Psychology21 papers
LLMs in qualitative psychology
Emerging applications of large language models in qualitative psychological research methodology as well as the critics.
ES
Evgeny Smirnov
All Reviews
PsychologyNiche
intermediate
Prompts, Pearls, Imperfections: Comparing ChatGPT and a Human Researcher in Qualitative Data Analysis
Wachinger, Jonas et al. (2024)
- Published
- May 22, 2024
- Journal
- Qualitative Health Research · Vol. 35 · No. 9
- DOI
- 10.1177/10497323241244669
At a GlanceAI
ChatGPT broadly matched human qualitative themes but needs careful review, especially when generating codes and theory-linked interpretations.
SummaryAI
The study directly tests whether ChatGPT can support qualitative analysis by comparing its transcript-based outputs with those of an experienced human researcher. Across prompts, ChatGPT identified substantially overlapping themes, generated a plausible codebook and supporting quotes, and connected findings to theoretical debates. Its outputs tended toward descriptive themes and require careful human review, but the results suggest LLMs could assist qualitative research and teaching while also challenging established standards for rigor and nuance.
Method SnapshotAI
Comparing ChatGPT and an experienced researcher’s qualitative analysis of an interview transcript across multiple prompts.
BackgroundAI
Basic qualitative research methods, including thematic analysis, coding, and theory-informed interpretation.