The Information Content of Data in Defined Choice-Situations

This paper is concerned with what people's decisions imply about the usefulness of the data they receive. It does not deal with what might improve decision-making but with an attempt to understand what the measurement of information for decision-making involves. Operational definitions and measures of the information content of data are discussed. Ackoff and Emery's treatment of information as dependent on the choice-situation is followed, but a new concept, that of information inherent in the structure of the choice-situation is added. It is shown that the Shannon measure of uncertainty can be introduced into the Ackoff-Emery behavioural framework for dealing with measures of information. The greater clarity stemming from this partial unification of two apparently different approaches may help with the still formidable problems that are outlined.