RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1. LEGAL RESEARCH :
The systematic investigation of problems and matters concerned with law such
as codes, acts etc. is legal research. Judges, lawyers, law commissions and
researchers constantly do research in law. They do make systematic research into the
social, political and other fact conditions which give rise to the individual rules.
Legal researchers do make systematic research into social, political and other
fact conditions which live rise to the individual rules, acts or codes. They also examine
the socio legal and other effects of those acts or rules. A research of this kind is called
‘fact research in law’. Research may be pursued to obtain better knowledge and
understanding of any problem of legal philosophy, legal history, comparative study of
law, or any system of positive law international and municipal.
Law is any social perspective is an important variable in any social investigation.
Researchers cannot do anything in sociological research if they do not know at least the
basics of law, legal system and law institutions and how these affect the social
phenomena. Similarly a legal researcher without knowing the mechanics of social
research methods, cannot do justice to the legal inquiry and other legal aspects. Law
and society work hand in hand as they are not divisible as water fight compartments.
They are interlinked. To deal with the social legal problems, co-operative inter
disciplinary research is required. The lawyer must know much of sociology as the
sociologists must know much of law. Baxi proposed the socio legal research in the
following vital areas:
1. Mopping of Indian legal system
2. Mopping of formal and informal legal system
3. Studies on the beneficiaries and victims of administration of justice.
4. Law and poverty.
5. Compensatory, discrimination of section of people such as, SCs and STs.
6. Study of legal system in connection with cultural, social and national legal system.
The Indian law institute and the Bar council of India play a vital role in designing and
conducting socio legal research. This socio legal research is considered as ‘fact
research’ by the academic legal experts in American Universities.
(i) Data :
Data serve as basis of study and analysis and are all relevant materials past and
present, affecting that particular study. Data are “the living stuff, with all the relevant
emotional (and mental) signs attached to one’s expressions, actions, attitudes and
values within the social world. Numerical data become valuable with they are viewed in
socio legal frame of precision measurability and verifiability.
(ii) Valuation of legal research :
The undesirability of the doctrine of value free socio legal research has been
forcefully advocated by a group of experts in research. A powerful case has been
presented by Gray against a value free research. Human judgment which involves
values cannot be done and as such is inevitable in the selection of a problem for
research. The researcher should proceed to select problems worthy of investigation,
with the clear admission of our inescapability from involvement with values.
(iii) Moral values and socio legal research
The use of practices that are not in keeping with the larger social values or ethics
are often involved with human beings.
1 Without their knowledge or consent, some times the respondents are made to get
involved in a research. The researcher, as he feels that the information may affect the
naturalness of the responses of the subjects and thus lead to distortion, manipulates all
this. Ideally speaking, the consent of the research subject’s should only be obtained after
supplying the information about the proposed research.
2 The researcher may feel it necessary to give incorrect information about the research to
the respondents, in sore researches. Morally speaking, deceiving the respondents
passively by telling only a part of the truth and deceiving them actively by telling an
untruth are both equally sinful.
3 For a number of reasons, deceptions are employed by the researchers. With a view to
conceal the true purpose of the study or to conceal the true function of research
participants will have, the participants may be deceived. It is considered that this should
be avoided as the deception of the participants.
4 Some topics in socio legal relations so change the researcher that he engages in various
unethical practices that, for the sake of convenience, may be grouped under the rubric of
involving the privacy of the research subject. The objection to this practice is there
because everyone has a right not to have personal information publicly disclosed.
5 By withholding of specific benefits from the research subjects assigned to the control
group or groups, an unethical practice may be adopted by researchers. There will be no
value to the research project, if this so happens.
To protect research participants anonymity and keep research data in
confidence, is the duty and moral obligation of the researcher. The researchers must
elect to abide by a higher value, despite their strong commitment to the ideals of;
anonymity and confidentiality.
The major determinants of men and human behavior are values. They should
necessarily be studied within the perspective of scientific value relativism. The
researcher can study values at a secondary or lower level. But he can do so only with
he knows the ultimate goals or values behind the secondary values. If he does not know
the ultimate value or goal he must know the ultimate goals of the study. Only if a proper
perspective of science involving scientific value relativism is adopted, it is, possible to
conduct legal research and built legal theories.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :
Research methodology by way of systematized investigation, is to gain new
knowledge about the phenomena or problems. Methodology in a wider sense includes
the philosophy and practice of the whole research process. This provides the standards,
which the researchers use for integrating data and reaching conclusions. Techniques
for collecting data are referred to as methods while the logic applying the scientific
perspective to the study of events is termed ‘methodology’. Only a part of methodology
is constituted by various methods. Theory, approach, perspective or paradigm is closely
related to methodology. At all stages of research, both theory and methodology remain
closely related to each other. There are two schools of thought on research
methodology:
(i) Positivism: and
(ii) idealism.
Positivists believe the idea of having one scientific method for all disciplines.
Idealism believes that the physical scientists, methodology results in formulation that
are more quantitative and precise than the results of the sociologist methodology.
The methodology of legal studies involves their own rules, interpretations and
criteria for admissible explanations as well as research designs, data-collecting
techniques and data-process routines. Legal studies lack the appropriate methods,
tools and techniques suitable for the legal issues. In most of the legal investigations,
qualitative data has to be analysed. Hence this separate study of legal methodology is
taken up.
1. LEGAL RESEARCH :
The systematic investigation of problems and matters concerned with law such
as codes, acts etc. is legal research. Judges, lawyers, law commissions and
researchers constantly do research in law. They do make systematic research into the
social, political and other fact conditions which give rise to the individual rules.
Legal researchers do make systematic research into social, political and other
fact conditions which live rise to the individual rules, acts or codes. They also examine
the socio legal and other effects of those acts or rules. A research of this kind is called
‘fact research in law’. Research may be pursued to obtain better knowledge and
understanding of any problem of legal philosophy, legal history, comparative study of
law, or any system of positive law international and municipal.
Law is any social perspective is an important variable in any social investigation.
Researchers cannot do anything in sociological research if they do not know at least the
basics of law, legal system and law institutions and how these affect the social
phenomena. Similarly a legal researcher without knowing the mechanics of social
research methods, cannot do justice to the legal inquiry and other legal aspects. Law
and society work hand in hand as they are not divisible as water fight compartments.
They are interlinked. To deal with the social legal problems, co-operative inter
disciplinary research is required. The lawyer must know much of sociology as the
sociologists must know much of law. Baxi proposed the socio legal research in the
following vital areas:
1. Mopping of Indian legal system
2. Mopping of formal and informal legal system
3. Studies on the beneficiaries and victims of administration of justice.
4. Law and poverty.
5. Compensatory, discrimination of section of people such as, SCs and STs.
6. Study of legal system in connection with cultural, social and national legal system.
The Indian law institute and the Bar council of India play a vital role in designing and
conducting socio legal research. This socio legal research is considered as ‘fact
research’ by the academic legal experts in American Universities.
(i) Data :
Data serve as basis of study and analysis and are all relevant materials past and
present, affecting that particular study. Data are “the living stuff, with all the relevant
emotional (and mental) signs attached to one’s expressions, actions, attitudes and
values within the social world. Numerical data become valuable with they are viewed in
socio legal frame of precision measurability and verifiability.
(ii) Valuation of legal research :
The undesirability of the doctrine of value free socio legal research has been
forcefully advocated by a group of experts in research. A powerful case has been
presented by Gray against a value free research. Human judgment which involves
values cannot be done and as such is inevitable in the selection of a problem for
research. The researcher should proceed to select problems worthy of investigation,
with the clear admission of our inescapability from involvement with values.
(iii) Moral values and socio legal research
The use of practices that are not in keeping with the larger social values or ethics
are often involved with human beings.
1 Without their knowledge or consent, some times the respondents are made to get
involved in a research. The researcher, as he feels that the information may affect the
naturalness of the responses of the subjects and thus lead to distortion, manipulates all
this. Ideally speaking, the consent of the research subject’s should only be obtained after
supplying the information about the proposed research.
2 The researcher may feel it necessary to give incorrect information about the research to
the respondents, in sore researches. Morally speaking, deceiving the respondents
passively by telling only a part of the truth and deceiving them actively by telling an
untruth are both equally sinful.
3 For a number of reasons, deceptions are employed by the researchers. With a view to
conceal the true purpose of the study or to conceal the true function of research
participants will have, the participants may be deceived. It is considered that this should
be avoided as the deception of the participants.
4 Some topics in socio legal relations so change the researcher that he engages in various
unethical practices that, for the sake of convenience, may be grouped under the rubric of
involving the privacy of the research subject. The objection to this practice is there
because everyone has a right not to have personal information publicly disclosed.
5 By withholding of specific benefits from the research subjects assigned to the control
group or groups, an unethical practice may be adopted by researchers. There will be no
value to the research project, if this so happens.
To protect research participants anonymity and keep research data in
confidence, is the duty and moral obligation of the researcher. The researchers must
elect to abide by a higher value, despite their strong commitment to the ideals of;
anonymity and confidentiality.
The major determinants of men and human behavior are values. They should
necessarily be studied within the perspective of scientific value relativism. The
researcher can study values at a secondary or lower level. But he can do so only with
he knows the ultimate goals or values behind the secondary values. If he does not know
the ultimate value or goal he must know the ultimate goals of the study. Only if a proper
perspective of science involving scientific value relativism is adopted, it is, possible to
conduct legal research and built legal theories.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :
Research methodology by way of systematized investigation, is to gain new
knowledge about the phenomena or problems. Methodology in a wider sense includes
the philosophy and practice of the whole research process. This provides the standards,
which the researchers use for integrating data and reaching conclusions. Techniques
for collecting data are referred to as methods while the logic applying the scientific
perspective to the study of events is termed ‘methodology’. Only a part of methodology
is constituted by various methods. Theory, approach, perspective or paradigm is closely
related to methodology. At all stages of research, both theory and methodology remain
closely related to each other. There are two schools of thought on research
methodology:
(i) Positivism: and
(ii) idealism.
Positivists believe the idea of having one scientific method for all disciplines.
Idealism believes that the physical scientists, methodology results in formulation that
are more quantitative and precise than the results of the sociologist methodology.
The methodology of legal studies involves their own rules, interpretations and
criteria for admissible explanations as well as research designs, data-collecting
techniques and data-process routines. Legal studies lack the appropriate methods,
tools and techniques suitable for the legal issues. In most of the legal investigations,
qualitative data has to be analysed. Hence this separate study of legal methodology is
taken up.
