# AcademiaOS: Automating Grounded Theory Development in Qualitative Research with Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.08844 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08844/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 41 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 13 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Language Models are Few-Shot Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14165/) (2020)
- [Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.02155/) (2022)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: Early experiments with GPT-4](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.12712/) (2023)
- [A Survey on In-context Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.00234/) (2022)
- [How Much Knowledge Can You Pack Into the Parameters of a Language Model?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.08910/) (2020)
- [Should ChatGPT be Biased? Challenges and Risks of Bias in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03738/) (2023)
- [Beyond Factuality: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Large Language Models as Knowledge Generators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.07289/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Using Grounded Theory for Agent Behavior Analysis at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.30391/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

AcademiaOS is a first attempt to automate grounded theory development in qualitative research with large language models. Using recent large language models' language understanding, generation, and reasoning capabilities, AcademiaOS codes curated qualitative raw data such as interview transcripts and develops themes and dimensions to further develop a grounded theoretical model, affording novel insights. A user study (n=19) suggests that the system finds acceptance in the academic community and exhibits the potential to augment humans in qualitative research. AcademiaOS has been made open-source for others to build upon and adapt to their use cases.