The reduction of
variety in a
communication channel by classification, simplification, generalization or condensation of the signals or messages sent. Equivocation occurs when different signals are no longer differentiated by the receiver.
information theory quantitatively decomposes the sender's
statistical entropy into a quantity of transmitted
information and the quantity of equivocation. Equivocation is the logical complement of
noise and desirable from the sender's perspective. (
Krippendorff)
