  Deductive coding is a widely used qualitative research method for determining
the prevalence of themes across documents. While useful, deductive coding is
often burdensome and time consuming since it requires researchers to read,
interpret, and reliably categorize a large body of unstructured text documents.
Large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, are a class of quickly evolving AI
tools that can perform a range of natural language processing and reasoning
tasks. In this study, we explore the use of LLMs to reduce the time it takes
for deductive coding while retaining the flexibility of a traditional content
analysis. We outline the proposed approach, called LLM-assisted content
analysis (LACA), along with an in-depth case study using GPT-3.5 for LACA on a
publicly available deductive coding data set. Additionally, we conduct an
empirical benchmark using LACA on 4 publicly available data sets to assess the
broader question of how well GPT-3.5 performs across a range of deductive
coding tasks. Overall, we find that GPT-3.5 can often perform deductive coding
at levels of agreement comparable to human coders. Additionally, we demonstrate
that LACA can help refine prompts for deductive coding, identify codes for
which an LLM is randomly guessing, and help assess when to use LLMs vs. human
coders for deductive coding. We conclude with several implications for future
practice of deductive coding and related research methods.
