RESH

• Doctrinal legal research


  Aims to systematise, rectify, and clarify the law on any particular topic by a distinctive mode of analysis to authoritative texts that consist of primary and secondary sources
• FIRAC method


  1. Identify the (F)acts of a particular legal problem

  2. Determine the (I)ssue arising from the facts

  3. Identify the (R)ule(s) of law, governing the particular issue identified

  4. (A)pply the rule of law as identified to the issue

  5. Come to a (C)onclusion
• Doctrinal methodology

  • It presupposes a specific set of skills such as the ability to find the law, use the law, relate the law and present the law in a clear and cogent format
  • It is founded on the assumption that the ability to reason and rationalise the law as it stands will allow the researcher to reach conclusions and perhaps make recommendations as to future legal reform
• Doctrinal methodology

  • It can encompass any form of purely legal analysis, including the history of law (e.g. Roman law), what the law was previously, what the law is now and whether there are indications as to how the law might be evolving or developing
  • It is often associated with positivist legal research – the law is what the law says it is, rather than examining the morality or effectiveness of the law
• Doctrinal analysis should underpin most legal research
• Undertaking doctrinal research typically involves source-based research and it would be unusual to undertake qualitative or quantitative research under the doctrinal methodology
• Doctrinal analysis will focus on traditional legal sources, such as case law
• It is not impossible to exclude doctrinal analysis from other methods
• Descriptive research


  Includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds, with the major purpose of describing the state of affairs at present
• Descriptive research project


  • How many students use the VC Learn platform and what do they use it for?
• Historical research


  A systematic investigation involving a textual and contextual interpretation, attempting to gain a clear understanding of the impact of the past on the present and future events
• Comparative research


  The act of comparing two or more things with a view to discovering something about one or all of the things being compared, often involving a comparison of legal doctrines, legislations, and foreign laws
• Constitutional research


  Research into constitutional issues, constitutional development and the relationship between constitutional law and other fields
• Empirical research


  Relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory, using primary data (surveys, experiments, case studies, etc) or analysing existing information
• Critical/analytical research


  As opposed to descriptive research, the researcher is required to use facts or information already available, and analyse these to make a critical evaluation of the material
• The information in books is constantly changed, amended by events, adapted to the world
• The trick is to know which books to read
• Literature review


  A survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic, providing an overview of current knowledge and identifying relevant theories, methods and gaps in the existing research
• Purpose of literature review

  • It greatly assists in topic focusing
  • It sets the foundation for the research questions
  • It helps the researcher to understand the research problem in terms of historical background, theoretical framework, and current research developments or trends
• Historical literature review


  Traces the chronological order of the literature, looking at stages or phases of development from the past to the present, or vice versa
• Literature review

  A survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic that provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods and gaps in the existing research
• Purpose of the literature review

  • It greatly assists in topic focusing
  • It is meant to set the foundation for the research questions
  • It helps the researcher to understand the research problem conceived in terms of historical background, theoretical framework, and current research developments or trends
• Types of literature review

  • Historical reviews
  • Thematic reviews
  • Theoretical reviews
  • Empirical reviews
• Historical reviews


  Trace the chronological order of the literature, looking at stages or phases of development from the past to the present, or vice versa
• Thematic reviews


  Focus on different schools of thought and group the literature into differing views, perspectives or themes
• Theoretical reviews


  Consider theoretical developments relating to the research problem, often linking each theory to empirical evidence
• Empirical reviews


  Generally focus on the various methodologies used and summarise any empirical evidence for the phenomenon that you are interested in
• Steps to conduct a literature review

  1. Conduct comprehensive research on the main aspects of your topic only

  2. Do not rely exclusively on electronic sources of information

  3. Your review should be well-organised and synthesise sources

  4. Use a retrospective reading method, starting with the most recent sources first

  5. Read the abstract to determine if the article is relevant
• Evaluating sources


  • Publication date (is it sufficiently current)
  • Relevance to the research
  • Accuracy (accurate information that can be verified)
• Who


  Concerns who wrote the literature and whether they are a reliable and credible source
• What


  Involves looking at exactly what the subject of the source is and how relevant the subject is to your research
• Where


  The location where the research was conducted and where the article was published could play an important role
• When


  Relates to when the source was created or published, and whether there is any information that is more up to date
• Basic elements of a literature review

  • Introduction or background information section
  • Body of the review containing the discussion of sources
  • Conclusion and/or recommendations section
• Structuring a chapter


  1. Have an introduction that indicates the chapter's argument / key message

  2. Clearly address part of the thesis' overall research question/s or aim/s

  3. Use a structure that persuades the reader of the argument

  4. Have a conclusion that sums up the chapter's contribution to the thesis and shows the link to the next chapter
• Advantages of using a library

  • Wide collection of information available (books, articles, newspapers, magazines)
  • Sources are credible and reliable
  • Librarians and information specialists available to assist
  • Essential for research projects
  • Can borrow resources from other libraries
  • Librarians provide access to information you wouldn't have known about
• Disadvantages of using a library

  • Need to develop research skills for hardcopy material
  • Material may already be taken
  • Time and access can be inconvenient
  • Need to be in the library for long periods
  • Some resources not available for checkout
• Need to return or renew checked out material on or before due dates
• Advantages of electronic resources

  • No need for advanced ICT or programming skills
  • Convenient to access from anywhere with internet
  • Updated more regularly with current information
  • Allows access to information in different formats
• Disadvantages of electronic resources

  • Doesn't equip with skills to fully exploit electronic resources
  • Need instruction from librarians
  • Wide selection requires careful source selection
  • Not foolproof, difficult to determine reliability
  • Typically require payment
  • Easily changed or removed
  • Relying on them ignores good print sources