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arXiv · 2608.21420

Evaluating Human and LLM-Generated Thematic Analysis in HRI for Vulnerable Populations: A Comparative and Ethical Analysis

Alva Markelius·Fethiye Irmak Dogan·Julie Bailey·Hatice Gunes
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Abstract

Thematic analysis (TA) has long been regarded as an inherently human, reflexive, and interpretive process. However, the extent to which LLM-generated TA is appropriate for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research involving vulnerable populations remains largely unexamined and raises critical questions about validity and ethics, particularly in sensitive research contexts. This paper presents a comparative study of human- and LLM-generated TA in an HRI context with a focus on vulnerable populations. We evaluate both objective and semantic agreement between human- and LLMgenerated themes, and examine whether observed divergences reflect systematic interpretive patterns with ethical significance. Our analysis investigates whether LLM-generated TA risks marginalising or misrepresenting the experiences of vulnerable participants, with implications for researchers employing LLM-assisted TA in HRI.

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Alva Markelius, Fethiye Irmak Dogan, Julie Bailey, Hatice Gunes. 2026-08-14. Evaluating Human and LLM-Generated Thematic Analysis in HRI for Vulnerable Populations: A Comparative and Ethical Analysis. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.21420

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