Max van der Velden

Hello! I am a Ph.D. student in Sociology at Princeton University.

My research examines what can be learned from large-N qualitative data, particularly interviewing data. I also develop computational methods, primarily language models, to better process and analyze such data and assess its downstream value. I am especially interested in what interviews can reveal about the critical junctures and chains of events that produce lived circumstances of inequality, as well as demographic decision-making around fertility and union dynamics.

Previously, I worked at Stanford’s Center on Poverty and Inequality on the American Voices Project, one of the largest collections of in-depth interviews on life trajectories, family dynamics, and health. I hold an M.S. in Management Science & Engineering (2026) and a B.S. in Symbolic Systems (2025), both from Stanford.