Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2022

AI for Social Justice: New Methodological Horizons in Technical Communication

S. Scott Graham The University of Texas at Austin ; Hannah R. Hopkins The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

This Methodologies and Approaches piece argues artificially intelligent machine learning systems can be used to effectively advance justice-oriented research in technical and professional communication (TPC). Using a preexisting dataset investigating patient marginalization in pharmaceuticals policy discourse, we built and tested 49 machine learning systems designed to identify and track rhetorical features of interest. Three popular and one new approach to feature engineering (text quantification) were evaluated. The results indicate that these systems have great potential for use in TPC research.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2022-01-02
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2021.1955151
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (18)

  1. Verhulsdonck et al. (2026)
    Expanding Human-in-the-Loop: Critical Sensemaking for Technical and Professiona…
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  2. Aguilar (2026)
    Increasing Literacy on the Scams Targeting Latines: Generative Artificial Intel…
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  3. Long et al. (2025)
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  5. Shivers-McNair (2025)
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  2. Mehlenbacher et al. (2025)
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  3. Colby (2025)
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  4. Masters-Wheeler et al. (2025)
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  5. Lindgren et al. (2025)
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  6. Littlefield (2025)
    Stochastic Publics: The Emergence and Ethics of AI-Generated Publics in Technic…
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  7. Jiang et al. (2024)
    From Hype to Practice: Reinterpreting the Writing Process Through Technical Wri…
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  8. Gupta et al. (2024)
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  9. Thominet et al. (2024)
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  10. Deets et al. (2024)
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  11. Lubin et al. (2024)
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  12. Majdik et al. (2024)
    Rhetoric of/with AI: An Introduction
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  13. Majdik et al. (2023)
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Cites in this index (8)

  1. Graham (2021)
    The Opioid Epidemic and the Pursuit of Moral Medicine: A Computational-Rhetoric…
    Written Communication
  2. Dayley (2020)
    Student Perceptions of Diversity in Technical and Professional Communication Ac…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Communicating Campus Sexual Assault: A Mixed Methods Rhetorical Analysis
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    A Computational Approach to Assessing Rhetorical Effectiveness: Agentic Framing…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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CrossRef global citation count: 34 View in citation network →

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