Introduces students to legalistic, theoretical, empirical, comparative and cross-disciplinary research methods, grounded in working examplesNew for this editionNew chapter on inter- and cross-disciplinary research essential reading for international students and students with a non-law first degree undertaking research in the areas of law, criminology, psychology and sociologyResearch ethics has been expanded to a full chapter that includes current plagiarism and imperfect disclosureBrings existing chapters up to date with the newest thinking in legal researchDrawing on actual research projects, Research Methods for Law discusses how legal research as process impacts on research as product. The author team has a broad range of teaching and research experience in law, criminal justice and socio-legal studies, and give examples from real-life research products to illustrate the theory.

"This collection arose out of a conference hosted by the School of Law in the University of Limerick in October 2014."--Preface.

Explaining in clear terms some of the main methodological approaches to legal research, the chapters in this edited collection are written by specialists in their fields, researching in a variety of jurisdictions. Covering a range of topics from Feminist Approaches to Law and Economics, each contributor addresses the topic of ‘lay decision makers in the legal system’ from their particular methodological perspective, explaining how they would approach the issue and discussing the suitability of their particular method. This focus on one main topic allows the reader to draw comparisons between methods with relative ease. The broad range of contributors makes Research Methods in Law well suited to an international audience, and it is ideal reading for PhD students in law, undergraduate dissertation students in law, LL.M Research students and early year researchers.

Lawyers engaged in European/US transborder transactions need to know how to find, understand, and compare applicable foreign and international laws. Breaking the oceanic divide, this book is the first legal research guide to consider internationalization and globalization in both the new law school curriculums and the changing practice of law. The book is a significant expansion and revision of the second edition of Legal Research Methods in the US and Europe. With the inclusion of material on China, Russia, and England - and on researching foreign law in general - the book now reflects a broader scope. Regarding US legal research, this edition explains the impacts and effects of major changes and developments that have occurred very recently, including the introduction of Bloomberg Law, WestlawNext, and the revolutionary Law.gov movement.

The book is written in a conversational style, and the language is accessible and simple, with flowing examples that users can relate with. Practical legal questions are raised and application of individual research methods, strategies, approaches and philosophies are demonstrated. The book starts with a clear definition of legal research method to justification and importance. It spans the research process, theoretical positions and justification for research, the writing up process and the defence of research output either in seminars, conferences or for PhD defence. It also prepares researchers and academicians for discussion and interaction with peers at conferences and seminars.

The Murray and DeSanctis titles are designed for the current generation of law students whose familiarity and comfort with on-line and computer-based learning create a demand for teaching resources that take advantage of that familiarity and comfort level. Legal Research Methods provides a process-based text covering all aspects of first year legal analysis and research. This book focuses on legal research tools and the theory and practice of legal research written from a practitioner's perspective. It discusses planning for research and performing research, and provides criteria for determining when you are finished with your research. It has sample research plans for tight budgets in terms of time or expense, and its process-oriented methodology is designed to maximize research results in the most economical ways. Paired with the book is an electronic, computer-based version of the text that adds links to on-line databases and internet-based resources and supplements the text with pop-up definitions from Black's Law Dictionary. The electronic version of the text is searchable and highly portable, with internal and external navigation links, making them more valuable for use in class and out. The interactive text employs a layout that departs from the traditional, all-text casebook format through use of callout text boxes, diagrams, and color/border segregated feature sections for hypotheticals, references to scholarly debates, or other useful information for law students. For more information and additional teaching materials, visit the companion site.

Until quite recently questions about methodology in legal research have been largely confined to understanding the role of doctrinal research as a scholarly discipline. In turn this has involved asking questions not only about coverage but, fundamentally, questions about the identity of the discipline. Is it (mainly) descriptive, hermeneutical, or normative? Should it also be explanatory? Legal scholarship has been torn between, on the one hand, grasping the expanding reality of law and its context, and, on the other, reducing this complex whole to manageable proportions. The purely internal analysis of a legal system, isolated from any societal context, remains an option, and is still seen in the approach of the French academy, but as law aims at ordering society and influencing human behaviour, this approach is felt by many scholars to be insufficient. Consequently many attempts have been made to conceive legal research differently. Social scientific and comparative approaches have proven fruitful. However, does the introduction of other approaches leave merely a residue of 'legal doctrine', to which pockets of social sciences can be added, or should legal doctrine be merged with the social sciences? What would such a broad interdisciplinary field look like and what would its methods be? This book is an attempt to answer some of these questions.