SOBAN SINGH JEENA UNIVERSITY

ALMORA, UTTARAKHAND

SUBJECT: LEGAL EDUCATUION AND RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
TOPIC: MEANING AND ADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL
LEGAL RESEARCH

SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY:

DR. D. K. BHATT ARZOO KHAN
FACULTY OF LAW L.L.M. 2ND SEM.
ALMORA ROLL. No. 2201730005
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………….….03
2. MEANING OF SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH……………..……….……….04
3. CHALLENGES IN SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH……….…………...…....07
4. RESEARCH ETHICS……………………………………….…..……….…....08
5. PROBLEM OF PLAGIARISM…..….…………………………………….…..09
6. WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROBLEM? .…………………………………...09
7. STEPS IN THE FORMULATION OF A RESEARCH PROBLEM………10
a) SPECIFY THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES………………………….…….10
b) EXPLORE THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM…….…………………….10
c) ANALYZING THE VARIOUS COURSES OF ACTION…………………..10
8. ADVANTAGES OF SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH………………………....11
9. ADVANTAGES: KEY-POINT………………………………………………….12
10. CONCLUSION…..………………………………………………………….…..13

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“There is no shortcut to the truth --- no way to gain knowledge of the
universe except through the gateway of scientific method.”
-: Karl Pearson

1. INTRODUCTION

Socio-Legal Research or Study is an event where the science of law meets that
the science of society. This research requires a multidisciplinary approach to
analyze and interpret the law, the legal phenomenon, the relationship between
those two and also their relationship with the society in its widest sense. Socio-
Legal Research has its theoretical, practical and methodological bases in the
social sciences. Law is an important aspect when it comes to any social
investigation. The originates and functions in a society based upon the
particular needs, customs, traditions of the society and it also possesses the
ability to greatly influence the social structure and functions of any society.
Therefore, just as researchers are clueless and hapless if they have no
knowledge of even the basics of the law, legal system and the various important
if not all the law institutions, legal researchers too would be clueless and
hapless and would do no justice whatsoever to legal inquiry if they do not
possess the basic knowledge and are not aware of the mechanics of social
research methods. In societies where the development is planned, law plays the
role of a catalyst which helps and speeds the process of social reform. Thus in
a dynamic or developing society a legal researcher must adopt a multi-
disciplinary approach as the legal problems in the society will be largely in
connection with the social, economic, political and psychological issues.1

1
Prof. Ranbir Singh and Others, ‘ Research methodology’
(MHRD) < http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/law/09._research_methodology/04._socio
th
-legal_research/et/8151_et_et.pdf> last accessed on 24 JULY 2023

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 2. MEANING OF SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH

The law is a critical part of our social world. Commenting on this observation,
Leslie Scarman has emphatically stated that:
There is no cosy little world of lawyers’ law in which learned men may frolic
without raising socially controversial issues-I challenge anyone to identify an
issue of law reform so technical that it raises no social, political or economic issue.
If there is such a thing, I doubt if it would be worth doing anything about it.

Thus, the recognition that the law operates in a wider social context has led to
the development of socio-legal methodology as a framework for conducting
legal research. In a nutshell, socio-legal methodology embraces disciplines and
subjects concerned with law as a social institution, with the effect of law, legal
processes, institutions and services, and with the influence of social, political and
economic factors on the law and legal institutions. Consequently, because of its
association with so many dynamics, the socio-legal method is diverse and
encompasses a wide range of theoretical perspectives.

The first step in socio-legal inquiry is the selection of a topic after a review of
relevant literature and preliminary discussions with those with practical
experience of the issues. Once the topic is selected, the researcher must then
come up with general problem statement and a possible hypothesis for dealing
with the said problem. This step is then followed by concentrated exploration and
literature review aimed at further refining the problem statement and hypothesis.

Once, this preliminary stage is completed, the researcher selects and designs his
or her research methodology. This is a very important step in the methodology
process as this step ultimately determines the validity and quality of the research
findings that will be produced at the conclusion of the project. Postgraduate
socio-legal scholars may adopt quantitative or qualitative research techniques or
both depending on the subject matter under investigation.

Quantitative research may be construed as a research strategy that emphasises

quantification in the collection and analysis of data. It entails a deductive
approach to the relationship between theory and research in which the emphasis
is placed on testing of theories. It also incorporates the practices of natural
scientific model. In other words, quantitative research methods insist on the

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control of the research to limit the number of variables affecting the outcomes;
exact measurement and precision; the ability to repeat the experiment with
similar outcomes and the testing of the hypothesis through statistical means. By
contrast, qualitative research may be construed as a strategy that words rather
than quantification in the collection and analysis of data. It predominantly
stresses an inductive approach to the relationship between theory and research
in which the emphasis is placed on the generation of theories. Significantly,
qualitative research rejects the practices and norms of the natural scientific model
in preference for an emphasis on the ways in which individuals interpret their
social world and it embodies a view of social reality as constantly shifting
emergent of individuals’ creation. Thus, qualitative research methodology
acknowledges that there is not one reality but rather that reality is situational and
personal, and may therefore vary between individuals and between situations.

Once the postgraduate researcher adopts the research technique suitable for the
inquiry in question, he or she must then proceed to collect his or her data using
the research design. At this stage qualitative and quantitative techniques will
differ. Qualitative research interviews, for example, are less structured than their
quantitative equivalent, and consist ideally of an exchange of ideas between the
researcher and the interviewee on a particular theme. The process is not directed
towards quantifying the issues being researched but rather towards providing
new insights and awareness of the issue under discussion.

This difference is apparent when one compares the tools that are utilised when
employing the two techniques. Quantitative research will often employ devices
such as surveys and questionnaires to collect the required data. These may
include closed questions which result in easy statistical summaries, or open
questions, which allow for a more lengthy, qualitative and individual response.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the reliance on surveys in
undertaking socio-legal research. On the positive side, surveys or questionnaires
are relatively easy to draw up and administer and they provide a bulk of straight
information that is easy to analyse. It is a good method for gathering opinion
information and further to that, the anonymous nature of questionnaires may
lead to candid responses. On the other hand, questionnaires make it impossible
to find out additional information once the instrument is returned as they are
usually anonymous. Furthermore, since questionnaires and surveys result in a
bank of data, they do not provide the richness and depth of information available

5
with other methods and if there is something missing from the form, then it is
very expensive in time and money to fix the errors.

Qualitative techniques on the other hand rely on devices such as ethnography,

biography or case studies in the process of data collection. These methods allow
the researcher to get the insider’s viewpoint of the matter in issue and not
necessarily the objective truth. They allow the researcher to conduct in-depth
studies of a specific group or individual chosen to represent social phenomena
and allow the researcher to ‘access the reality behind appearances’. These
techniques have the obvious advantage that they provide opportunities to verify
responses by comparing a number of different approaches in resolving an issue.
They allow for the complexities of social, legal and political interaction to be seen
and for the relationships between these and the effects of one on the others to
become more obvious. Furthermore, qualitative techniques allow the researcher
to delve deeper into inconsistent responses and analyze significant situations at
greater depth. The drawbacks for these techniques include the absence of
statistical validity of a proper sample and objective quantitative proof.
Furthermore, there is the omnipresent risk of people changing their positions or
acting up because they know they are being studied. The data may also be more
reflective of the researcher’s views rather than the subjects’ because there is more
latitude for researcher bias in the actual choice of the individual or case to be
examined.

Despite the shortfalls associated with quantitative and qualitative research

techniques, they offer the socio-legal scholar important tools for analyzing the
law within its operational context. As was noted earlier, these methodologies do
not exist in isolation from each other and may be employed to reinforce the
shortcomings of one approach.

Having collected the relevant data from the field, the researcher must then
analyse and interpret the data and come up with his or her conclusions. This is an
important stage of the research as the researcher will be able to comment on the
state of the law, whether it is effective or changes are needed, and obviously if
there is need for more socio-legal work.

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 3. CHALLENGES IN SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH

In today‟s world we will find that most lawyers, judges and jurists collectively
agree upon the fact that legal research is a source of progression in the
country, even though it may differ in qualitative terms when compared many
other countries. Law, like all other disciplines can never be an isolated one. The
legal rules and provisions that prevail are in relation to various real life factual
situations that may potentially arise and so that those legal rules and
provisions may be applied to produce certain desirable outcomes. The various
intellectual disciplines such as history, science (both physical and social),
religion and philosophy are related to and influence the factual situations are
also connected to law.
Socio-Legal research or trans-disciplinary research does not present many
problems or occupational hazards for the researchers or those who promote the
research. The problem faced by the researchers and scholars arises almost
exclusively from the depth of knowledge and awareness of the researcher in the
field of law and all the other intellectual disciplines as well. For example, it has
been observed that scholars/researchers of personal laws have used their
knowledge and expertise in the same and applied it to their research and study
of various religious literatures. Of course since lawyers and researchers are in
the end human beings only, there is a limit to the number of disciplines one
may attain expertise in.
Socio-Legal Research denotes the trans-disciplinary research combining law
and other social sciences. The challenges faced by socio-legal researchers and
scholars though manageable are not to be taken lightly. The most eminent
problem is the fact that the number of social sciences that are recognized in
today‟s world are quite large and each of them have been researched upon and
studied for a considerable period of time which has led to many sub-
categorisations within a single discipline. For example, the study of economics
is just one distinct discipline for the non-economists but in reality we find that
economics has been further divided into various categories such as finance,
economic theory, econometrics, economic history, economic policy, etc., and
there are scholars who have specialized only or rather exclusively in one or

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maybe more of those sub-categories under the broad headed discipline of
economics.2

4. RESEARCH ETHICS

Research ethics as a concept per se refers to a set of standards, values and

schemes that facilitates and acts as guidelines for research activity. The
inherent responsibility of maintaining the ethical standards when engaging in
research activities is connected to the standard of research process, the
relationship between the researchers and the reason for which the research
activity has been engaged with. All research ventures must be guided by the set
guidelines, standards and values. A very basic problem might arise as there
might be opposing views among fellow researchers regarding what can be
considered ethical or not in cases where the ethical boundaries are not crystal
clear in their explanations. Such conflicts among researchers might actually
prove to be beneficial to the society at large as these conflicts and confusions
may bring in different approaches and views regarding a particular subject
with had earlier not been recognized and do not have an established opinion as
of yet.3

2
B.S. Murty, ‘ Socio-Legal Research- Hurdles and Pitfalls’
(Manupatra) < http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/F9EC1626-4AAB-4797-B7BE-
th
3ED0DC478E06.pdf> last accessed on 24 july 2023
3
Ragnvald Kalleberg, ‘ Guidelines for Research Ethics’ ( National Committees for Research Ethics in Norway
) < https://graduateschool.nd.edu/assets/21765/guidelinesresearchethicsinthesocialscienceslawhumanities.pdf >
last accessed on 25 july 2023

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 5. PROBLEM OF PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is the unethical practice of presenting someone else‟s work, ideas,

and concepts as one‟s own without acknowledging the fact that those works
have been borrowed. When it comes to research work, plagiarism is a major
problem irrespective of the field of research. We must keep in mind that there
are diverging views when it comes to defining plagiarism and determining what
makes plagiarism reprehensible. In today‟s world it has become imperative for
the researchers to understand what plagiarism is, its boundaries and the
consequences.4

With the help of the internet, researchers now have access to a plethora of
information compiled and publicised by other researchers and this has also
increased the frequency of plagiarism prevalent nowadays. What the
researchers who plagiarise do not understand is that using others‟ work
defeats the whole purpose of them undertaking any research project and they
are also exposed to the risk of actually plagiarising work which in fact is not
very authentic or well accepted apart from the risk of being caught and then
facing the consequences for the same.

6. WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROBLEM?

“A research problem is a definite or clear expression about an area of concern,

a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to be eliminated or a troubling
question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or within existing practice
which points to a need for meaningful understanding and deliberate
investigation. A research problem however does not state how to do something,
offer a vague or broad proposition, or present a value question.”- Alan Byrman.

4
Gert Helgesson and Stefan Erikson, ‘ Plagiarism in Research’
(ResearchGate) < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263743965_Plagiarism_in_research> last accessed
th
on 25 july 2023

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 7. STEPS IN THE FORMULATION OF A RESEARCH PROBLEM

 SPECIFY THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

There must be a very clear and specific statement that defines the research
objectives. This statement will help the researcher evaluate the research
question that the researcher intends to find an answer to. What is also
important is that the objectives defined must be manageable and not so many
in number that the researcher gets confused as to which objective is more
important than the other and get confused, thereby jeopardising the entire
project. Having two or three main goals keeps the researcher focused.

 EXPLORE THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM:

It has been found that the number of variables and their interdependency
influences the range of a research problem going from simple to complex. The
variables may be directly related to each other or at times be absolutely
indifferent to each other. Since the variables individually if not in pairs or
groups always influence the nature of the research problem, it becomes
imperative for the researcher to obtain all necessary information regarding
those variables relevant to the research problem.

 ANALYZING THE VARIOUS COURSES OF ACTIONS:

Any time we find a solution to any problem, one must analyze the various
possible solutions. Same is the case of research problems as well. Once the
objectives have been clearly defined and the nature of the problem has been
explored vividly, the next step is to identify and carefully scrutinize all possible
courses of actions that may be taken to solve the problem at hand. Anticipating
the possible outcomes from the various courses of action makes it clear for the
researcher to choose which course of action must be taken as the most
suitable potential outcome can be identified.

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 8. ADVANTAGES OF SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH

There are a number of benefits associated with adopting socio-legal research

methods. First of all, it allows legal practitioners and academics to experience
the law in action. This is hardly possible within the realm of doctrinal research.
Further to that, socio-legal research avoids too much attention on rules of law
and instead affords systematic and regular reference to the context of the
problems which laws were supposed to resolve, the purpose they were to serve
and the effect they in fact have. This serves to counter the charge that law is
conservative and aloof from the social context within which it operates.
Socio-legal research is significant because in linking the law to society, it
functionalise the law, rendering it an effective instrument for the achievement
of social, political and economic objectives. Socio-legal research is important for
and impacts upon government policy-makers, regulators, industry
representatives and other actors concerned with the administration of justice
and the legal system. More importantly, socio-legal methodology is by nature
inter-disciplinary and, therefore, allows the building of bridges between the law
and other disciplines such as economics, history, sociology, politics, etc. This is
beneficial because it adds more relevance to the law as well present the law
appropriately, that is as a small part of a larger social world.

 It allows legal practitioners and academics to experience the law in

action. This is hardly possible within the realm of doctrinal research.
 Socio-legal research avoids too much attention on rules of law and
instead affords systematic and regular reference to the context of the
problems which laws were supposed to resolve, the purpose they were to
serve and the effect they in fact have.
 This serves to counter the charge that law is conservative and aloof from
the social context within which it operates.
 Socio-legal research is significant because in linking the law to society, it
functionalises law, rendering it an effective instrument for the
achievement of social, political and economic objectives
 socio-legal methodology is by nature inter-disciplinary and, therefore,
allows the building of bridges between the law and other disciplines such
as economics, history, sociology, politics, etc. This is beneficial because it

11
 adds more relevance to the law as well present the law appropriately,
that is as a small part of a larger social world.

9. Advantages: Key Point:

 Broadens the scope and definition of legal research,

 Examines the issues from a wider context,
 Allows assumptions legal research,
 Predicts the development of law,
 Links law with other disciplines
 Significantly narrows the gap between legal academia and policy making.

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 CONCLUSION

The socio-legal approach may be seen to occupy space between two extremes of
a methodological spectrum. At one end, a strict doctrinal approach
relies predominantly on self informed analysis of legislation and judicial
decisions from the superior courts. Approaches at the other end, such as
critical legal studies and economic analysis of law, are tuned to the concerns,
theory and informants of external perspectives. While contextual analysis is
increasingly the norm in legal scholarship, external informants are essential to
a socio-legal approach. The socio legal lens widens to observe operational and
everyday legal situations, and diverse textual sources, disciplinary and
cultural perspectives are considered.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
 Amin, SH (1992) Research methods in law (Glasgow: Ryston Publishers).
 Burgess, RG Analyzing qualitative data (London: Routledge).
 Fink, A (1995) How to ask a survey question (Thousand Oaks: Sage)
 Kvale, S (1996) Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing
(Thousand Oaks, California: Sage)
 Rossi, P; Wright, J & Anderson, A (1983) A handbook of survey research (New York:
Academic Press).
Articles
 Cownie, F (2004) „Researching (socio) legal academics‟ 42 Socio Legal Newsletter p. 1
 Getman, J (1985) „Contributions of empirical data to legal research‟ 35 Journal of Legal
Education 489.
 Mullane, G (1998) „Evidence of social science research: Law, practice, and options in the
Family Court of Australia‟ 72 Australian Law Journal 434.
 Sjoberg, G; Williams, N; Vaughan, T & Sjoberg, A (1991) „The case study approach in
social research‟ in JR Feagin, A Orum & G Sjoberg (eds) A case for the case study
(Chapel Hill,
 London: The University of North Carolina Press) p. 39.
Internet resources
 Prof. Ranbir Singh and Others, „ Research methodology‟ (MHRD) <
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/law/09._research_method
ology/04._socio-legal_research/et/8151_et_et.pdf> last accessed on 24th JULY 2023
 B.S. Murty, ‘ Socio-Legal Research- Hurdles and Pitfalls’
(Manupatra) < http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/F9EC1626-4AAB-4797-B7BE-
3ED0DC478E06.pdf> last accessed on 24th july 2023
 Ragnvald Kalleberg, ‘ Guidelines for Research Ethics’ ( National Committees for Research Ethics
in Norway
 ) < https://graduateschool.nd.edu/assets/21765/guidelinesresearchethicsinthesocialsciencesla
whumanities.pdf > last accessed on 25 july 2023
 Gert Helgesson and Stefan Erikson, ‘ Plagiarism in Research’
(ResearchGate) < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263743965_Plagiarism_in_researc
h> last accessed on 25th july 2023
 Studies Association to the National Centre for Research Methods consultation on the
shape of the research and training programme‟ available at <http://www.kent.ac.uk/
slsa/download/ncrm.doc> accessed on 24 july 2023.

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