A selection of books relating to legal analysis, writing and research, particularly in the Singapore context:
The Law Society of Singapore publishes research papers and articles on legal skills in its Legal Profession Research Portal.
The following nomenclature of legal research methodologies may be referred to in Research Methods in Law, 2nd Ed by Watkin & Burton (Routledge, 2018). This is the set text for NUS Law PhD students taking the module LC6009 Graduate Research Seminar. The split between doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods is a contestable framework based on Ishwara Bhat's Idea and Methods of Legal Research (OUP, 2020).
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Doctrinal Research "Research which provides a systematic exposition of the rules governing a particular legal category, analyses the relationship between rules, explains areas of difficulty and, perhaps, predicts future developments." (Pearce, Campbell & Harding, 1987) Doctrinal research "takes an insider's view of the law ... to critically determine 'what the law is'." (Hutchinson, 2018) |
Socio-legal Studies An "approach to the law and legal processes" which "... covers the theoretical and empirical analysis of law as a social phenomenon." (Economic and Social Research Council, 1994) It encompasses a diverse range of scholarship carried out under its name, such as feminist work and critical legal studies. |
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Philosophical Research in Law "Philosophical research in law takes place in two spheres: first, at the general level, where theoretical discussion is conducted as part of the final levels of reasoning in the matter of a particular law; and the second, when exclusive jurisprudential inquiry probes into the deeper theoretical aspects of the nature of law, legal system, and legal concepts, and approaches." (Bhat, 2020) |
Empirical Legal Research As a subset of socio-legal studies, empirical research refers to the "study of law, legal processes and legal phenomena using social research methods, such as interviews, observations or questionnaires." (Burton, 2018) |
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Legal History/Historical Method "Internal legal history is the study of legal doctrine and of its processes ... External legal history examines the law in context ... Internal history may be described as the history of law but external legal history encroaches onto the political, intellectual and social realm in ways that make it difficult to distinguish from general historiography." (Handler, 2018) |
Critical Legal Method Critical Legal Studies "has been influenced by a variety of currents in contemporary radical social theory, but does not reflect any agreed upon set of political tenets or methodological approaches." (Kennedy & Klare, 1994) A 'critical legal method', if there is such a thing, critiques all modes of production for legal knowledge, including itself (Minkkinen, 2018). |
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Comparative Study of Law Comparative law allows one to "critically illuminate a legal system." "The aim must be to try to define the frame of perception and understanding of a legal community so as to explicate how a community thinks about the law and why it thinks about the law in the way it does." (Legrand, 1996) |
Feminist Approach to Law and Legal Process "Aligned under the banner of modern feminism are a diversity of perspectives regarding the causes and consequences of unequal gender power relations, the ways in which the law and state have played a role in their creation and maintenance, and the most effective strategies for their eradication." (Munro, 2018) |
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Economic Analysis of Law "Ways in which economic theory and insight can help resolve issues of legal decision-making by providing both a methodology for the analysis of the legal reality, and a normative framework and workable criteria to favour some alternatives over others." (Sanchez-Graells, 2018) |
Research Methods in Law, 2nd Ed by
Explaining in clear terms some of the main methodological approaches to legal research, the chapters in this edited collection are written by specialists in their fields, researching in a variety of jurisdictions. Covering a range of topics from Feminist Approaches to Law and Economics, each contributor addresses the topic of ¿lay decision makers in the legal system¿ from their particular methodological perspective, explaining how they would approach the issue and discussing the suitability of their particular method. This focus on one main topic allows the reader to draw comparisons between methods with relative ease. The broad range of contributors makes Research Methods in Law well suited to an international audience, and it is ideal reading for PhD students in law, undergraduate dissertation students in law, LL.M Research students and early year researchers.
Idea and Methods of Legal Research by
The book unearths the way in which thinking process is to be streamlined in research; the manner in which a theme is to be built, and the paths through which notions of objectivity, feminism, ethics and purposive character of knowledge are to be internalized in legal research. The proposed book has five components. The first part deals with general matters such as meaning, evolution, and scope of legal research; systematization of thinking process ; objectivity and ethics in legal research; and building a theme through an appropriate research plan. The second part engages with various ways through which doctrinal legal research can be conducted. This includes doctrinal, analytical, historical, comparative, and philosophical methods of conducting legal research. Part Three unravels discussion on non-doctrinal legal research by highlighting empirical, qualitative, and quantitative methods of legal research. It also catalogues the tools employed for non-doctrinal legal research and explains the method of using them. Part four takes to the fields where combination of doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research can be attempted. Multi-method legal research, policy research, action research, and feminist legal research occupy this field. A point emphasized in various chapters is that legal research cannot afford to have compartmentalization of methods, and that the researcher has to be eclectic and inter-disciplinary in his approach. The final part reflects over the steps involved in research-based critical legal writing, as distinct from client-related or norm-creating legal writing.
Methodologies of Legal Research : Which Kind of Method for What Kind of Discipline? by
Until quite recently questions about methodology in legal research have been largely confined to understanding the role of doctrinal research as a scholarly discipline. In turn this has involved asking questions not only about coverage but, fundamentally, questions about the identity of the discipline. Is it (mainly) descriptive, hermeneutical, or normative? Should it also be explanatory? Legal scholarship has been torn between, on the one hand, grasping the expanding reality of law and its context, and, on the other, reducing this complex whole to manageable proportions. The purely internal analysis of a legal system, isolated from any societal context, remains an option, and is still seen in the approach of the French academy, but as law aims at ordering society and influencing human behaviour, this approach is felt by many scholars to be insufficient. Consequently many attempts have been made to conceive legal research differently. Social scientific and comparative approaches have proven fruitful. However, does the introduction of other approaches leave merely a residue of 'legal doctrine', to which pockets of social sciences can be added, or should legal doctrine be merged with the social sciences? What would such a broad interdisciplinary field look like and what would its methods be? This book is an attempt to answer some of these questions.
An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research by
Is the death penalty a more effective deterrent than lengthy prison sentences? Does a judge's gender influence their decisions? Do independent judiciaries promote economic freedom? Answering such questions requires empirical evidence, and arguments based on empirical research have become aneveryday part of legal practice, scholarship, and teaching. In litigation judges are confronted with empirical evidence in cases ranging from bankruptcy and taxation to criminal law and environmental infringement. In academia researchers are increasingly turning to sophisticated empirical methods toassess and challenge fundamental assumptions about the law.As empirical methods impact on traditional legal scholarship and practice, new forms of education are needed for today's lawyers. All lawyers asked to present or assess empirical arguments need to understand the fundamental principles of social science methodology that underpin sound empiricalresearch. An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research introduces that methodology in a legal context, explaining how empirical analysis can inform legal arguments; how lawyers can set about framing empirical questions, conducting empirical research, analysing data, and presenting or evaluating theresults. The fundamentals of understanding quantitative and qualitative data, statistical models, and the structure of empirical arguments are explained in a way accessible to lawyers with or without formal training in statistics.Written by two of the world's leading experts in empirical legal analysis, drawing on years of experience in training lawyers in empirical methods, An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research will be an invaluable primer for all students, academics, or practising lawyers coming to empirical research- whether they are embarking themselves on an empirical research project, or engaging with empirical arguments in their field of study, research, or practice.
Empirical Methods in Law, 2nd Ed by
Empirical Methods in Law brings the basic principles and concepts of social-science research to the desks of law students and lawyers who expect to work with data experts. Now available in a second edition, the updated text continues its focus on explaining basic principles and concepts in an intuitive style requiring no prior knowledge of math or statistics. The text also continues its emphasis on the importance of research design as well as statistical methods. Among the features of the second edition: * Available in softcover and competitively priced, making the book accessible either as a principal course text or as a supplemental text * A significantly streamlined book without loss of important content or topics from the first edition * An extensive online set of resources: Teachers Manual, PowerPoint slides, problems, example datasets, bibliography, glossary of terms * A detailed index that allows readers to quickly identify coverage of specific topics * Broad perspectives from three authors from three different methodological traditions that results in a presentation of general best practices * Generous use of examples from the legal world that show how empirical techniques are applied in a range of substantive legal areas * Coverage of topics often overlooked in the research process such as data coding or communication of results * Sidebars with in-depth treatment of specific topics
Empirical Legal Research in Action : Reflections on Methods and their Applications by
Empirical legal research is a growing field of academic expertise, yet lawyers are not always familiar with the possibilities and limitations of the available methods. Empirical Legal Research in Action presents readers with first-hand experiences of empirical research on law and legal issues.The chapters, written by an international cast of scholars, reflect on the methods that they have applied in their own empirical work, spanning a wide breadth of research from psychological experiments in personal injury to field studies in sociology and political science. Empirical Legal Research in Action not only reviews the advantages, limitations and challenges that such methods pose but also considers the value of empirical research to lawyers and the law. Vitally, the contributions offer an academic reflection on methodological challenges, as well as the relevance, of empirical research for lawyers.This insightful book will be useful reading for academic researchers in law and for policymakers seeking to understand the methodological challenges of empirical work in legal research. Social sciences scholars will also find this book of interest to appreciate the multitude of methods in empirical legal research.
Conducting Law and Society Research by
Through interviews with many of the most noteworthy authors in law and society, Conducting Law and Society Research takes students and scholars behind the scenes of empirical scholarship, showing the messy reality of research methods. The challenges and the uncertainties, so often missing from research methods textbooks, are revealed in candid detail. These accessible and revealing conversations about the lived reality of classic projects will be a source of encouragement and inspiration to those embarking on empirical research, ranging across the full array of disciplines that contribute to law and society. For all of the ambiguities and challenges to the social 'scientific' study of law, the reflections found in this book - collectively capturing a portrait of the field through the window of the research efforts - individually remind readers that 'good research' displays not an absence of problems, but the care taken in negotiating them.
Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research by
Socio-legal researchers increasingly recognise the need to employ a wide variety of methods in studying law and legal phenomena, and the need to be informed by an understanding of debates about theory and method in mainstream social science. The papers in this volume illustrate how a range of topics, including EU law, ombudsmen, judges, lawyers, Shariah Councils and the quality assurance industry can be researched from a socio-legal perspective. The objective of the collection is to show how different methods can be used in researching law and legal phenomena, how methodological issues and debates in sociology are relevant to the study of law, and the importance of the debate between "structural" and "action" traditions in researching law. It also approaches the methodological problem of how sociology of law can address the content of legal practice from a variety of perspectives and discusses the relationship between pure and applied research. The editors provide a critical introduction to each of the six sections, and a general introduction on law, sociology and method. The collection will provide an invaluable resource for socio-legal researchers, law school researchers and postgraduates.
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Bit by Bit : Social Research in the Digital Age by
An innovative and accessible guide to doing social research in the digital age In just the past several years, we have witnessed the birth and rapid spread of social media, mobile phones, and numerous other digital marvels. In addition to changing how we live, these tools enable us to collect and process data about human behavior on a scale never before imaginable, offering entirely new approaches to core questions about social behavior. Bit by Bit is the key to unlocking these powerful methods--a landmark book that will fundamentally change how the next generation of social scientists and data scientists explores the world around us. Bit by Bit is the essential guide to mastering the key principles of doing social research in this fast-evolving digital age. In this comprehensive yet accessible book, Matthew Salganik explains how the digital revolution is transforming how social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments, and engage in mass collaborations. He provides a wealth of real-world examples throughout and also lays out a principles-based approach to handling ethical challenges. Bit by Bit is an invaluable resource for social scientists who want to harness the research potential of big data and a must-read for data scientists interested in applying the lessons of social science to tomorrow's technologies. Illustrates important ideas with examples of outstanding research Combines ideas from social science and data science in an accessible style and without jargon Goes beyond the analysis of "found" data to discuss the collection of "designed" data such as surveys, experiments, and mass collaboration Features an entire chapter on ethics Includes extensive suggestions for further reading and activities for the classroom or self-study
Doing Research in the Real World. 4th ed. by
This helpful book takes a pragmatic, real-world approach to research methods that gives readers the tools and confidence to carry out their own research in and out of the classroom. Expertly weaving quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods together, it encourages readers to be open-minded in choosing the most appropriate methods for their projects. Featuring a full set of updated and integrated digital resources, as well as three new chapters on visual methods, qualitative data analysis with NVivo, and digital research, the new Fourth Edition remains on the forefront of practical, applied research and guides readers through every step of the research process from start to finish. Brimming with checklists, interdisciplinary examples, and tips about navigating the realities of planning a project, collecting and analyzing data, and sharing research findings, Doing Research in the Real World is still the companion for any student undertaking a research project.
From Methodology to Methods in Human Psychology by
This Brief aims to provide a theoretically innovative introduction to the methodology of the human sciences. It presents a new version of methodology, as a system of mutually linked acts of creating knowledge where both abstract and concrete features of research are intricately intertwined. It shows how the constructions of particular methods that are used in the science of psychology are interdependent with general psychology. This is exemplified as the Methodology Cycle. The need for an emphasis on the Methodology Cycle grows out of the habitual presentation of methods as if they were independent from the assumptions which they are built upon, with the ultimate goal of searching for and creating universal principles. Chapters discuss the Methodology Cycle and its uses in various areas of empirical study in psychological functions. Featured topics in this Brief include: The strict separation between methodology and methods. Introspection, the primary method of psychology. Extrospection, the act of introspection turned outwards. Generalization and its effect on uniqueness. From Methodology to Methods in Human Psychology will be of interest to psychologists, undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers.
Formal Modeling in Social Science by
A formal model in the social sciences builds explanations when it structures the reasoning underlying a theoretical argument, opens venues for controlled experimentation, and can lead to hypotheses. Yet more importantly, models evaluate theory, build theory, and enhance conjectures. Formal Modeling in Social Science addresses the varied helpful roles of formal models and goes further to take up more fundamental considerations of epistemology and methodology. The authors integrate the exposition of the epistemology and the methodology of modeling and argue that these two reinforce each other. They illustrate the process of designing an original model suited to the puzzle at hand, using multiple methods in diverse substantive areas of inquiry. The authors also emphasize the crucial, though underappreciated, role of a narrative in the progression from theory to model. Transparency of assumptions and steps in a model means that any analyst will reach equivalent predictions whenever she replicates the argument. Hence, models enable theoretical replication, essential in the accumulation of knowledge. Formal Modeling in Social Science speaks to scholars in different career stages and disciplines and with varying expertise in modeling.
Methodological Thinking : Basic Principles of Social Research Design by
Focused on the underlying logic behind social research, Methodological Thinking: Basic Principles of Social Research Design encourages readers to understand research methods as a way of thinking. The book provides a concise overview of the basic principles of social research, including the characteristics of research questions, the importance of literature reviews, variations in data generation techniques, and sampling. The Second Edition includes a revised chapter on research foundations, with focus on the philosophy of science and ethics; an emphasis on critical thinking; additional attention to evaluating research; and a new selection of briefer, multidisciplinary journal articles designed to be accessible to a wide variety of readers.
The Process of Social Research by
Featuring a conversational, engaging, and student-friendly writing style, The Process of Social Research, Second Edition, introduces students to the fundamentals of research. It places a unique emphasis on process with flowcharts in every chapter that provide step-by-step guides for conducting social research and evaluating the research of others. Authors Jeffrey C. Dixon, Royce A. Singleton, Jr., and Bruce C. Straits use relatable, everyday examples and carefully selected research examples to make the book accessible to undergraduates. Comprehensive and up-to-date without attempting to be encyclopedic in its coverage, The Process of Social Research provides a balance between qualitative and quantitative research, taking a more integrated approach to describing the relationship between theory and research.
Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines by
Process-tracing in social science is a method for studying causal mechanisms linking causes with outcomes. This enables the researcher to make strong inferences about how a cause (or set of causes) contributes to producing an outcome. In this extensively revised and updated edition, Derek Beach and Rasmus Brun Pedersen introduce a refined definition of process-tracing, differentiating it into four distinct variants and explaining the applications and limitations of each. The authors develop the underlying logic of process-tracing, including how one should understand causal mechanisms and how Bayesian logic enables strong within-case inferences. They provide instructions for identifying the variant of process-tracing most appropriate for the research question at hand and a set of guidelines for each stage of the research process.
Research Design : Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 5th ed. by
This best-selling text pioneered the comparison of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research design. For all three approaches, John W. Creswell and new co-author J. David Creswell include a preliminary consideration of philosophical assumptions, key elements of the research process, a review of the literature, an assessment of the use of theory in research applications, and reflections about the importance of writing and ethics in scholarly inquiry. The Fifth Edition includes more coverage of: epistemological and ontological positioning in relation to the research question and chosen methodology; case study, PAR, visual and online methods in qualitative research; qualitative and quantitative data analysis software; and in quantitative methods more on power analysis to determine sample size, and more coverage of experimental and survey designs; and updated with the latest thinking and research in mixed methods. SHARE this Comparison of Research Approaches poster with your students to help them navigate the distinction between the three approaches to research.
Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences by
Undergraduate students of psychology.
Research Methods: the Basics by
Research Methods: The Basicsis an accessible, user-friendly introduction to the different aspects of research theory, methods and practice. Structured in two parts, the first covering the nature of knowledge and the reasons for research, and the second the specific methods used to carry out effective research, this book covers: Structuring and planning a research project The ethical issues involved in research Different types of data and data quality Analysing and organising data to draw sound conclusions Writing up and displaying data in effective ways @text:Complete with a glossary of key terms and guides to further reading, this book is an essential text for anyone coming to research for the first time, and is widely relevant across the social sciences and humanities.
Social Research : Paradigms in Action by
This unique book explains the central role that research paradigms play in the design and conduct of social research. The authors argue that social research should not just describe or confirm a social problem but should seek to find an explanation for it - and to do so requires research with 'eyes philosophically wide open'. Important philosophical and practice elements of three widely recognized paradigms - Neo-Positive, Interpretive and Critical Realist - are carefully elaborated and their use in action illustrated with detailed examples. The authors show that the philosophical assumptions of a chosen paradigm must match those embedded in a characterization of a research problem and its context. This paradigm orientation is shown to be fundamental to appropriately framing a problem, formulating research questions, deciding on a logic of inquiry and selecting and using methods to investigate it. Ultimately, an appropriate paradigm orientation to social research provides a dispassionate, rigorous and effective basis for the production of new social scientific knowledge. Following on from Blaikie's Approaches to Social Enquiry and Designing Social Research, this innovative book will be invaluable to upper-level and research students, their lecturers and supervisors, and researchers across the social sciences.
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Clement Lin Zikai '18 (LL.B. (Hon.) NUS) was the editor of this page from Jan 2019 to April 2022.
