LLM重构传播研究方法,让文本分析更智能、实验更动态。
Recalibrating the Compass: Integrating Large Language Models into Classical Research Methods
- 用LLM增强文本编码与解释,提升内容分析效率
- 模拟动态受访者,实现个性化交互刺激生成
- 适合关注方法创新的传播与社科研究者
本文探讨大语言模型(LLMs)如何重塑传播学乃至社会科学中的核心定量研究方法,包括内容分析、问卷调查和实验研究。不同于替代传统方法,LLMs为文本编码与解读、动态受访者模拟及个性化互动刺激生成带来新可能。基于跨学科成果,论文指出其在效度、偏见与可解释性方面的局限。通过重审拉斯韦尔经典框架——‘谁对谁,通过什么渠道,说什么,产生什么效果?’,揭示LLMs如何通过促进解释变异、建模受众轨迹、开展反事实实验,重新配置消息研究、受众分析与效果研究。文章主张以古典研究逻辑为锚点,将LLMs视为认知与文化工具,倡导未来研究中严谨而富有想象力地使用它们。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
This paper examines how large language models (LLMs) are transforming core quantitative methods in communication research in particular, and in the social sciences more broadly-namely, content analysis, survey research, and experimental studies. Rather than replacing classical approaches, LLMs introduce new possibilities for coding and interpreting text, simulating dynamic respondents, and generating personalized and interactive stimuli. Drawing on recent interdisciplinary work, the paper highlights both the potential and limitations of LLMs as research tools, including issues of validity, bias, and interpretability. To situate these developments theoretically, the paper revisits Lasswell's foundational framework -- "Who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?" -- and demonstrates how LLMs reconfigure message studies, audience analysis, and effects research by enabling interpretive variation, audience trajectory modeling, and counterfactual experimentation. Revisiting the metaphor of the methodological compass, the paper argues that classical research logics remain essential as the field integrates LLMs and generative AI. By treating LLMs not only as technical instruments but also as epistemic and cultural tools, the paper calls for thoughtful, rigorous, and imaginative use of LLMs in future communication and social science research.
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