Research training

Qualitative Research on AI with AI

The potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of large language models are the subject of lively and controversial debate in qualitative social research. The field is currently undergoing dynamic development. Many questions, including data protection, research ethics, and methodological aspects associated with the use of new technologies, remain unanswered at present.

The teaching and research project "Qualitative Research on AI Using AI" at the Department of Sociology at the LMU Munich aims to test selected possibilities of AI-supported qualitative research together with students and to critically reflect on them: How appropriately and reliably can qualitative data be generated, processed, summarized, and interpreted with the help of AI? How (well) is the data protected against misuse? How can the risks of participating in a study that uses AI-supported technologies be assessed, minimized, and communicated appropriately? What responsibility do researchers have to critically examine the outputs of AI and treat them as support for their own research activities (but not as a substitute for them)?

Sociology students (B.A. and M.A.) are testing an AI-supported interview tool (Qualia, Causal Map Ltd, UK). They are trained to implement and document informed consent processes verbally and in writing. Other students are invited to participate in an interview study on "Attitudes toward AI." They have the option of choosing whether they want to be interviewed with or without AI. Those who opt for an interview with AI are then asked by a human interviewer about their motivations and impressions. However, participants in the study can also be interviewed on the topic of "Student attitudes toward artificial intelligence" without the use of AI. In this way, we hope to capture perspectives that are critical or dismissive of new technologies.

The objective of the teaching research project therefore encompasses two levels: one methodological and one content-related. We hope to find answers to the following questions:

1. How can artificial intelligence be used for qualitative social research, and what problems and limitations exist?
2. How do students assess the potential and limitations of artificial intelligence, and how do they rate their experience of being interviewed by AI, if applicable?

Funded by the Department of Sociology at LMU.

Queer everyday life in Munich

A qualitative study on the everyday lives and needs of queer people

Given the far-reaching changes that have taken place in recent years (politically, culturally, economically, and socially), there is a lack of a good overview of how the interests and needs of queer people in Munich have changed.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and society's response to it have changed structures and given relationship networks new forms. Thematically, especially after the "summer of migration," additional focal points have been added, which are reflected in the support and counseling provided to queer refugees, among others, and which have become more permanent. Changes often bring new challenges.

Here, the research project will tie in with the aforementioned and other social developments and will be implemented as part of an interview study starting in April 2024 in collaboration with an Master-level seminar at the Department of Sociology at the LMU Munich.

Partners

• LesCommunity e.V. (LeTRa, Lez, and RFZ)
• Sub e.V.
• Research seminar "Advanced Qualitative Methods 1+2" (instructor: Dr. Olaf Tietje) at the LMU Munich

Young refugees, education, and the labor market

Since the increase in refugee migration from civil war regions such as Syria and Afghanistan, there has been much discussion about refugees. Qualitative social research offers an opportunity to speak with them and understand their situation from a sociological perspective. The qualitative teaching research project "Young Refugees, Education, and the Labor Market" is being conducted in cooperation with the City of Munich, Department of Labor and Economic Development (RAW). The RAW wants to better understand the situation of young refugees in Munich—especially with regard to their integration into the labor market—in order to develop appropriate measures for municipal support of these processes. A qualitative panel study is also planned, which will be used to monitor and examine educational and professional careers over a period of several years. The teaching research project represents an initial exploratory investigation of the field and the situation of young refugees in order to design a qualitative panel survey on this basis.

Political education and antiziganism

Even 70 years after the Nazi genocide of European Sinti and Roma, knowledge of this event is still largely lacking in Bavarian schools.

The attempt to close this gap with innovative materials for political and historical education, entitled "The Fate of European Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust" (2013), is therefore all the more meaningful. This is where the project comes in, as it aims to examine these materials in terms of their resonance in school learning environments within the context of a student research project with a sociological approach.

The project has three objectives: to evaluate the existing teaching materials on the genocide of the Sinti and Roma in school practice and, in addition, to research existing knowledge – including antiziganistic knowledge – about Sinti and Roma among pupils and teachers in Bavarian secondary schools. Furthermore, it also aims to take an overview of the ways in which knowledge about National Socialism and the Shoah is taught in schools.

To achieve these goals, students of the seminar of the same name in the the 2015 summer semester conducted guided interviews with pupils and teachers at Bavarian secondary schools who had worked with the materials in regular lessons or as part of project days. These interviews are now being evaluated and discussed as part of the student research project and prepared for publication.