In this presentation, large language models (LLMs) are introduced as a tool in the social science research workflow. LLMs can be used for a multitude of possible tasks, but in order to use them effectively, an understanding of how they work is needed - both from a technical and data quality perspective. The presentation introduces the internal logic of LLMs and what they can be used for, as well as different types of LLMs, access options, and prompting strategies. Additionally, it discusses how these decisions impact data quality and explores mitigation strategies and reporting standards for better reproducibility. Presentation available after free registration: https://elearning.gesis.org/course/section.php?id=2574