936"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Gestures#ref21936">Laughter</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref21937"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Mass-and-public-communication">Mass and public communication</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21938"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Mass-and-public-communication#ref21938">Prerequisites for mass communication</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21939"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Mass-and-public-communication#ref21939">Control of mass communication</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref21940"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/Mass-and-public-communication#ref21940">Effects of mass communication</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref21941"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/communication/The-psychology-of-communication">The psychology of communication</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/communication/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/communication">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/communication/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/119545-050-B033BE31/Operator-telephone-switchboard-1900.jpg" data-href="/media/1/129024/121144" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/119545-004-BF0400C5/Operator-telephone-switchboard-1900.jpg" alt="communication" height="50" /> </a> <a 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Gordon</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Emeritus Professor of Communications, Fordham University, Bronx, New York. Author of <i>The Languages of Communication </i>and others<i>.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> George N. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/communication/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Key People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/Ernest-G-Bormann" topicid="2122061">Ernest G. Bormann</a></dd> <dd><a href="/money/Jean-Marie-Messier" topicid="860795">Jean-Marie Messier</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Maxwell-McCombs" topicid="1971240">Maxwell McCombs</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Wilbur-Schramm" topicid="1972453">Wilbur Schramm</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Jurgen-Habermas" topicid="250787">Jürgen Habermas</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/language" topicid="329791">language</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/public-opinion" topicid="482436">public opinion</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/animal-communication" topicid="25653">animal communication</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/information-theory" topicid="287907">information theory</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/mass-communication" topicid="2220027">mass communication</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/communication"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref383991"></span>communication</strong>, the exchange of <span id="ref383992"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/meaning" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">meanings</a> between individuals through a common system of symbols.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">This article treats the functions, types, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">psychology</a> of communication. For a treatment of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/animal-communication" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">animal communication</a>, <em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/animal-behavior" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">animal behaviour</a>. For further treatment of the basic components and techniques of human communication, <em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">language</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/speech-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">speech</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/writing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">writing</a>. For technological aspects, including communications devices and information systems, <em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/broadcasting" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">broadcasting</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/dictionary" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">dictionary</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/encyclopaedia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">encyclopaedia</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/information-processing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">information processing</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/information-theory" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">information theory</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/library" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">library</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/printing-publishing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">printing</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">publishing, history of</a>;<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/telecommunications-media" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"> telecommunications media</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/telecommunications-network" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">telecommunications network</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/telecommunication" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">telecommunications system</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The subject of communication has concerned scholars since the time of ancient <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Greece</a>. Until modern times, however, the topic was usually subsumed under other <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="disciplines" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciplines" data-type="MW">disciplines</a> and taken for granted as a natural process <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="inherent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent" data-type="MW">inherent</a> to each. In 1928 the English literary critic and author <span id="ref383993"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/I-A-Richards" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">I.A. Richards</a> offered one of the first—and in some ways still the best—definitions of communication as a discrete aspect of human enterprise:</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><blockquote> <p>Communication takes place when one <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mind</a> so acts upon its <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="environment" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment" data-type="MW">environment</a> that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience.</p> </blockquote><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Richards’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/definition" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">definition</a> is both general and rough, but its application to nearly all kinds of communication—including those between humans and animals (but excluding machines)—separated the contents of messages from the processes in human affairs by which these messages are transmitted. More recently, questions have been raised concerning the adequacy of any single definition of the term <em>communication</em> as it is currently employed. The American psychiatrist and scholar <span id="ref383994"></span>Jurgen Ruesch identified 40 varieties of disciplinary approaches to the subject, including architectural, anthropological, psychological, political, and many other interpretations of the apparently simple interaction described by Richards. In total, if such informal communications as sexual attraction and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/play-behavior" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">play</a> behaviour are included, there exist at least 50 modes of interpersonal communication that draw upon dozens of discrete <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> disciplines and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="analytic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analytic" data-type="MW">analytic</a> approaches. Communication may therefore be analyzed in at least 50 different ways.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/are-you-an-idiom-savant-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/57/256457-131-76CA8488/young-boy-1980s-retro-thinking-cap.jpg" alt="A young boy dressed in retro 1980s attire, with bow tie and eyeglasses, wears a light bulb idea invention machine to help him think of the next big idea. (nerd, nerdy, thinker) SEE CONTENT NOTES." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Are You An Idiom Savant? Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Interest in communication has been stimulated by advances in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/science" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">science</a> and technology, which, by their nature, have called attention to humans as communicating creatures. Among the first and most dramatic examples of the inventions resulting from technological ingenuity were the telegraph and telephone, followed by others like wireless radio and telephoto devices. The development of popular newspapers and periodicals, broadcasting, motion pictures, and television led to institutional and cultural <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="innovations" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovations" data-type="MW">innovations</a> that permitted efficient and rapid communication between a few individuals and large populations; these media have been responsible for the rise and social power of the new phenomenon of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-communication" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mass communication</a>. (<em>See also</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/information-theory" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">information theory</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/information-processing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">information processing</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/telecommunication" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">telecommunication system</a>.)</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Since roughly 1920 the growth and apparent influence of communications technology have attracted the attention of many specialists who have attempted to isolate communication as a specific facet of their particular interest. <span id="ref383995"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-science" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Psychologists</a>, in their studies of behaviour and mind, have evolved concepts of communication useful to their investigations as well as to certain forms of therapy. Social scientists have identified various forms of communication by which <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myths" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myths" data-type="MW">myths</a>, styles of living, mores, and traditions are passed either from generation to generation or from one segment of society to another. Political scientists and economists have recognized that communication of many types lies at the heart of the regularities in the social order. Under the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="impetus" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impetus" data-type="MW">impetus</a> of new technology—particularly high-speed computers—mathematicians and engineers have tried to quantify and measure components of communicated information and to develop methods for translating various types of messages into quantities or amounts <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="amenable" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amenable" data-type="MW">amenable</a> to both their procedures and instruments. Numerous and differently phrased questions have been posed by artists, architects, artisans, writers, and others concerning the overall influences of various types of communication. Many researchers, working within the relevant concerns of their disciplines, have also sought possible theories or laws of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/causation" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">cause and effect</a> to explain the ways in which human <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="dispositions" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dispositions" data-type="MW">dispositions</a> are affected by certain kinds of communication under certain circumstances, and the reasons for the change.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the 1960s a Canadian educator, <span id="ref383996"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marshall-McLuhan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Marshall McLuhan</a>, drew the threads of interest in the field of communication into a view that associated many contemporary psychological and sociological phenomena with the media employed in modern <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="culture" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" data-type="MW">culture</a>. McLuhan’s often repeated idea, “the medium is the message,” stimulated numerous filmmakers, photographers, artists, and others, who adopted McLuhan’s view that contemporary society had moved (or was moving) from a “print” culture to a “visual” one. The particular forms of greatest interest to McLuhan and his followers were those associated with the sophisticated technological instruments for which young people in particular display enthusiasm—namely, motion pictures, television, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/sound-physics" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">sound</a> recordings.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the late 20th century the main focus of interest in communication drifted away from McLuhanism and began to centre on (1) the mass communication industries, the people who run them, and the effects they have upon their audiences, (2) persuasive communication and the use of technology to influence dispositions, (3) processes of interpersonal communication as mediators of information, (4) <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="dynamics" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamics" data-type="MW">dynamics</a> of verbal and nonverbal (and perhaps extrasensory) communication between individuals, (5) <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">perception</a> of different kinds of communications, (6) uses of communication technology for social and artistic purposes, including education in and out of school, and (7) development of relevant <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="criticism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism" data-type="MW">criticism</a> for artistic endeavours employing modern communications technology.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In short, a communication expert may be oriented to any of a number of disciplines in a field of inquiry that has, as yet, neither drawn for itself a conclusive roster of subject matter nor agreed upon specific <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="methodologies" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodologies" data-type="MW">methodologies</a> of analysis.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; 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Communication | Definition, Types, Examples, & Facts | Britannica