ABSTRACT
The spiral of structure, process and content appears to be applicable in the field of communication, information, and general system theory. An analogy between communication and the course of a river has been made – the river creates the structure of the river bed and in turn this structure canalizes the river in a process of closest possible interaction. Together these shape a map equivalent to content – the ‘information’ apparent at any one moment. Cautious analogizing has always been basic to any scientific research; because of the nature of ‘assembly’ which, as we have mentioned, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘thing’, sociology, particularly the macrostructures, has been relatively accessible to, and analogies have been drawn from, the language of physical science, mathematics, modern physics and engineering.
