Session 1 - Introduction to NLP for Social Science#
Welcome to our course on Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Social Science. This course is designed to bridge the gap between advanced NLP techniques, particularly those leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), and social science research methodologies.
In this introductory session, we’ll cover three key areas:
Key points we’ll explore include:
The evolution of NLP from traditional rule-based systems to modern deep learning approaches
The transformative impact of LLMs on NLP tasks and social science research
Capabilities and limitations of LLMs in social science contexts
Ethical challenges posed by LLMs, including bias, privacy concerns, and interpretability issues
It’s crucial to understand that NLP has undergone a revolutionary transformation in recent years. While traditionally, researchers had to build task-specific models from scratch, we now have access to powerful pre-trained LLMs that can be adapted for a wide range of tasks. This shift has made advanced NLP techniques more accessible to social scientists, but it also requires us to think critically about how to best utilize these tools in our research.
Throughout this course, we’ll discuss both the opportunities and challenges of using LLMs in social science. We’ll explore how to frame research questions that can leverage LLM capabilities, how to use LLMs for tasks such as data annotation, text generation, and large-scale textual analysis, and how to interpret and validate results.
Remember, our goal isn’t just to use LLMs because they’re cutting-edge, but to harness their power as tools to gain new insights and answer important questions in your field. We’ll emphasize the importance of understanding the underlying principles of these models, even as we use advanced tools that abstract away much of the complexity.
As we progress, I encourage you to think about how you might apply these techniques to your own research interests. Consider the ethical implications of using LLMs in your work, and how you can ensure responsible and transparent use of these powerful tools.
Let’s embark on this journey to explore the exciting intersection of NLP, LLMs, and social science! Don’t hesitate to ask questions and engage in discussions – that’s how we’ll all learn and grow throughout this course.