Laura K. Nelson
@lauraknelson.bsky.social
Associate Professor @ UBC
computational sociology
machine learning is feminist
You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she’s not deadly. She’s beautiful and she’s laughing.
www.lauraknelson.com
computational sociology
machine learning is feminist
You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she’s not deadly. She’s beautiful and she’s laughing.
www.lauraknelson.com
The 20,000 people who attend NeurIPS have a very different expertise than me :) It's a broad but deep field, and it's absolutely massive. I'm not trying to be annoying. I think we need to critique initiatives like this, but not on the grounds that "there are no experts in the field".
November 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The 20,000 people who attend NeurIPS have a very different expertise than me :) It's a broad but deep field, and it's absolutely massive. I'm not trying to be annoying. I think we need to critique initiatives like this, but not on the grounds that "there are no experts in the field".
Oh gawd I can both smell and feel that part. So much ink.
September 5, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Oh gawd I can both smell and feel that part. So much ink.
Reading list from the talk! I.e., the references slide
August 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Reading list from the talk! I.e., the references slide
July 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I've been spending the summer taking stock of the growing, maturing field of qualitative computational methods (compu/qual? quali-quant?). This subfield is now a powerhouse, and I'll be sharing my reflections at #IC2S2 on the state of the field, ongoing (fierce!) debates, and possible futures?
July 18, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I've been spending the summer taking stock of the growing, maturing field of qualitative computational methods (compu/qual? quali-quant?). This subfield is now a powerhouse, and I'll be sharing my reflections at #IC2S2 on the state of the field, ongoing (fierce!) debates, and possible futures?
I'm revisiting old theory syllabuses from my grad training and was reminded of this gem from Neil Fligstein. I'm enjoying the direct line from Weber to feminism in particular. (No shade on Neil - this is a fantastic chart!)
July 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I'm revisiting old theory syllabuses from my grad training and was reminded of this gem from Neil Fligstein. I'm enjoying the direct line from Weber to feminism in particular. (No shade on Neil - this is a fantastic chart!)
My review of Fourcade and Healy's The Ordinal Society
Their central question (in my read): “What does it mean for computers to intervene in the business of seeing and organizing society?” (p. 108).
The stakes of this question are now higher than ever.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Their central question (in my read): “What does it mean for computers to intervene in the business of seeing and organizing society?” (p. 108).
The stakes of this question are now higher than ever.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
June 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
My review of Fourcade and Healy's The Ordinal Society
Their central question (in my read): “What does it mean for computers to intervene in the business of seeing and organizing society?” (p. 108).
The stakes of this question are now higher than ever.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Their central question (in my read): “What does it mean for computers to intervene in the business of seeing and organizing society?” (p. 108).
The stakes of this question are now higher than ever.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Our article, with Nga Than, Leanne Fan, @tinalaw.bsky.social and Leslie McCall @stone-lis.bsky.social, proposes a framework (image 2) to (carefully) incorporate LLMs into the qualitative coding process.
But read the entire issue, if it's your jam.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
But read the entire issue, if it's your jam.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
May 26, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Our article, with Nga Than, Leanne Fan, @tinalaw.bsky.social and Leslie McCall @stone-lis.bsky.social, proposes a framework (image 2) to (carefully) incorporate LLMs into the qualitative coding process.
But read the entire issue, if it's your jam.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
But read the entire issue, if it's your jam.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
May 23, 2025 at 4:11 PM
When editors ask me to submit my review
May 8, 2025 at 11:07 PM
When editors ask me to submit my review
Ok I'm still thinking about this, and the more I do, the more I'm convinced it's really not a good framing. Generative AI is indeed used for analytical purposes. And "analytical" AI (as they use is here) is also moving at breakneck speed - e.g., the many variations of BERT models.
May 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Ok I'm still thinking about this, and the more I do, the more I'm convinced it's really not a good framing. Generative AI is indeed used for analytical purposes. And "analytical" AI (as they use is here) is also moving at breakneck speed - e.g., the many variations of BERT models.
Contrary to grumbling that DEI programs are a distraction from the core mission of universities - that they're administrative "bloat", we find the opposite: research-active faculty who received an ADVANCE aware published *more* papers *in their core scientific area* compared to a matched sample.
April 23, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Contrary to grumbling that DEI programs are a distraction from the core mission of universities - that they're administrative "bloat", we find the opposite: research-active faculty who received an ADVANCE aware published *more* papers *in their core scientific area* compared to a matched sample.
Ahhhh mine is incomprehensible. My god what does a phrase like that even mean?
April 19, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Ahhhh mine is incomprehensible. My god what does a phrase like that even mean?
Thank you University of Michigan School of Information (not on here, really?) for hosting me today. It's been a remarkably generative visit (I say to the aether, because they're only on the other place 😭)
March 27, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Thank you University of Michigan School of Information (not on here, really?) for hosting me today. It's been a remarkably generative visit (I say to the aether, because they're only on the other place 😭)
Totally unimportant post (though maybe more important than I think?), but why are the Google search images for "sociology" so kumbaya and cutsey. I'm trying to find images for a slide deck and I hate all of them. Compare it to "physics". Has someone done a study on the imagery of disciplines?
March 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Totally unimportant post (though maybe more important than I think?), but why are the Google search images for "sociology" so kumbaya and cutsey. I'm trying to find images for a slide deck and I hate all of them. Compare it to "physics". Has someone done a study on the imagery of disciplines?
Roses are red
We're all full of anxiety
So I'm taking a break to read
We're all full of anxiety
So I'm taking a break to read
February 14, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Roses are red
We're all full of anxiety
So I'm taking a break to read
We're all full of anxiety
So I'm taking a break to read
Physics. Physics has the biggest H indexes and citations. I collaborate with someone who does a lot of bibliometric analyses and physicists are *always* the outliers.
February 12, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Physics. Physics has the biggest H indexes and citations. I collaborate with someone who does a lot of bibliometric analyses and physicists are *always* the outliers.
From Pew, same link. Support has always been low, and actually was its lowest in 2013, prior to Trump's first run. Interesting, there seemed to be more support in 2019 than anytime before.
February 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
From Pew, same link. Support has always been low, and actually was its lowest in 2013, prior to Trump's first run. Interesting, there seemed to be more support in 2019 than anytime before.
Gonna go with this one for me
February 7, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Gonna go with this one for me
How I think I look when teaching / How I actually look
February 6, 2025 at 9:55 PM
How I think I look when teaching / How I actually look
In reflecting on genAI and teaching as I prepare remarks for a symposium, I'm struck that we too often speak about AI as happening to us. But folks, cyborgs are not our enemy. Donna Haraway *in 1985* wrote the best passage on (gen)AI that I have yet to read. I'd rather be a cyborg than a goddess ✊
January 24, 2025 at 7:40 PM
In reflecting on genAI and teaching as I prepare remarks for a symposium, I'm struck that we too often speak about AI as happening to us. But folks, cyborgs are not our enemy. Donna Haraway *in 1985* wrote the best passage on (gen)AI that I have yet to read. I'd rather be a cyborg than a goddess ✊
So the entire proceedings of the "XVII International Scientific Conference" is just slight variations on one of his "papers". Truly impressive
January 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
So the entire proceedings of the "XVII International Scientific Conference" is just slight variations on one of his "papers". Truly impressive
It starts with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-, interspersing live orchestra shots with abstract animated lines reflecting instruments and sounds, e.g., violin bows become abstract lightning in clouds.
December 16, 2024 at 10:18 PM
It starts with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-, interspersing live orchestra shots with abstract animated lines reflecting instruments and sounds, e.g., violin bows become abstract lightning in clouds.