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Virginia Tech

Narrative Generation to Support Causal Exploration of Directed Graphs

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Causal graphs are a useful notation to represent the interplay between the actors as well as the polarity and strength of the relationship that they share. They are used extensively in educational, professional, and industrial contexts to simulate different scenarios, validate behavioral aspects, visualize the connections between different processes, and explore the adversarial effects of changing certain nodes. However, as the size of the causal graphs increase, interpreting them also becomes increasingly tougher. In such cases, new analytical tools are required to enhance the user's comprehension of the graph, both in terms of correctness and speed. To this purpose, this thesis introduces 1) a system that allows for causal exploration of directed graphs, while enabling the user to see the effect of interventions on the target nodes, 2) the use of natural language generation techniques to create a coherent passage explaining the propagation effects, and 3) results of an expert user study validating the efficacy of the narratives in enhancing the user's understanding of the causal graphs. In overall, the system aims to enhance user experience and promote further causal exploration.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Computer Science and Applications
Department dc:contributor.department
Computer Science
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2020

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Choudhry, Arjun
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Ramakrishnan, Naren
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Reddy, Chandan K.
  • Lu, Chang-Tien

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:26473
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/98670

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Choudhry, Arjun. Narrative Generation to Support Causal Exploration of Directed Graphs. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/98670