The concepts information and communication: perspectives from the academic communities of information, communication and computer engineering sciences

Abstract We present an exploratory research that took place between 2013 - 2015, focusing on the perceptions regarding Information and Communication of fourteen PhD investigators, in two interdisciplinary centers in Brazil and Spain. This research is part of a new line of investigation initiated in 2014 by the Research Group: The concepts ‘Information’ and ‘Communication’ from the perspectives of several disciplines (Communication, Information Science and Computer Engineering) - CIC, in the Faculty of Information and Communication (FIC) of the University of the Republic, Uruguay. The dimensions of analysis defined to study the perceptions of the academicians are: academic formation, approaches to the Information and Communication concepts; similarities and differences between such concepts and theoretical references. The research strategy is based upon qualitative methods focused on in-depth interviews with qualified informants. Interviews were recorded in Spanish and Portuguese and transcribed into Spanish. A qualitative analysis was conducted by means of systematic techniques including content analysis of the discourse as well as reading and interpretation of the content which was presented in the corpus of the interviews. The perceptions of the academicians were categorized according to the disciplinary fields to which they belonged. General and specific conclusions about tendencies are presented, both supporting the need to promote reflection and debate in the interdisciplinary scientific community, focusing on the concepts of Information and Communication. Resumen Se presenta una investigación exploratoria que tuvo lugar entre los años 2013-2015, centrada en las percepciones sobre Información y Comunicación de 14 investigadores con PhD, en dos centros interdisciplinarios en Brasil y España. La investigación es parte de una nueva línea de investigación iniciada en 2014 por el Grupo de Investigación: Los conceptos ‘Información’ y ‘Comunicación’ desde la perspectivas de varias disciplinas (Comunicación, Ciencia de la Información y Ingeniería en Computación - CIC, en la Facultad de Información y Comunicación (FIC) de la Universidad de la República, Uruguay. Las dimensiones de análisis definidas por el estudio de las percepciones de los académicos son: formación académica, enfoques sobre los conceptos Información y Comunicación; similitudes y diferencias entre cada concepto y referentes teóricos. La estrategia de investigación se basa en métodos cualitativ