Legal research
Meaning of research;-
Research is made up of two words re and search re means again and again and search means to find out or to investigate. so, research means to find or investigate again and again.
Definition of research;-
Redman Mory define the research in his book romance of research as the systematic study to gain new knowledge.
Definition of legal research ;-
Legal Research is a Research pertaining to law. It is the systematic investigation of a legal fact that increases the sum of knowledge pertaining to law.
Types of research
Types of legal research are the following;
1)Doctrinal legal research;-
The doctrinal research means a research that has been carried out by way of analyzing the existing statutory provisions and cases by applying the reasoning power, and that has been carried out on a legal proposition or propositions. Doctrinal research is concerned with legal prepositions and doctrines. It also called traditional research.
Sources of doctrinal research;-
1) Statutory materials.
2) Legal History.
3) Judgments, Case Reports and Case Digests.
4) Standard Textbooks and reference books.
5) Legal Periodicals.
6) Commentaries.
7) Govt. Reports.
Quality of doctrinal research depends upon the source material on which the researcher depends upon for his study
2) Non doctrinal legal research;-
It is a research regarding social sciences in which we study human behavior. Its foundation is on doctrinal research only. It is also known as empirical research or socio-legal research and relies on experience and observation. Non-doctrinal legal research tries to investigate through empirical data, how law and legal institutions affect human attitudes and what impact on society they create.
Sources of non doctrinal research;-
1) Organizational reports such as reports of NGEO’s
2) Questionnaire
3) Interviews
4) observation
Difference between doctrinal legal research and non doctrinal legal research
Doctrinal research
|
Non doctrinal research
| ||
It involves theoretical study.
|
It involves empirical study.
| ||
It concerned with legal proposition and principles.
|
It concerned with social values and people.
| ||
It is research in law.
|
It is research about law.
| ||
Sources of doctrinal research are Statutory materials ,Legal History, Judgments, Case Reports and Case Digests, Standard Textbooks and reference books, Legal Periodicals ,Commentaries ,Govt. Reports.
|
Sources of non doctrinal research are Organizational reports such as reports of NGEO’s ,Questionnaire ,Interviews, observation etc
| ||
It is narrow in scope.
|
It is broader in scope.
| ||
3) Mono disciplinary legal research ;-
Mono means one and discipline means a certain branch of knowledge or an area of study. Mono disciplinary legal research is a research in which the researcher study the facts of law by remain within the discipline of law and do not transgresses the discipline of law.
4)Trans disciplinary legal research ;-
Trans means across and discipline means a certain branch of knowledge or an area of study. Trans disciplinary legal research is a research in which the researcher transgresses the discipline of ‘law’ to see other dimensions of the legal fact under investigation. He goes ‘beyond law’ and peeps into other disciplines, with which ‘law’ is proximately connected. Socio-legal research generally falls into the category of trans-disciplinary legal research. Trans-disciplinary legal research, compared to mono-disciplinary legal research, has more potential for contributing to the advancement of knowledge and development of law.
