Is it Okay to Use Generative AI in Sociological Research?

This paper presents the results of a survey of what uses of generative AI (GenAI) sociologists consider acceptable across different aspects of the research process, including literature review and ideation, data collection and analysis, writing, and peer review. Despite some areas of agreement, sociologists sociologists diverge considerably in their views on the acceptability of GenAI use in research. Many of the 19 practices we asked about were deemed generally unacceptable by a significant share of respondents even when disclosed in resulting publications, while an often similarly sized share deemed them acceptable even without disclosure. For example, 40% consider it unacceptable to generate an outline for a paper with GenAI while for 34% doing so is acceptable and need not be disclosed. Few sociologists categorically reject the use of GenAI in research, with only 5% finding all uses unacceptable. GenAI use is more acceptable to quantitative researchers, non-native English speakers, and men. While 82.2% of sociologists support journals’ adoption of mandatory disclosure statements on GenAI use, only 22% trust such statements. We reflect on these findings and discuss their broader implications.