Researching into/through Emerging Technologies: Epistemological and Methodological Issues

Monday, 7 July 2025: 13:00-14:45
Location: ASJE028 (Annex of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences)
RC33 Logic and Methodology in Sociology (host committee)

Language: English

The recent development of emerging technologies (ET), such as Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, and High-Performance Computing, affects sciences and society. The interest in emerging technology in the social sciences is twofold. Firstly, ET are becoming interesting social research objects; secondly, they are being employed as research instruments for data collection, organization and analysis.

However, several epistemological challenges need to be addressed. How the development or usage of ET should be studied? What methods can be useful for such objects of research? What are the main epistemological challenges of researching ET and their agency? What methodological challenges need to be faced for an effective use of ET in social research? How do traditional questions of validity, sampling, inference, etc. apply to social research through ET?

The session welcomes abstracts that present, empirical research on specific ET or show possibilities for implementing ET in social research practices.
Session Organizers:
Suania ACAMPA, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, Francesco AMATO, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy and Mattia DE ANGELIS, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Chair:
Biagio ARAGONA, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
Oral Presentations
Addressing Methodological Considerations in the Study of Generative AI: A Case Study on Bias
Lilla VICSEK, Hungary; Anna VANCSO, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary; Mike ZAJKO, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada; Judit TAKACS, MTA TK, Hungary; Szabolcs ANNUS, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Can AI Predict Individual Values and Attitudes? an Experimental Comparison
Ciro Clemente DE FALCO, University of Naples Federico II, Italy; Domenico TREZZA, University of Naples 'Federico II', Italy; Caterina AMBROSIO, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Moral Intuitions and Moral Judgments in Humans and Large Language Models (LLMs): An Experimental Comparison
Valeria KOROTKOVA, Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation; Inna DEVIATKO, Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation
Navigating Extremes with Transformers and Fuzzy Logic: Polarization in the Spanish Presidential Ejections 2023
Juan Antonio GUEVARA, Complutense University, Spain; Belen CASAS MAS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; José Manuel ROBLES, Complutense University of Madrid
The Challenging Adaptation of Research Methods from Human Subjects to AI Systems
Dario CHIANESE, University of Naples Federico II, Italy