This lab manual will be updated and refined as needed.
Last Updated: January 23, 2025
This is the official lab manual for the Language & Social Dynamics (LSD) Lab at the University of Texas at San Antonio. We’re glad to have you here!
The mission of the LSD lab is to address society’s most pressing social issues by advancing interdisciplinary knowledge grounded in computational social science. Specifically, we investigate complex social psychological processes underlying people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through the lens of verbal behavior–the words people use. Our research centers around the use of natural language processing* (NLP) to analyze verbal behavior and assess social psychological processes that are challenging to study with traditional research methods.
*NLP is also known as psychological language analysis, language analysis, psychological text analysis, natural language analysis, or anything that refers to the study of people’s verbal behaviors to gain insight into social behavior and cognition.
The LSD lab consists of the Principal Investigator (PI; me), graduate students (Master’s and PhD), and undergraduate students.
Multiple research projects at various stages of the research process (e.g., study design, data collection, data cleaning, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing, study presentation) are always underway at any given time. This allows students to develop multiple research skills at the same time and work on projects that align with their interests and goals.
Each student will be assigned to work on a specific research project(s) based on their experience, goals, interests, and availability. Students may also work on other projects in addition to their assigned project(s) if they choose to do so.
Lab meetings are held once a week and are attended by all lab members. During lab meetings, we share ongoing research progress, examine findings, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, plan next steps, and discuss professional development topics.
In addition to weekly lab meetings, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows typically have 1-on-1 meetings with me on a regular basis.
All lab members are expected to:
Continually maintain a collaborative and welcoming environment by being supportive and respectful to each other and anyone working with the lab (such as collaborators in and outside of UTSA). Any behaviors, activities, and/or objects that are inconsistent with this will not be tolerated. Anything that detracts from a safe environment will also not be tolerated.
Attend all lab meetings (schedule/circumstances permitting).
Take on responsibilities as appropriate and honor obligations
Be motivated, focused, and enthusiastic about their work
Conduct all tasks with a high level of conscientiousness and attention to detail.
Actively communicate any concerns, questions, struggles, or mistakes. While the purpose of the lab is to generate knowledge, it is also a teaching and learning environment.
Regularly communicate all task/project updates to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Uphold exemplary moral principles, ethical behavior, and scientific integrity.
Stay current with the latest research and methods in our
field.
Principal Investigator: Aside from directing research, my role is to mentor all students working in the lab. In addition to all of the above, I will also:
Support your academic and professional goals in any way I can
Provide feedback in a timely manner on projects, ideas, conference posters and talks, papers, grants, etc.
Be available on a regular basis through weekly lab meetings, individual meetings, Teams, impromptu chats in the lab or in my office, and email. My availability will vary periodically due to travel, teaching, and grants, but I will let everyone know ahead of time.
Help you prepare for the next phase of your career whether that
involves pursuing an academic position or transitioning to a career
beyond academia.
Lab Manager: The lab manager plays a pivotal role in the lab’s overall functioning. Key expectations and responsibilities include:
Ensure all lab members have access to lab data and materials.
Identify needs for the lab space (e.g., equipment, supplies, software, etc.)
Help provide guidance and training to new lab members and collaborators.
Serve as the point of contact for individuals interested in learning about the lab or potentially joining the lab.
Create agendas for each lab meeting and assist with note-taking during meetings
Regularly send/share/post relevant information and updates on
Teams
PhD Students: PhD students are in the process of developing their core research skills, often balancing coursework with research. Key expectations and responsibilities include:
Develop your dissertation research. This includes your actual dissertation research project and the research you do leading up to the dissertation. We will regularly meet to discuss this.
Help mentor and support undergraduate students, Master’s students, and junior PhD students
Stay on top of program deadlines and requirements such as course registration, degree milestones (qualifying exams, dissertation proposal, dissertation defense, etc.), funding, etc.
Begin exploring potential career directions and have ongoing
discussions with me about your goals. My goal is to ensure you are
taking the right steps to gain the experience and training needed for
your desired career.
Master’s Students: Similar to PhD students, Master’s students are in the process of developing their core research skills, often balancing coursework with research. Key expectations and responsibilities include:
Develop your thesis research. This includes your actual thesis research project and the research you do leading up to the thesis. We will regularly meet to discuss this.
Help mentor and support undergraduate students and junior Master’s students.
Stay on top of program deadlines and requirements such as course registration, degree milestones (thesis proposal defense, thesis defense, etc.), funding, etc.
Begin exploring potential academic and career directions and have
ongoing discussions with me about your goals. My goal is to ensure you
are taking the right steps to gain the experience and training needed
for your desired career.
Undergraduate Research Assistants: In the beginning, most undergraduate students will support more experienced lab members with their projects. As you build your skills and knowledge, we aim for you to take on greater responsibility in leading projects and shaping their direction. Key expectations and responsibilities include:
Take responsibility for planning your lab schedule, adhering to it, and promptly informing others if any problems arise.
Ensure that you finish all necessary training and certifications
Stay on top of your deadlines including course credit registration (if applicable), applications for salary or travel funding (if applicable), opportunities for undergraduate conferences and symposiums, etc.
Actively engage in all lab meetings. While some discussion may sometimes be difficult to follow, those who benefit the most are the ones who ask questions and contribute to the conversation.
Be curious. This is your chance to learn what research is truly like. We want to help you grow academically/professionally and ensure you enjoy the experience.
CITI Training
All lab members must complete UTSA’s CITI training before they can
handle any data. After completing the CITI training, please save the
certificate and send it to me for confirmation. This training must be
renewed every 3 years.
Lab Space
All lab members must:
Use the lab space as much as possible outside of weekly lab meetings. UTSA will re-allocate lab space to someone else if they think we aren’t using it enough.
Maintain a secure lab space. We handle a lot of sensitive and identifiable data. All external doors must be locked when the lab is not in use and only active lab members may enter the lab (unless you are running participants for a study).
Maintain a clean and tidy lab space.
Authorship
The goal of all research projects is to disseminate findings via
peer-reviewed publications. This primarily includes journal articles,
book chapters, poster presentations, and research talks, but can also
include conference proceedings, white papers, policy briefs, social
media, and others. Authorship on all publications will follow APA’s
guidelines (7th edition) which states:
Lab members who contribute to a research project will typically be
included in the list of authors based on the extent of their
contributions (from most contributions to least contributions). The
order of placement will be determined through transparent discussions
with everyone involved. If you have any uncertainty about your
authorship position, please don’t hesitate to bring it up.
Microsoft Teams
Most lab-relevant materials, documents, and data can be accessed through
the LSD Lab’s Team. Teams will also be used as the primary means of lab
communications.
Lab Calendar
The lab has one shared Outlook calendar named LSD Lab Calendar.
This is used for keeping track of general events (lab meetings, 1-on-1
meetings, project meetings, departmental events, talks, conferences,
etc.) and schedules (when people will be out of town, etc.).
Data Analysis Software
Most analyses will be conducted on R or jamovi. These are open source and free to
download and use. All lab members should download both onto their own
laptop/computer. All lab computers will have jamovi and R already
installed.