Legal Research Methodology

Legal research is a systematic investigation towards increasing the knowledge of law. Not merely the art of looking for legal cases and statutes, it is a wholly separate discipline which can yield knowledge that is beneficial to the legal framework of society; it can serve to inform government policy; and it can also be of use in developing the law. By its very definition legal research follows a structure and parlance all its own, and requires that high standards of care be maintained in accordance with established methods, all of which are enumerated in this book.

Legal Research Methodology is an accessible and instructive guide on the discipline of legal research, written with law students and researchers of law in mind, to address the difficulties both student and researcher may encounter in the conduct of the discipline of legal research. Authored by a dedicated academic with wide experience in conducting research and writing research proposals and reports, this book is an invaluable guide to aspiring researchers and law students as it provides useful practical and in-depth guidance on how legal research can be successfully carried out and reported.

• Explains the historical background, significance and desirability of legal research;
• Describes in detail, using clearly written examples, the types of legal research methodology available, data analysis and the significance of a given study, topic selection and problem identification, and the formulation of research objectives;
• Describes in detail how literature reviews are composed;
• Explains sources of information in legal research;
• Describes and critically discusses research ethics;
• Instructs on how to write research proposals and research reports.
  CONTENTS
  Chapter 1: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RESEARCH
  Chapter 2: TYPES OF LEGAL RESEARCH
  Chapter 3: TOPIC SELECTION AND PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
  Chapter 4: RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
  Chapter 5: LITERATURE REVIEW
  Chapter 6: SOURCES OF INFORMATION IN LEGAL RESEARCH
  Chapter 7: DATA ANALYSIS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
  Chapter 8: RESEARCH ETHICS
  Chapter 9: WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND RESEARCH REPORTS