Research Methods in Law, 2nd Edition

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Research Methods in Law, 2nd Edition

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To cite the immortal words of 1980s pop band Bananarama "It ain't what you do it’s the way that you do it" and this is especially true of legal research in the current academic climate. The aim of this book is to explain in clear terms some of the main methodological approaches in legal research. This is an edited collection, with each chapter written by specialists in their field, researching in a variety of jurisdictions. Each contributor addresses the topic of "lay decision makers in the legal system" from one particular methodological perspective, explaining how they would approach the issue and discussing why their particular methodology might, or might not, be suited to this topic.In asking all contributors to focus on the same topic, the editors have sought to provide a common link throughout the text, thereby providing the reader with an opportunity to draw comparisons between methodologies with relative ease. In light of the broad geographical range of its contributors, the book is aimed at an international readership. This book will be of particular interest to PhD students in law, but it will also be of use to undergraduate dissertation students in law, LL.M Research students as well as prospective PhD students and early year researchers.
Introduction 1. Doctrinal Research; Researching the Jury, Terry Hutchinson 2. Socio-Legal Studies: A Challenge to the Doctrinal Approach, Fiona Cownie and Anthony Bradney 3. Doing Empirical Research: Exploring the Decision Making of Magistrates and Juries, Mandy Burton 4. Legal Research in the Humanities, Dawn Watkins and Steven Cammiss 5. Legal History, Philip Handler 6. Comparative Law and its Methodology, Geoffrey Samuel 7. Critical Legal ‘Method’ as Attitude, Panu Minkkinen
Dawn Watkins is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Leicester. Her research interests are in law and humanities, legal history, legal education and family law. She teaches on undergraduate courses in Equity and Trusts and Family Law, and has been involved in the design and delivery of training programmes for postgraduate research students. She is also involved in the supervision of PhD students. She was awarded a University teaching fellowship in 2012 and has been short-listed for the Law Teacher of the Year Award 2013.

Mandy Burton is a Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Leicester. Her research interests are in criminal justice, family law and socio -legal studies, with a particular focus on legal responses to domestic violence. She has carried out numerous empirical research projects, many of them commissioned by UK government departments. She teaches criminal law and justice to undergraduates and socio-legal research methods to postgraduate students.