Language models hold a great deal of promise for qualitative research communities, and various CAQDAS platforms have sought to integrate them into their toolsets. However there remains some uncertainty about what these models actually do, and how they can meaningfully support qualitative analysis.
This session encourages researchers to develop an understanding of language models as a fundamentally different kind of analytical function. Rather than treating these tools as “black boxes” or accepting default implementations, qualitative researchers can benefit from adopting a “tinkerer’s mindset” - experimenting with and adapting language models to support their specific qualitative workflows.
Speaker
Dr Matt Wood is an Assistant Professor in Computer & Information Sciences at Northumbria University. He is currently the programme leader for Northumbria University’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Citizen Centred
