What Large Language Models Can Tell Us About Our Own Free Will
Published:
Posts by Tags
AI
Aging
I had a great time at PAA 2025
Published:
I presented shared work with Professor William Dow and Henry Dow, comparing sociodemographic characteristics of older Hispanic adults in U.S. immigrant populations with those in their countries of origin, using census microdata and the American Community Survey (publication pending).
Field Data Collection in the Dominican Republic
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Dominican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS).
Field Data Collection in Puerto Rico
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Puerto Rican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS). We got a lot done and things are moving quickly! Looking forward to visiting again soon.
CERAD Score
COVID-19
Presenting our Research for the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology at University of Washington, Seattle
Published:
The impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions and protective health behaviors, such as the use of face masks and physical distancing, on COVID-19 dynamics is well-documented, but sub-group heterogeneities in the adoption of these behaviors remains understudied. In this paper, we describe partisan differences in the adoption of protective health behaviors, and model how these differences can impact the dynamics of COVID-19.
CatLLM
Presenting CatLLM at the University of Washington
Published:
On October 29th, 2025, I had the privilege of presenting at the University of Washington on how large language models can augment social science research. The presentation focused on CatLLM, an open-source Python package I developed to address a common challenge in demographic and social science research: analyzing open-ended survey responses and complex data at scale.
Categorization
New Preprint: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization
Published:
I have a new preprint out on SocArXiv: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization.
A Tool for Demographers and Social Scientists to Categorize Open-Ended Survey Data: CatLLM
Published:
Cleaning data
Cognitive Aging
The Hispanic Health Paradox in Cognitive Aging
Published:
On July 1st, 2025, I had the opportunity to present joint research with Dr. William H. Dow, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley. Our presentation explored a fascinating contradiction in Hispanic aging: the Hispanic health paradox in cognitive outcomes.
Computational Social Science
Presenting CatLLM at the University of Washington
Published:
On October 29th, 2025, I had the privilege of presenting at the University of Washington on how large language models can augment social science research. The presentation focused on CatLLM, an open-source Python package I developed to address a common challenge in demographic and social science research: analyzing open-ended survey responses and complex data at scale.
DEI
I presented at the Pacific Sociological Association Conference in San Francisco
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2025 PSA conference.
I presented at the California Association for Institutional Research
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2024 CAIR conference.
Data Science
Dataset Construction
Dementia
Field Data Collection in the Dominican Republic
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Dominican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS).
Field Data Collection in Puerto Rico
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Puerto Rican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS). We got a lot done and things are moving quickly! Looking forward to visiting again soon.
Demography
Presenting CatLLM at the University of Washington
Published:
On October 29th, 2025, I had the privilege of presenting at the University of Washington on how large language models can augment social science research. The presentation focused on CatLLM, an open-source Python package I developed to address a common challenge in demographic and social science research: analyzing open-ended survey responses and complex data at scale.
The Hispanic Health Paradox in Cognitive Aging
Published:
On July 1st, 2025, I had the opportunity to present joint research with Dr. William H. Dow, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley. Our presentation explored a fascinating contradiction in Hispanic aging: the Hispanic health paradox in cognitive outcomes.
Disease Spread
Presenting our Research for the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology at University of Washington, Seattle
Published:
The impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions and protective health behaviors, such as the use of face masks and physical distancing, on COVID-19 dynamics is well-documented, but sub-group heterogeneities in the adoption of these behaviors remains understudied. In this paper, we describe partisan differences in the adoption of protective health behaviors, and model how these differences can impact the dynamics of COVID-19.
Disease Transmission
Understanding the Three-Group SIR Step by Step
Published:
In our upcoming paper, “Measuring and Modeling the Impact of Partisan Differences in Health Behaviors on COVID-19 Dynamics,” we use a three-group Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model to highlight the importance of incorporating partisan differences into models of disease transmission. In this blog post, I want to fully explain what is happening in the background for readers who may be interested in utlizing it themselves. For those users, we also built an R shiny app (soon to be published as well). The link to the shiny app will be: here.
Education
I presented at the Pacific Sociological Association Conference in San Francisco
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2025 PSA conference.
I presented at the California Association for Institutional Research
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2024 CAIR conference.
Free Will
Health Disparities
The Hispanic Health Paradox in Cognitive Aging
Published:
On July 1st, 2025, I had the opportunity to present joint research with Dr. William H. Dow, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley. Our presentation explored a fascinating contradiction in Hispanic aging: the Hispanic health paradox in cognitive outcomes.
Hispanic
I had a great time at PAA 2025
Published:
I presented shared work with Professor William Dow and Henry Dow, comparing sociodemographic characteristics of older Hispanic adults in U.S. immigrant populations with those in their countries of origin, using census microdata and the American Community Survey (publication pending).
Hispanic Health Paradox
The Hispanic Health Paradox in Cognitive Aging
Published:
On July 1st, 2025, I had the opportunity to present joint research with Dr. William H. Dow, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley. Our presentation explored a fascinating contradiction in Hispanic aging: the Hispanic health paradox in cognitive outcomes.
Image Categorization
Inequality
I presented at the Pacific Sociological Association Conference in San Francisco
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2025 PSA conference.
I presented at the California Association for Institutional Research
Published:
I had the opportunity to present our research on public school background and probability of enrollment in a graduate degree at the 2024 CAIR conference.
Infectious Disease
I presented at the “Ask a Science Envoy” Event!
Published:
I recently presented my research at the Science Envoy “Ask a Science Envoy” event at HopMonk Tavern in Novato—my first time presenting at a brewery and to a non-academic audience. The experience taught me the importance of navigating sensitive topics like partisanship and belief in science, especially when audience members began debating the subject.
LLM
How to Improve Match Quality on String Data Using Large Language Models
Published:
In the world of data analysis, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of datasets is crucial, especially when dealing with entities like school names that may be spelled differently across various sources. This discrepancy can pose significant challenges when trying to match records from different datasets. Traditional methods of data cleaning may fall short in addressing these inconsistencies effectively.
Large Language Models
New Preprint: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization
Published:
I have a new preprint out on SocArXiv: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization.
Presenting CatLLM at the University of Washington
Published:
On October 29th, 2025, I had the privilege of presenting at the University of Washington on how large language models can augment social science research. The presentation focused on CatLLM, an open-source Python package I developed to address a common challenge in demographic and social science research: analyzing open-ended survey responses and complex data at scale.
A Tool for Demographers and Social Scientists to Categorize Open-Ended Survey Data: CatLLM
Published:
I had a great time at PAA 2025
Published:
I presented shared work with Professor William Dow and Henry Dow, comparing sociodemographic characteristics of older Hispanic adults in U.S. immigrant populations with those in their countries of origin, using census microdata and the American Community Survey (publication pending).
Migration
The Hispanic Health Paradox in Cognitive Aging
Published:
On July 1st, 2025, I had the opportunity to present joint research with Dr. William H. Dow, Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley. Our presentation explored a fascinating contradiction in Hispanic aging: the Hispanic health paradox in cognitive outcomes.
I had a great time at PAA 2025
Published:
I presented shared work with Professor William Dow and Henry Dow, comparing sociodemographic characteristics of older Hispanic adults in U.S. immigrant populations with those in their countries of origin, using census microdata and the American Community Survey (publication pending).
Partisanship
I presented at the “Ask a Science Envoy” Event!
Published:
I recently presented my research at the Science Envoy “Ask a Science Envoy” event at HopMonk Tavern in Novato—my first time presenting at a brewery and to a non-academic audience. The experience taught me the importance of navigating sensitive topics like partisanship and belief in science, especially when audience members began debating the subject.
Understanding the Three-Group SIR Step by Step
Published:
In our upcoming paper, “Measuring and Modeling the Impact of Partisan Differences in Health Behaviors on COVID-19 Dynamics,” we use a three-group Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model to highlight the importance of incorporating partisan differences into models of disease transmission. In this blog post, I want to fully explain what is happening in the background for readers who may be interested in utlizing it themselves. For those users, we also built an R shiny app (soon to be published as well). The link to the shiny app will be: here.
Presenting our Research for the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology at University of Washington, Seattle
Published:
The impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions and protective health behaviors, such as the use of face masks and physical distancing, on COVID-19 dynamics is well-documented, but sub-group heterogeneities in the adoption of these behaviors remains understudied. In this paper, we describe partisan differences in the adoption of protective health behaviors, and model how these differences can impact the dynamics of COVID-19.
Preprint
New Preprint: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization
Published:
I have a new preprint out on SocArXiv: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization.
Python
Python Package
A Tool for Demographers and Social Scientists to Categorize Open-Ended Survey Data: CatLLM
Published:
Research
Field Data Collection in the Dominican Republic
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Dominican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS).
Understanding the Three-Group SIR Step by Step
Published:
In our upcoming paper, “Measuring and Modeling the Impact of Partisan Differences in Health Behaviors on COVID-19 Dynamics,” we use a three-group Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model to highlight the importance of incorporating partisan differences into models of disease transmission. In this blog post, I want to fully explain what is happening in the background for readers who may be interested in utlizing it themselves. For those users, we also built an R shiny app (soon to be published as well). The link to the shiny app will be: here.
Field Data Collection in Puerto Rico
Published:
I’m super grateful to the Puerto Rican team of The Caribbean American Dementia and Aging Study (CADAS). We got a lot done and things are moving quickly! Looking forward to visiting again soon.
Science
I presented at the “Ask a Science Envoy” Event!
Published:
I recently presented my research at the Science Envoy “Ask a Science Envoy” event at HopMonk Tavern in Novato—my first time presenting at a brewery and to a non-academic audience. The experience taught me the importance of navigating sensitive topics like partisanship and belief in science, especially when audience members began debating the subject.
Survey Data
New Preprint: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization
Published:
I have a new preprint out on SocArXiv: An Empirical Investigation into the Utility of Large Language Models in Open-Ended Survey Data Categorization.
A Tool for Demographers and Social Scientists to Categorize Open-Ended Survey Data: CatLLM
Published:
Survey Research
Presenting CatLLM at the University of Washington
Published:
On October 29th, 2025, I had the privilege of presenting at the University of Washington on how large language models can augment social science research. The presentation focused on CatLLM, an open-source Python package I developed to address a common challenge in demographic and social science research: analyzing open-ended survey responses and complex data at scale.
Vision Models
Web Research
data cleaning
How to Improve Match Quality on String Data Using Large Language Models
Published:
In the world of data analysis, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of datasets is crucial, especially when dealing with entities like school names that may be spelled differently across various sources. This discrepancy can pose significant challenges when trying to match records from different datasets. Traditional methods of data cleaning may fall short in addressing these inconsistencies effectively.
envoy
I have been selected as a Science Envoy!
Published:
I have been selected as a Science Envoy for Wonderfest: The Bay Area Beacon of Science.
first post
First Post in Honor of My Little Man, Charlie
Published:
This first ever blog post is in honor of my recently passed little man, Charlie the cat, who for 12 years went together with me through thick and thin. He was the best cat anyone could’ve asked for, and no other will ever be able to replace him. I will miss you dearly, Charles, aka “Chester.” I love you always.
science
I have been selected as a Science Envoy!
Published:
I have been selected as a Science Envoy for Wonderfest: The Bay Area Beacon of Science.
string data
How to Improve Match Quality on String Data Using Large Language Models
Published:
In the world of data analysis, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of datasets is crucial, especially when dealing with entities like school names that may be spelled differently across various sources. This discrepancy can pose significant challenges when trying to match records from different datasets. Traditional methods of data cleaning may fall short in addressing these inconsistencies effectively.
wonderfest
I have been selected as a Science Envoy!
Published:
I have been selected as a Science Envoy for Wonderfest: The Bay Area Beacon of Science.