Pince Chen

The fidelity of large language models in social science: a human-ai parallel experimental test of middle-range theory

Middle-range theory, as conceptualised by Merton, is distinguished by its empirical testability and its capacity to bridge abstract theory and empirical social inquiry. In this paper, we ask whether large language models (LLMs) can be used as surrogate human actors in the testing and reformulation of middle-range theor...