JOSHUA B. BARBOUR

APRON lab | Teaching | @BARBOURJOSH

I am a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2018, I founded the Automation Policy and Research Organizing Network (APRON), which aims to build a community of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers and advance communication research focused on the future of data-intensive, automated work, and I direct the APRON Lab.

My research begins with the assumption that institutional structures such as regulations, laws, and cultural norms create opportunities, constraints, resources, and contradictions that we exploit and suffer to solve problems. I try to shed light on practitioners’ strategic efforts to navigate those structures. I study their communication design: the choices actors make about messages, communication tools, formats, and systems of interaction to do so. I also study the institutional moorings of communication and organizing, or put another way, I view organizational communication as macromorphic. Across my scholarship, I have found that (a) institutional constraints can be overcome and reconstructed by local actors’ macromorphic communicative and organizational efforts, (b) these efforts are captured in and enacted through their choices about communication, (c) these choices vary in rhetorical and strategic sophistication, and (d) success depends on the creativity with which they can recast communicative situations, negotiate competing ideals for practice, and navigate contradictory frameworks for action.

My current research focuses on projects funded by a National Science Foundation grant entitled, CAREER: The Future of Work in Health Analytics and Automation: Investigating the Communication that Builds Human-Technology Partnerships (SES-1750731). This scholarship focuses on the datafication and automation of health and healthcare, and it has two goals:

1. Investigate the communication practices involved in automating work to encourage automation that benefits work and workers.

2. Help students at community colleges and universities understand and prepare for the opportunities and challenges of automation and for careers likely to be affected or created by automation.

Publications

Need a published version? Email me (barbour at ILLINOIS dot edu), and I'll send a copy your way.

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[62] Jensen, J. T., Call, S. R., Barbour, J. B. (accepted). Hostile knowledge performances. Communication Monographs. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2024.2314045

[61] Fu, S., & Barbour, J.B. (accepted). Contextualizing communication for digital innovation and the future of work. Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqad031

[60] Pokharel, M., Lillie, H., Jensen, J. D., King, A. J., Ratcliff, C. L., & Barbour, J. B. (accepted). Political party collective norms, perceived norms, and mask-wearing behavior: A test of the theory of normative social behavior. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2309003

[59] Barbour, J. B., Jensen, J. T. & Call, S. L. (accepted). Organizational communication design. In V. Miller & M. S. Poole (Eds.), The Handbook of Organizational Communication Theory and Research. DeGruyter.

[58] Doucet, C., & Barbour, J.B. (accepted). Improving family-centered care through high reliability interprofessional collaboration in the NICU. In Fox, S., McCallum, K., & Mikkola, L. (Eds.), Interprofessional Communication in Health Care: Theoretical Perspectives on Practical Realities. Palgrave.

[58] Gill, R., & Barbour, J.B. (2024). Participatory methods in qualitative organizational communication research. In B. Brummans, B. C. Taylor, & A. Sivunen (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication. Sage. [Invited]

[57] Treem, J. W., Barley, W. C., Weber, M. S., Barbour, J. B. (2023). Signaling and meaning in organizational analytics: Coping with Goodhart’s Law in an era of digitization and datafication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad023

[56] Barbour, J. B., Jensen, J. T., Call, S. R., Sharma, N. (2023). Substance, discourse, and practice: A review of communication research on automation. Annals of the International Communication Association, 47(3), 261-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2023.2183232

[55] Carlson, E. J. & Barbour, J. B. (2023). An experimental study of message strategies for mobile alerts and warnings. Natural Hazards Review, 24(3), 040230211-14. https://doi.org/10.1061/NHREFO/NHENG-1721

[54] Pokharel, M., Lillie, H., Nagatsuka, K., Barbour, J. B., Ratcliff, C. L., & Jensen, J. D. (2023). Social media narratives can influence vaccine intentions: The impact of depicting regret and character death. Computers in Human Behavior, 141, 107612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107612

[53] Barbour, J. B. (2023). Health and safety at work. In E. Ho, C. Bylund, & J.van Weert (Eds.), International encyclopedia of health communication. Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119678816.iehc0698 PDF PUBLISHED VERSION

[52] Barbour, J. B., Pierce, C. S., Rolison, S. L. (2023). Health professions/occupations. In E. Ho, C. Bylund, & J.van Weert (Eds.), International encyclopedia of health communication. Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119678816.iehc0700 PDF PUBLISHED VERSION

[51] Graham, S.S., Sharma, N., Karnes, M. S., Majdik, Z. P., Barbour, J.B., and Rousseau, J.F. (2022). A content analysis of self-reported financial relationships in biomedical research. AJOB-Empirical Bioethics. https://doi.org/10.1080/23294515.2022.2160509

[50] Graham, S. S., Karnes, M. S., Jensen, J. T., Sharma, N., Barbour, J. B., Majdik, Z. P., & Rousseau, J. F. (2022). Evidence for stratified conflicts of interest policies in research contexts: A methodological review. BMJ Open, 12(9), e063501. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063501

[49] Trefz, B.A., Bierling, D. H., Christjoy, A., & Barbour, J.B. (2022). Building risk communication infrastructure by bolstering emergency managers’ formal and informal communication networks In H. D. O’Hair & M. J. O’Hair (Eds.), Communication and catastrophic events: Strategic risk and crisis management (pp. 103-119). Wiley Blackwell. PDF PUBLISHED VERSION

[48] Campbell-Salome, G., & Barbour, J. B. (2022). Managing uncertainty for and with family: Communication strategies and motivations in familial uncertainty management for hereditary cancer. Qualitative Health Research, 32(8-9), 1230-1245. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323221090191 PDF

[47] Graham, S. S., Karnes, M. S., Jensen, J. T., Sharma, N., Barbour, J. B., Majdik, Z. P., & Rousseau, J. F. (2022). Evidence for stratified conflicts of interest policies in research contexts: A methodological review. BMJ Open, 12(9), e063501. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063501 PDF

[46] Jensen, J. T., Rolison, S. L., & Barbour, J. B. (2022). Temporal dominance: Controlling activity cycles when time is scarce, sudden, and squeezed. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(1), 30-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189211023471 PDF

[45] Waymer, D., Walton, M., & Barbour, J.B. (2022). Examining the role of individuals’ perceptions of the likelihood of sustained commitment in corporate-nonprofit partnership CSR advertisements. International Journal of Advertising, 41(2), 258-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2021.1914455 PDF

[44] Graham, S. S., Majdik, Z. P., Barbour, J. B., & Rousseau, J. F. (2021). A dashboard for exploring clinical trials sponsorship and potential virtual monopolies. JAMIA Open, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooab089

[43] Graham, S. S., Majdik, Z. P., Barbour, J. B., & Rousseau, J. F. (2021). Associations between aggregate NLP-extracted conflicts of interest and adverse events by drug product. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 209, 405 - 409. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI220106 PDF

[42] Smith, W. R., Treem, J. W., & Barbour, J. B. (2021). Whistleblowing as a means of (re)constituting an organization. In P. J. Svenkerud, J. Sørnes, & L. D. Browning (Eds.), Whistleblowing, communication, and consequences: Lessons from the Norwegian National Lottery (pp. 214-228). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367822033

[41] Barbour, J. B., Bierling, D. H., Sommer, P. A., & Trefz, B. A. (2020). Risk communication infrastructure and community resilience: Does involvement in planning build cross-sector planning and response networks? Journal of Applied Communication Research, 48(1), 91-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2019.1704828 PDF

[40] Barbour, J. B., Rolison, S. L., & Jensen, J. T. (2020). The politics of inclusion and exclusion among professions and professionals. In M. L. Doerfel & J. L. Gibbs (Eds.), Organizing Inclusion: Moving Diversity from Demographics to Communication Processes. New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429450495-10 PDF

[39] Rauscher, E. A., Dean, M., Campbell-Salome, G., & Barbour, J. B. (2019). “How do we rally around the one who was positive”: Familial uncertainty management in the context of men managing BRCA-related cancer risks. Social Science and Medicine, 242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112592 PDF

[38] Barbour, J. B. (2019). Paperwork. Health Communication, 35(9), 1172-1175. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1613481 PDF

[37] Barbour, J. B., Gill, R., Barge, J. K. (2018). Organizational communication design logics: A theory of communicative intervention and collective communication design. Communication Theory, 28(3), 332-353. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtx005 PDF

[36] Garcia, M. A., & Barbour, J. B. (2018). “Ask a Professional - Ask a Librarian”: Librarianship and the chronic struggle for professional status. Management Communication Quarterly, 32(4), 565–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318918776798 PDF

[35] Barbour, J. B., Buzzanell, P. M., Kinsella, W. J., & Stephens, K. K. (2018). Communicating/organizing for reliability, resilience, and safety: Special issue introduction. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 23(2), 154-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-01-2018-0019 PDF

[34] Barbour, J. B., Treem, J. W., & Kolar, B. (2018). Analytics and expert collaboration: How individuals navigate relationships when working with organizational data. Human Relations, 71(2), 256-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717711237 PDF

[33] Donovan, E. E., Pasch, K. E., Barbour, J.B., Stroud, N. J., Wotipka, C. D., Price, Mindy, J., Alizor, A. A., Gaucin, E. S., Calhoun, B. M. (2017). Defining successful media partnerships. The Center for Health Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

[32] Barbour, J. B., & Gill, R. (2017). Questioning and answering as regulatory work practice: The communicative accomplishment of reliability for the safety oversight of nuclear power plants. Communication Monographs, 84(4), 466-487. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2017.1322212 PDF

[31] Barbour, J. B., Ballard, D. I. Barge, J. K., & Gill, R. (2017). Making time / making temporality for engaged scholarship. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 45(4), 365-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2017.1355556 PDF

[30] Barbour, J. B. (2017). Nutbags, enchiladas, and zombies: Marshaling narrative theory and practice for engaged research. Management Communication Quarterly, 31(2), 300-306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318916688091 PDF

[29] Barbour, J. B., Gill, R., Barge, K. (2017). Exploring the intersections of individual and collective communication design: A research agenda. In P. Salem & E. Timmerman (Eds.) Transformative practices and research in organizational communication. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2823-4.ch006 PDF

[28] Barbour, J. B. (2017). Listening and organizing. In C. R. Scott, L. Lewis, (General Editors), J. Barker, J. Keyton, T. Kuhn, P. Turner, & (Associate Editors) (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc126 PDF 

[27] Barbour, J. B. (2017). Micro/Meso/Macro levels of analysis. In C. R. Scott, L. Lewis, (General Editors), J. Barker, J. Keyton, T. Kuhn, P. Turner, & (Associate Editors) (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc140 PDF 

[26] Rauscher, E. A., Young, S., Durham, W., & Barbour, J. B. (2017). Egg donation, the institutionalized “ideal” family, and health care decision making. Health Communication, 32(5), 550-559. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1140272 PDF

[25] Miller, K. I., &, Barbour, J. B. (2017). Organizational communication: Processes and approaches. (7th enhanced ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. AMAZON PUBLISHER

[24] Barbour, J. B., Doshi, M., Hernandez, L. (2016). Telling global public health stories: Narrative message design for issues management. Communication Research, 43(6), 810-843. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215579224 PDF 

[23] Barbour, J. B., Sommer, P., & Gill, R. (2016). Technical, arcane, relational, and embodied expertise. In J. Treem & P. Leonardi (Eds.) Expertise, communication, and organizing (pp. 44-59). Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739227.003.0003 PDF AMAZON

[22] Barbour, J. B., & Manly, J.N. (2016). Redefining disaster preparedness: Institutional contradictions and praxis in volunteer responder organizing. Management Communication Quarterly, 30(3), 333-361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318916629101 PDF

[21] Barbour, J.B., Faughn, S. J., Husband, R. L. (2016). Reaching for big bata: Using analytics to address organizational challenges. In J. Waldeck & D. Seibold (Eds.) Consulting that matters: A handbook for scholars and practitioners (pp. 283-289). New York, NY: Peter Lang. PDF PUBLISHER AMAZON

[20] Dean, M., Gill, R., Barbour, J. B. (2016). “Let’s sit forward:” Investigating interprofessional communication, collaboration, professional roles, and physical space at EmergiCare. Health Communication, 31(12), 1506-1516. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2015.1089457 PDF

[19] Barbour, J.B., Gill, R., Dean, M. (2016). Work space, gendered occupations, and the organization of health: Redesigning emergency department communication. In T. Harrison & E. Williams (Eds.) Organizations, communication, and health (pp. 101-118). New York, NY: Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315723020-7 PDF AMAZON

[18] Barbour, J. B., & James, E. P. (2015). Collaboration for compliance: Identity tensions in the interorganizational regulation of a toxic waste storage facility. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 43(4), 363-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2015.1083601 PDF

[17] Barbour, J. B., & Lammers, J. C. (2015). Measuring professional identity: A Review of the literature and a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis of professional identity constructs. Journal of Professions and Organizations, 2(1), 38-60. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jou009 MEASURES PDF

[16] Barbour, J. B., & Gill, R. (2014). Designing communication for the day-to-day safety oversight of nuclear power plants. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 42(2), 168-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2013.859291 PDF

Translated for a general audience: Making complex industrial systems safe means solving unsolvable communication dilemmas. Communication Currents, 9(4) in August 2014. PDF

[15] Gill, R., Barbour, J. B., & Dean, M. (2014). Shadowing in/as work: Ten recommendations for shadowing fieldwork practice. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, 9(1), 69-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-09-2012-1100 PDF

[14] Scott, T. J., White, A., Politte, A., Collard, S., Saathoff, S., Baltensperger, A., Zechman, E.M., Barbour, J. B. Sprintson, A. (2014). A test of the Stormwater Footprint Calculator for improving knowledge and changing attitudes about design for sustainability in stormwater management. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, 10(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2014.11908129 PDF

[13] Barbour, J.B., Jacocks, C. A., & Wesner, K. (2013). Message design logics of organizational change. Communication Monographs, 80(3), 354-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2013.788251 PDF

[12] Barbour, J. B., Bierling, D., Sommer, P., & Trefz, B. (2013). Hazardous materials transport incident stakeholder analysis. Texas Transportation Institute. Prepared for the Texas Division of Emergency Management. [White paper]

[11] Huang, M., Barbour, J.B., Su, C., & Contractor, N. (2013). Why do group members provide information to digital knowledge repositories? A multilevel application of Transactive Memory Theory. Journal of American Society for Information Science and Technology, 64(3), 540-557. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22805 PDF

[10] Chinn, J. & Barbour, J.B. (2013). Negotiating aging and agedness in the volunteer disaster response teams. In Kramer, M., Gossett, L., & Lewis, L. (Eds.), Volunteering and communication: Studies from multiple contexts (pp. 229-250). New York, NY: Peter Lang. PDF SAMPLE PUBLISHER AMAZON

[9] Barbour, J. B. (2013). Consider clicking in: Using audience response systems to spark discussion. Communication Teacher, 27(1), 38-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2012.730620 PDF

[8] Barbour, J. B., Rintamaki, L. S., Ramsey, J. A., & Brashers, D. E. (2012). Avoiding heath information. Journal of Health Communication, 17(2), 212-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2011.585691 PDF

[7] Harrison, T. R., Morgan, S. E., Chewning, L. V., Williams, E. A., Barbour, J.B., Di Corcia, M. J., & Davis, L. A. (2011). Revisiting the worksite in worksite health campaigns: Evidence from a multi-site organ donation campaign. Journal of Communication, 61(3), 535-555. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01553.x PDF

[6] Barbour, J. B. (2010). On the institutional moorings of talk in health care organizations. Management Communication Quarterly, 24(3), 449-456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318910370269 PDF

[5] Lammers, J.C., & Barbour, J.B. (2009). Exploring the institutional context of physicians’ work: Professional and organizational differences in physician satisfaction. In D.E. Brashers & D. J. Goldsmith (Eds.), Communicating to manage health and illness (pp. 91-112). New York, NY: Routledge. SAMPLE PDF PUBLISHER AMAZON

[4] Barbour, J. B., & Lammers, J. C. (2007). Health care institutions, communication, and physicians’ experience of managed care: A multilevel analysis. Management Communication Quarterly, 21(2), 201-231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318907308747 PDF

[3] Lammers, J. C., & Barbour, J. B. (2006). An institutional theory of organizational communication. Communication Theory, 16(3), 356-377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00274.x PDF

[2] Clark, J., Kruidenier, W., Faughn, S., Barbour, J. B., Hazeu, H., Serb, D., Tucker, J. (2004). Assessment of the USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program. HortScience, Inc. and the Aslan Group. Prepared for the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. [White paper] PDF

[1] Lammers, J. C., Barbour, J.B., & Duggan, A. P. (2003). Organizational forms of the provision of health care: An institutional perspective. In T.L. Thompson, A. Dorsey, K. I. Miller & R. Parrott (Eds.), The handbook of health communication (pp. 319-345). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. PDF