research methods and legal writing pdf thesis

Rather, there are a number of very different views of how the economy works (Neoclassical, Keynesian, Marxist, green, etc. Moreover, the legal method is also of limited help for a number of questions that you encounter in your research, such as the evaluation of non-legal facts. Outline for Empirical Master's Theses . How would such “value” become relevant in law? (→ This is an application of “discourse analysis”), Fourth, you could reject the government’s arguments, and argue that better arguments can be made for another interpretation. The hermeneutical instruments employed in doctrinal scholarship do not really help to explore all potential factors that shape a specific decision, and you should be aware of this in your writing. In a metaphorical sense it could be argued that this type of argumentation pushes the law/politics line: an alleged legal necessity is exposed as a political choice. A measure may be based on the evaluation of a specific non-legal fact that you think is incorrect. interviews with judge… Quantitative studies(e.g. We have already proposed a stylized argumentative strategy above when we discussed the “generic” law article, and briefly recap it here. How to write a research methodology. In practice, legal gender studies is well integrated into the interdisciplinary gender studies discourse, with jurists frequently incorporating non-jurist scholarship and vice versa. The core assumption is that gender is a relevant category of analysis. Thus, doctrinal scholarship is engaged in the systematization of the legal system. In order to understand how different values shape the interpretation of law, imagine the following situation: a contract between a customer and a large company contains terms and conditions that are very unfair for the former. “legal gender studies” assumes that gender is an important analytical category). It therefore argues that the national implementation is mostly or fully determined by higher-ranking law, and that it has no relevant discretionary choice. reaching further, it can be asked whether these distinctions are informed by certain ideological views, and whether these legally imposed distinctions in turn enforce gender roles in practice. Consider the following example: the government holds that a European Directive can be implemented correctly only in one specific way. When you develop your research question, you should be attentive as to which questions you can plausibly answer when you employ hermeneutical instruments, but also which questions cannot reasonably be addressed. Theses written at law faculties often employ a doctrinal approach, which we defined as the use of hermeneutical instruments in the form of the “legal method” and “discourse analysis”. Similarly, when the legal system is “ordered”, such “ordering” or “systematization” activity must necessarily be informed by certain values or principles. comparative private law, comparative constitutional law) and analytical techniques. A judge informed by mainstream “law and economics” may assume that — because individuals are assumed to rationally optimize their utility on the market — the contract is still beneficial for the customer: if the contract would not increase her utility, she would not have concluded it. “legal gender studies” frequently draws from non-legal research on sexuality and gender; “law and economics” employs economic ideas, “behavioral law and economics” draws from psychology), some share a specific social theory of the law (e.g. when they put a new court judgment into relation with the existing case law and with the legal system in general), they do so on the basis of a certain underlying understanding of what the legal system should be about — this is logical: you can order things only if you apply a certain underlying principle. Or, the existence of different implementations of e.g. These different aspects of doctrinal scholarship may often not be clearly distinguishable; rather, they often blend into each other. Within doctrinal research, you can pursue different strategies of argumentation. The “law and economics” approach combines a variety of aspects or elements that are quite unrelated, at least at first sight. In principle, the appropriate method follows from your research question: if you wish to study recidivism rates, you will choose a quantitative method, etc. Do use subheads throughout. 2. The following topics usually will be included. Kothari, Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1985). Mainstream “law and economics” scholars would argue that the law should be interpreted on the basis of what is necessary to make the markets run optimally. B. Another version of this strategy would be to argue that a specific evaluation of non-legal facts appears to draw from common sense, but is in fact based on biased assumptions. In particular, we argued that legal scholars are usually engaged in the following activities: We have also argued that these two types of hermeneutical research are usually not held apart in legal discourse, but that it is useful to distinguish between the two for a better understanding of what doctrinal scholarship does, and in particular to understand how legal measures can be contested (we will further discuss this second point a little later). Sometimes this develops into a distinct style of legal research, which we could describe as a specific “approach” in legal scholarship. A typical question drawing from the comparative approach could be one of the following: Such comparisons may in turn be an interesting basis for critical analysis: Gender studies is an interdisciplinary field, which stretches across political science, sociology, psychology, economics, biology and medicine. the educational system. Beyond hermeneutical analysis proper, doctrinal scholarship frequently also engages in the following activities: A typical article in a law journal will often encompass all four types of activities in some form, as the following example shows. some share a specific technique (e.g. The two elements of “law and economics” are, as such, unrelated: the first is about studying law and legal processes from a non-legal research perspective, applying e.g. § Writing of Research Proposal § Dissertation/ Thesis Writing Suggested Readings* 1. In your thesis, you may choose to analyze a new judgment or norm within the broader context of the legal system. The problem is, however, that there is not one “correct” economic viewpoint. C.R. However, the recent Gauweiler judgment provides support for the claim that the ECB’s mandate is in fact much broader. “comparative constitutional law” compares the different constitutional regimes in order to identify interesting research questions), some share a specific affinity with another academic discipline (e.g. ability in “Legal Research and Writing” (LRW) courses.2 English majors may assume LRW will be the easy course in the curricu-lum while engineers may fear writing papers for the first time in years. It also intends to make them familiar with nature, scope, and significance of legal research. Finally, we saw that legal scholars often employ what we termed specific “. This is an example for a research question that mainly focuses on systematization (I just made this one up): Under certain conditions, Union citizens have a right to receive social assistance from the Member State where they reside under the free movement provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). For example, how is hate speech regulated? “behavioral law and economics” — may focus in different non-legal research methods to study the law (e.g., psychological) and may propose different research questions (e.g. mainstream “law and economics” is usually close to neoliberal policy views). A. Apa Researcher Methodology Example Sample Section Chapter Question. In this backdrop, the present course on Legal Research Methods intends to acquaint the students of law with scientific methods of inquiry into law. Write after remainder of proposal is completed. scholars drawing from Foucault, or who employ a Marxist framework), Some share a specific worldview, or parts thereof (e.g. However, such re-arranging or ordering activity requires an implicit assumption about what is a “good” way of organizing rooms (e.g., don’t put the wardrobe in the middle of the room or in front of windows or doors). Being clear about the method you employ helps you to stay aware of the method’s blind spots as well. Based on what we discussed, we can sketch the following outline of a “typical” article in a law journal. In addition to definitions in II.B., define other terms where first used. Alternative approaches — e.g. 2. However, in reading legal scholarship and in writing your own thesis it is useful to be aware of these different activities. ), and consequently also how a legal system should be interpreted. This could be challenged as follows: This argumentative strategy challenges the dividing line between law and politics proposed by an institution. Legal research and research methodologies. In other words, an allegedly “economic” viewpoint should inform the interpretation of law. By Lynne Taylor, from Legal Writing: A Complete Guide for a Career in Law (LexisNexis, 2014). For example, it could be interesting to find out what the causes of the differences between Member States are. This exposes a seemingly common-sensical evaluation as based on unjustifiable biases. regarding guardianship) is based on biased views of gender roles, of certain illnesses or handicaps, or of old age. Here we provide stylized examples, as well as possible research questions that are based on these different strategies. This “political” choice can then be challenged. Medical researchers may be interested in whether diseases affect women and men differently, e.g. For example, they may share a specific style of analysis, tend to draw from insights from a specific non-legal discipline, or apply specific assumptions (or share a specific worldview). Research Paperology Sample Writing Chapter Paper Methodology . The following concluding points can be made: 9 Micro-Habits That Will Completely Change Your Life in a Year, Science Might Have Identified the Optimal Human Diet, 6 Signs a Woman Wants to Be Approached by You, How To Make Enough Money to Retire in the Next 5 Years, How ‘Verbal Aikido’ Can Help You Avoid Stupid Arguments, 15 Ideas You Can Steal to Make the Next 12 Months a Period of Remarkable Growth, What If Trump Gets Really Sick? Engaging in research is a necessary precursor to writing a research paper. Legal gender studies adopts this focus on gender as an analytical category, and allows for many interesting research questions: It is quite obvious that legal gender studies quickly touches on issues that require methods other than hermeneutics, such as employment statistics. Evaluation as based on the evaluation of a “ typical ” article a! Different implementations of e.g you reject the these arguments, and consequently also how legal. Argues that the ECB ’ s mandate is in fact possible men differently,.! Law distinguishes between two or Methodology: Methods and Techniques ( new Delhi: Wiley Eastern,. Discerning law and economics ” approach combines a variety of research methods and legal writing pdf thesis or elements that are quite unrelated at! Interviews with judge… by Lynne Taylor, from legal Writing: a Complete Guide for a Career law. To establish whether the government ’ s mandate is in fact possible variety of aspects or that... 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