Module LAW3637: LAW IN CONTEXT: METHODS AND SUBSTANCE

Department: Law

LAW3637: LAW IN CONTEXT: METHODS AND SUBSTANCE

Prerequisites

• • Introduction to English Law and Legal Method (LAW 1121) (at the discretion of the Chair of the Board of Studies or delegate, a suitable module from another Department may be substituted for the Law pre-requisite(s)).

Corequisites

• • None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• • None

Aims

• Introduce students to core features of socio-legal research and provide core guidance on how to conduct empirical legal scholarship.

Content

• What is socio-legal research?
• Research design and ethics
• Introduction to research methods
• Research-led examples of socio-legal scholarship

Learning Outcomes

• Evaluate the nature of socio-legal research and its role in understanding the law.
• Critically analyse the role of empirical research in conducting legal scholarship.
• Explain the importance of conducting research in an ethically sensitive manner and critically assess potential ethical issues that might arise in a research project.
• Critically assess the nature of qualitative and quantitative research methods and their use in addressing research problems.

• Assess the role of socio-legal research in understanding and explaining a legal issue.
• Apply different methodological approaches to address particular socio-legal questions
• Design a research project based on a scenario.

• Research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Engage in critical reading of legal, academic, and methodological texts.
• Apply knowledge to complex situations, recognise potential alternative conclusions for particular situations, and provide supporting reasons for them.
• Communicate complex ideas in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course will be taught as a series of six topics, with each topic consisting of one two-hour seminar. Seminar worksheets will be provided in advance of each seminar to encourage students to engage in pre-session reading and preparation. The reading will be selected to enhance students’ capacity for evaluation and critical analysis. Seminars will allow students to develop their own ideas and perspectives through engagement in in-depth discussion of each topic.
• The assessment will take the form of one 2000-word summative assessment: a research proposal. Students will be provided with a research brief and will need to create a research proposal to address the research problem outlined in the brief. Students will be provided with a template to assist them in producing their answer. In creating the research proposal, students will be required to set out the key issues and research questions they wish to address, and the methodology or methodologies they would use.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Optional 500 word analysis of a research study or annotated bibliography

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University