types of hypothesis in legal research

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The Craft of Writing a Strong Hypothesis

Table of Contents

Writing a hypothesis is one of the essential elements of a scientific research paper. It needs to be to the point, clearly communicating what your research is trying to accomplish. A blurry, drawn-out, or complexly-structured hypothesis can confuse your readers. Or worse, the editor and peer reviewers.

A captivating hypothesis is not too intricate. This blog will take you through the process so that, by the end of it, you have a better idea of how to convey your research paper's intent in just one sentence.

What is a Hypothesis?

The first step in your scientific endeavor, a hypothesis, is a strong, concise statement that forms the basis of your research. It is not the same as a thesis statement , which is a brief summary of your research paper .

The sole purpose of a hypothesis is to predict your paper's findings, data, and conclusion. It comes from a place of curiosity and intuition . When you write a hypothesis, you're essentially making an educated guess based on scientific prejudices and evidence, which is further proven or disproven through the scientific method.

The reason for undertaking research is to observe a specific phenomenon. A hypothesis, therefore, lays out what the said phenomenon is. And it does so through two variables, an independent and dependent variable.

The independent variable is the cause behind the observation, while the dependent variable is the effect of the cause. A good example of this is “mixing red and blue forms purple.” In this hypothesis, mixing red and blue is the independent variable as you're combining the two colors at your own will. The formation of purple is the dependent variable as, in this case, it is conditional to the independent variable.

Different Types of Hypotheses‌

Types of hypotheses

Some would stand by the notion that there are only two types of hypotheses: a Null hypothesis and an Alternative hypothesis. While that may have some truth to it, it would be better to fully distinguish the most common forms as these terms come up so often, which might leave you out of context.

Apart from Null and Alternative, there are Complex, Simple, Directional, Non-Directional, Statistical, and Associative and casual hypotheses. They don't necessarily have to be exclusive, as one hypothesis can tick many boxes, but knowing the distinctions between them will make it easier for you to construct your own.

1. Null hypothesis

A null hypothesis proposes no relationship between two variables. Denoted by H 0 , it is a negative statement like “Attending physiotherapy sessions does not affect athletes' on-field performance.” Here, the author claims physiotherapy sessions have no effect on on-field performances. Even if there is, it's only a coincidence.

2. Alternative hypothesis

Considered to be the opposite of a null hypothesis, an alternative hypothesis is donated as H1 or Ha. It explicitly states that the dependent variable affects the independent variable. A good  alternative hypothesis example is “Attending physiotherapy sessions improves athletes' on-field performance.” or “Water evaporates at 100 °C. ” The alternative hypothesis further branches into directional and non-directional.

• Directional hypothesis: A hypothesis that states the result would be either positive or negative is called directional hypothesis. It accompanies H1 with either the ‘<' or ‘>' sign.
• Non-directional hypothesis: A non-directional hypothesis only claims an effect on the dependent variable. It does not clarify whether the result would be positive or negative. The sign for a non-directional hypothesis is ‘≠.'

3. Simple hypothesis

A simple hypothesis is a statement made to reflect the relation between exactly two variables. One independent and one dependent. Consider the example, “Smoking is a prominent cause of lung cancer." The dependent variable, lung cancer, is dependent on the independent variable, smoking.

4. Complex hypothesis

In contrast to a simple hypothesis, a complex hypothesis implies the relationship between multiple independent and dependent variables. For instance, “Individuals who eat more fruits tend to have higher immunity, lesser cholesterol, and high metabolism.” The independent variable is eating more fruits, while the dependent variables are higher immunity, lesser cholesterol, and high metabolism.

5. Associative and casual hypothesis

Associative and casual hypotheses don't exhibit how many variables there will be. They define the relationship between the variables. In an associative hypothesis, changing any one variable, dependent or independent, affects others. In a casual hypothesis, the independent variable directly affects the dependent.

6. Empirical hypothesis

Also referred to as the working hypothesis, an empirical hypothesis claims a theory's validation via experiments and observation. This way, the statement appears justifiable and different from a wild guess.

Say, the hypothesis is “Women who take iron tablets face a lesser risk of anemia than those who take vitamin B12.” This is an example of an empirical hypothesis where the researcher  the statement after assessing a group of women who take iron tablets and charting the findings.

7. Statistical hypothesis

The point of a statistical hypothesis is to test an already existing hypothesis by studying a population sample. Hypothesis like “44% of the Indian population belong in the age group of 22-27.” leverage evidence to prove or disprove a particular statement.

Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis

Writing a hypothesis is essential as it can make or break your research for you. That includes your chances of getting published in a journal. So when you're designing one, keep an eye out for these pointers:

• A research hypothesis has to be simple yet clear to look justifiable enough.
• It has to be testable — your research would be rendered pointless if too far-fetched into reality or limited by technology.
• It has to be precise about the results —what you are trying to do and achieve through it should come out in your hypothesis.
• A research hypothesis should be self-explanatory, leaving no doubt in the reader's mind.
• If you are developing a relational hypothesis, you need to include the variables and establish an appropriate relationship among them.
• A hypothesis must keep and reflect the scope for further investigations and experiments.

Separating a Hypothesis from a Prediction

Outside of academia, hypothesis and prediction are often used interchangeably. In research writing, this is not only confusing but also incorrect. And although a hypothesis and prediction are guesses at their core, there are many differences between them.

A hypothesis is an educated guess or even a testable prediction validated through research. It aims to analyze the gathered evidence and facts to define a relationship between variables and put forth a logical explanation behind the nature of events.

Predictions are assumptions or expected outcomes made without any backing evidence. They are more fictionally inclined regardless of where they originate from.

For this reason, a hypothesis holds much more weight than a prediction. It sticks to the scientific method rather than pure guesswork. "Planets revolve around the Sun." is an example of a hypothesis as it is previous knowledge and observed trends. Additionally, we can test it through the scientific method.

Whereas "COVID-19 will be eradicated by 2030." is a prediction. Even though it results from past trends, we can't prove or disprove it. So, the only way this gets validated is to wait and watch if COVID-19 cases end by 2030.

Finally, How to Write a Hypothesis

Quick tips on writing a hypothesis

1.  Be clear about your research question

A hypothesis should instantly address the research question or the problem statement. To do so, you need to ask a question. Understand the constraints of your undertaken research topic and then formulate a simple and topic-centric problem. Only after that can you develop a hypothesis and further test for evidence.

2. Carry out a recce

Once you have your research's foundation laid out, it would be best to conduct preliminary research. Go through previous theories, academic papers, data, and experiments before you start curating your research hypothesis. It will give you an idea of your hypothesis's viability or originality.

Making use of references from relevant research papers helps draft a good research hypothesis. SciSpace Discover offers a repository of over 270 million research papers to browse through and gain a deeper understanding of related studies on a particular topic. Additionally, you can use SciSpace Copilot , your AI research assistant, for reading any lengthy research paper and getting a more summarized context of it. A hypothesis can be formed after evaluating many such summarized research papers. Copilot also offers explanations for theories and equations, explains paper in simplified version, allows you to highlight any text in the paper or clip math equations and tables and provides a deeper, clear understanding of what is being said. This can improve the hypothesis by helping you identify potential research gaps.

3. Create a 3-dimensional hypothesis

Variables are an essential part of any reasonable hypothesis. So, identify your independent and dependent variable(s) and form a correlation between them. The ideal way to do this is to write the hypothetical assumption in the ‘if-then' form. If you use this form, make sure that you state the predefined relationship between the variables.

In another way, you can choose to present your hypothesis as a comparison between two variables. Here, you must specify the difference you expect to observe in the results.

4. Write the first draft

Now that everything is in place, it's time to write your hypothesis. For starters, create the first draft. In this version, write what you expect to find from your research.

Clearly separate your independent and dependent variables and the link between them. Don't fixate on syntax at this stage. The goal is to ensure your hypothesis addresses the issue.

5. Proof your hypothesis

After preparing the first draft of your hypothesis, you need to inspect it thoroughly. It should tick all the boxes, like being concise, straightforward, relevant, and accurate. Your final hypothesis has to be well-structured as well.

Research projects are an exciting and crucial part of being a scholar. And once you have your research question, you need a great hypothesis to begin conducting research. Thus, knowing how to write a hypothesis is very important.

Now that you have a firmer grasp on what a good hypothesis constitutes, the different kinds there are, and what process to follow, you will find it much easier to write your hypothesis, which ultimately helps your research.

Now it's easier than ever to streamline your research workflow with SciSpace Discover . Its integrated, comprehensive end-to-end platform for research allows scholars to easily discover, write and publish their research and fosters collaboration.

It includes everything you need, including a repository of over 270 million research papers across disciplines, SEO-optimized summaries and public profiles to show your expertise and experience.

If you found these tips on writing a research hypothesis useful, head over to our blog on Statistical Hypothesis Testing to learn about the top researchers, papers, and institutions in this domain.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. what is the definition of hypothesis.

According to the Oxford dictionary, a hypothesis is defined as “An idea or explanation of something that is based on a few known facts, but that has not yet been proved to be true or correct”.

2. What is an example of hypothesis?

The hypothesis is a statement that proposes a relationship between two or more variables. An example: "If we increase the number of new users who join our platform by 25%, then we will see an increase in revenue."

3. What is an example of null hypothesis?

A null hypothesis is a statement that there is no relationship between two variables. The null hypothesis is written as H0. The null hypothesis states that there is no effect. For example, if you're studying whether or not a particular type of exercise increases strength, your null hypothesis will be "there is no difference in strength between people who exercise and people who don't."

4. What are the types of research?

• Fundamental research

• Applied research

• Qualitative research

• Quantitative research

• Mixed research

• Exploratory research

• Longitudinal research

• Cross-sectional research

• Field research

• Laboratory research

• Fixed research

• Flexible research

• Action research

• Policy research

• Classification research

• Comparative research

• Causal research

• Inductive research

• Deductive research

5. How to write a hypothesis?

• Your hypothesis should be able to predict the relationship and outcome.

• Avoid wordiness by keeping it simple and brief.

• Your hypothesis should contain observable and testable outcomes.

• Your hypothesis should be relevant to the research question.

6. What are the 2 types of hypothesis?

• Null hypotheses are used to test the claim that "there is no difference between two groups of data".

• Alternative hypotheses test the claim that "there is a difference between two data groups".

7. Difference between research question and research hypothesis?

A research question is a broad, open-ended question you will try to answer through your research. A hypothesis is a statement based on prior research or theory that you expect to be true due to your study. Example - Research question: What are the factors that influence the adoption of the new technology? Research hypothesis: There is a positive relationship between age, education and income level with the adoption of the new technology.

8. What is plural for hypothesis?

The plural of hypothesis is hypotheses. Here's an example of how it would be used in a statement, "Numerous well-considered hypotheses are presented in this part, and they are supported by tables and figures that are well-illustrated."

9. What is the red queen hypothesis?

The red queen hypothesis in evolutionary biology states that species must constantly evolve to avoid extinction because if they don't, they will be outcompeted by other species that are evolving. Leigh Van Valen first proposed it in 1973; since then, it has been tested and substantiated many times.

10. Who is known as the father of null hypothesis?

The father of the null hypothesis is Sir Ronald Fisher. He published a paper in 1925 that introduced the concept of null hypothesis testing, and he was also the first to use the term itself.

11. When to reject null hypothesis?

You need to find a significant difference between your two populations to reject the null hypothesis. You can determine that by running statistical tests such as an independent sample t-test or a dependent sample t-test. You should reject the null hypothesis if the p-value is less than 0.05.

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Legal Research Strategy

Preliminary analysis, organization, secondary sources, primary sources, updating research, identifying an end point, getting help, about this guide.

This guide will walk a beginning researcher though the legal research process step-by-step. These materials are created with the 1L Legal Research & Writing course in mind. However, these resources will also assist upper-level students engaged in any legal research project.

How to Strategize

Legal research must be comprehensive and precise.  One contrary source that you miss may invalidate other sources you plan to rely on.  Sticking to a strategy will save you time, ensure completeness, and improve your work product. 

Follow These Steps

Running Time: 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

Make sure that you don't miss any steps by using our:

• Legal Research Strategy Checklist

If you get stuck at any time during the process, check this out:

• Ten Tips for Moving Beyond the Brick Wall in the Legal Research Process, by Marsha L. Baum

Understanding the Legal Questions

A legal question often originates as a problem or story about a series of events. In law school, these stories are called fact patterns. In practice, facts may arise from a manager or an interview with a potential client. Start by doing the following:

• Read anything you have been given
• Analyze the facts and frame the legal issues
• Assess what you know and need to learn
• Note the jurisdiction and any primary law you have been given
• Generate potential search terms

Jurisdiction

Legal rules will vary depending on where geographically your legal question will be answered. You must determine the jurisdiction in which your claim will be heard. These resources can help you learn more about jurisdiction and how it is determined:

• Legal Treatises on Jurisdiction
• LII Wex Entry on Jurisdiction

This map indicates which states are in each federal appellate circuit:

Getting Started

Once you have begun your research, you will need to keep track of your work. Logging your research will help you to avoid missing sources and explain your research strategy. You will likely be asked to explain your research process when in practice. Researchers can keep paper logs, folders on Westlaw or Lexis, or online citation management platforms.

Organizational Methods

Tracking with paper or excel.

Many researchers create their own tracking charts.  Be sure to include:

• Search Date
• Topics/Keywords/Search Strategy
• Citation to Relevant Source Found
• Save Locations
• Follow Up Needed

Consider using the following research log as a starting place: 

• Sample Research Log

Tracking with Folders

Westlaw and Lexis offer options to create folders, then save and organize your materials there.

• Lexis Advance Folders
• Westlaw Edge Folders

Tracking with Citation Management Software

For long term projects, platforms such as Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, or Refworks might be useful. These are good tools to keep your research well organized. Note, however, that none of these platforms substitute for doing your own proper Bluebook citations. Learn more about citation management software on our other research guides:

• Guide to Zotero for Harvard Law Students by Harvard Law School Library Research Services Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 241 views this year

Types of Sources

There are three different types of sources: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.  When doing legal research you will be using mostly primary and secondary sources.  We will explore these different types of sources in the sections below.

Secondary sources often explain legal principles more thoroughly than a single case or statute. Starting with them can help you save time.

Secondary sources are particularly useful for:

• Learning the basics of a particular area of law
• Understanding key terms of art in an area
• Identifying essential cases and statutes

Consider the following when deciding which type of secondary source is right for you:

• Scope/Breadth
• Depth of Treatment
• Currentness/Reliability

For a deep dive into secondary sources visit:

• Secondary Sources: ALRs, Encyclopedias, Law Reviews, Restatements, & Treatises by Catherine Biondo Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 4065 views this year

Legal Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Legal dictionaries.

Legal dictionaries are similar to other dictionaries that you have likely used before.

• Black's Law Dictionary
• Ballentine's Law Dictionary

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias contain brief, broad summaries of legal topics, providing introductions and explaining terms of art. They also provide citations to primary law and relevant major law review articles.  

Here are the two major national encyclopedias:

• American Jurisprudence (AmJur) This resource is also available in Westlaw & Lexis .
• Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)

Treatises are books on legal topics.  These books are a good place to begin your research.  They provide explanation, analysis, and citations to the most relevant primary sources. Treatises range from single subject overviews to deep treatments of broad subject areas.

It is important to check the date when the treatise was published. Many are either not updated, or are updated through the release of newer editions.

To find a relevant treatise explore:

• Legal Treatises by Subject by Catherine Biondo Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 2997 views this year

American Law Reports (ALR)

American Law Reports (ALR) contains in-depth articles on narrow topics of the law. ALR articles, are often called annotations. They provide background, analysis, and citations to relevant cases, statutes, articles, and other annotations. ALR annotations are invaluable tools to quickly find primary law on narrow legal questions.

This resource is available in both Westlaw and Lexis:

• American Law Reports on Westlaw (includes index)
• American Law Reports on Lexis

Law Reviews & Journals

Law reviews are scholarly publications, usually edited by law students in conjunction with faculty members. They contain both lengthy articles and shorter essays by professors and lawyers. They also contain comments, notes, or developments in the law written by law students. Articles often focus on new or emerging areas of law and may offer critical commentary. Some law reviews are dedicated to a particular topic while others are general. Occasionally, law reviews will include issues devoted to proceedings of panels and symposia.

Law review and journal articles are extremely narrow and deep with extensive references. 

To find law review articles visit:

• Law Journal Library on HeinOnline
• Law Reviews & Journals on LexisNexis
• Law Reviews & Journals on Westlaw

Restatements

Restatements are highly regarded distillations of common law, prepared by the American Law Institute (ALI). ALI is a prestigious organization comprised of judges, professors, and lawyers. They distill the "black letter law" from cases to indicate trends in common law. Resulting in a “restatement” of existing common law into a series of principles or rules. Occasionally, they make recommendations on what a rule of law should be.

Restatements are not primary law. However, they are considered persuasive authority by many courts.

Restatements are organized into chapters, titles, and sections.  Sections contain the following:

• a concisely stated rule of law,
• comments to clarify the rule,
• hypothetical examples,
• explanation of purpose, and
• exceptions to the rule  

To access restatements visit:

• American Law Institute Library on HeinOnline
• Restatements & Principles of the Law on LexisNexis
• Restatements & Principles of Law on Westlaw

Primary Authority

Primary authority is "authority that issues directly from a law-making body."   Authority , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).   Sources of primary authority include:

• Constitutions
• Statutes 

Regulations

Access to primary legal sources is available through:

• Bloomberg Law
• Free & Low Cost Alternatives

Statutes (also called legislation) are "laws enacted by legislative bodies", such as Congress and state legislatures.  Statute , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).

We typically start primary law research here. If there is a controlling statute, cases you look for later will interpret that law. There are two types of statutes, annotated and unannotated.

Annotated codes are a great place to start your research. They combine statutory language with citations to cases, regulations, secondary sources, and other relevant statutes. This can quickly connect you to the most relevant cases related to a particular law. Unannotated Codes provide only the text of the statute without editorial additions. Unannotated codes, however, are more often considered official and used for citation purposes.

For a deep dive on federal and state statutes, visit:

• Statutes: US and State Codes by Mindy Kent Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 2424 views this year
• 50 State Surveys

Want to learn more about the history or legislative intent of a law?  Learn how to get started here:

• Legislative History Get an introduction to legislative histories in less than 5 minutes.
• Federal Legislative History Research Guide

Regulations are rules made by executive departments and agencies. Not every legal question will require you to search regulations. However, many areas of law are affected by regulations. So make sure not to skip this step if they are relevant to your question.

To learn more about working with regulations, visit:

• Administrative Law Research by AJ Blechner Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 500 views this year

Case Basics

In many areas, finding relevant caselaw will comprise a significant part of your research. This Is particularly true in legal areas that rely heavily on common law principles.

Running Time: 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

Unpublished Cases

Up to  86% of federal case opinions are unpublished. You must determine whether your jurisdiction will consider these unpublished cases as persuasive authority. The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure have an overarching rule, Rule 32.1  Each circuit also has local rules regarding citations to unpublished opinions. You must understand both the Federal Rule and the rule in your jurisdiction.

• Federal and Local Rules of Appellate Procedure 32.1 (Dec. 2021).
• Type of Opinion or Order Filed in Cases Terminated on the Merits, by Circuit (Sept. 2021).

Each state also has its own local rules which can often be accessed through:

• State Bar Associations
• State Courts Websites

First Circuit

• First Circuit Court Rule 32.1.0

Second Circuit

• Second Circuit Court Rule 32.1.1

Third Circuit

• Third Circuit Court Rule 5.7

Fourth Circuit

• Fourth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Fifth Circuit

• Fifth Circuit Court Rule 47.5

Sixth Circuit

• Sixth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Seventh Circuit

• Seventh Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Eighth Circuit

• Eighth Circuit Court Rule 32.1A

Ninth Circuit

• Ninth Circuit Court Rule 36-3

Tenth Circuit

• Tenth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Eleventh Circuit

• Eleventh Circuit Court Rule 32.1

D.C. Circuit

• D.C. Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Federal Circuit

• Federal Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Finding Cases

Headnotes show the key legal points in a case. Legal databases use these headnotes to guide researchers to other cases on the same topic. They also use them to organize concepts explored in cases by subject. Publishers, like Westlaw and Lexis, create headnotes, so they are not consistent across databases.

Headnotes are organized by subject into an outline that allows you to search by subject. This outline is known as a "digest of cases." By browsing or searching the digest you can retrieve all headnotes covering a particular topic. This can help you identify particularly important cases on the relevant subject.

Running Time: 4 minutes, 43 seconds.

Each major legal database has its own digest:

• Topic Navigator (Lexis)
• Key Digest System (Westlaw)

Start by identifying a relevant topic in a digest.  Then you can limit those results to your jurisdiction for more relevant results.  Sometimes, you can keyword search within only the results on your topic in your jurisdiction.  This is a particularly powerful research method.

One Good Case Method

After following the steps above, you will have identified some relevant cases on your topic. You can use good cases you find to locate other cases addressing the same topic. These other cases often apply similar rules to a range of diverse fact patterns.

• in Lexis click "More Like This Headnote"
• in Westlaw click "Cases that Cite This Headnote"

to focus on the terms of art or key words in a particular headnote. You can use this feature to find more cases with similar language and concepts.  ​

Ways to Use Citators

A citator is "a catalogued list of cases, statutes, and other legal sources showing the subsequent history and current precedential value of those sources.  Citators allow researchers to verify the authority of a precedent and to find additional sources relating to a given subject." Citator , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).

Each major legal database has its own citator.  The two most popular are Keycite on Westlaw and Shepard's on Lexis.

• Keycite Information Page
• Shepard's Information Page

Making Sure Your Case is Still Good Law

This video answers common questions about citators:

For step-by-step instructions on how to use Keycite and Shepard's see the following:

• Shepard's Video Tutorial
• Shepard's Handout
• Shepard's Editorial Phrase Dictionary
• KeyCite Video Tutorial
• KeyCite Handout
• KeyCite Editorial Phrase Dictionary

Using Citators For

Citators serve three purposes: (1) case validation, (2) better understanding, and (3) additional research.

Case Validation

Is my case or statute good law?

• Parallel citations
• Prior and subsequent history
• Negative treatment suggesting you should no longer cite to holding.

Better Understanding

Has the law in this area changed?

• Later cases on the same point of law
• Positive treatment, explaining or expanding the law.
• Negative Treatment, narrowing or distinguishing the law.

Track Research

Who is citing and writing about my case or statute?

• Secondary sources that discuss your case or statute.
• Cases in other jurisdictions that discuss your case or statute.

Knowing When to Start Writing

For more guidance on when to stop your research see:

• Terminating Research, by Christina L. Kunz

Automated Services

Automated services can check your work and ensure that you are not missing important resources. You can learn more about several automated brief check services.  However, these services are not a replacement for conducting your own diligent research .

• Automated Brief Check Instructional Video

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• Last Updated: Sep 21, 2023 2:56 PM
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Hypothesis in Legal Research

Hypothesis is the central force that can hold your research from going astray.

• Post author By Dr. Rhea Roy Mammen
• Post date March 22, 2023
• No Comments on Hypothesis in Legal Research

Hypothesis and legal research is a combination that can be tricky as it is thrilling.

During the research journey, one of the challenging point a legal researcher reaches is developing the hypothesis. It is mostly because of the method of reading and analysis in legal research is different from other technical papers. We tend to think all the possible ifs and buts, making it hard to find out a testable hypothesis in legal research. I have seen many of the scholars being lost trying to figure out the basics. So I thought it will be nice to share some information here. Well, I am no expert, but I was fortunate to talk to those in the field. 

There are different types of hypotheses, and most commonly used hypothesis in legal research is the cause-effect relation. But before we consider that, we can look at some of the hypothesis, how to identify the variables and mode of testing it .

• Descriptive Hypothesis – This type of hypothesis describes a relationship between two or more variables.

Example: “The number of domestic violence cases increases during the holiday season.”

Variables: Domestic violence cases, holiday season

Method of testing: Collecting data on domestic violence cases from police or court records during the holiday season and comparing it to data from other times of the year.

• Causal Hypothesis – This type of hypothesis states that one variable affects the other. (MOST COMMON)

Example: “Increasing the penalties for drunk driving will decrease the number of drunk driving accidents.”

Variables: Penalties for drunk driving, number of drunk driving accidents

Method of testing: Analysing accident data from areas where penalties for drunk driving have been increased and comparing it to areas where they have not been increased.

• Correlational Hypothesis – This type of hypothesis suggests that two or more variables are related.

Example: “There is a positive correlation between education level and income.”

Variables: Education level, income

Method of testing: Collecting data on education level and income from a sample population and analyzing the relationship between the two variables.

• Explanatory Hypothesis – This type of hypothesis proposes an explanation for a particular phenomenon.

Example: “The lack of affordable housing is a significant contributor to the rise in homelessness.”

Variables: Lack of affordable housing, homelessness

Method of testing: Collecting data on the availability of affordable housing in areas with high rates of homelessness and comparing it to areas with lower rates of homelessness.

• Null Hypothesis – This type of hypothesis suggests that there is no significant relationship between variables.

Example: “There is no significant relationship between age and likelihood of committing a crime.”

Variables: Age, likelihood of committing a crime

Method of testing: Collecting data on age and crime rates and analyzing whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the two variables.

The mode of testing for each hypothesis will depend on the specific variables being examined and the type of hypothesis being tested. Different methods, such as surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis, may be used to test each hypothesis.

For sure there are more. 

Are you confused on how to frame yours? Feel free to book a session at [email protected]

• Tags PhD Research

By Dr. Rhea Roy Mammen

Dr. Mammen is founder & Director (Academics) of Jusfocus Academic Consultancy. Dr. Mammen is an international fellow under two prestigious fellowships and has numerous international projects to her credit. Academia & research is her passion that drives her to engage with scholars.

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Legal Dissertation: Research and Writing Guide

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About This Page

Choosing a topic can be one of the most challenging aspects of writing an extensive paper. This page has resources to help you find topics and inspiration, before you get started on the in-depth research process.

Related Guides

Citation and Writing Resources

Legal Research Tutorials

Secondary Sources for Legal Research

Methods of Finding Cases

Methods of Finding Statutes

Current Awareness and Alerting Resources

Compiling State Legislative Histories

Locating International and Foreign Law Journals

This guide contains resources to help students researching and writing a legal dissertation or other upper-level writing project. Some of the resources in this guide are directed at researching and writing in general, not specifically on legal topics, but the strategies and tips can still be applied.

The Law Library maintains a number of other guides on related skills and topics that may be of interest:

The Wells Library also maintains guides. A few that may be helpful for managing research can be found here:

Choosing a Topic

This video discusses tips and strategies for choosing a dissertation topic.

Note: this video is not specific to legal dissertation topics, but it may still be of interest as an overview generally.

The Bloomberg/BNA publication United States Law Week can be a helpful resource for tracking down the major legal stories of the day.  Log into Bloomberg Law, in the big search box, start typing United States Law Week and the title will appear in the drop down menu beneath the box. This publication provides coverage of top legal news stories, and in-depth "insight" features.

If you have a general idea of the area of law you wish to write about, check out the Practice Centers on Bloomberg. From the homepage, click the Browse link in the top left-hand corner. Then select Practice Centers and look for your area of law. Practice Centers are helpful because they gather cases, statutes, administrative proceedings, news, and more on the selected legal area.

Bloomberg has other news sources available as well. From the homepage, click the Browse link in the top left-hand corner. Then select News and Analysis, then select News or Analysis, and browse the available topics.

If you know what area of law you'd like to write about, you may find the Browse Topics feature in Lexis Advance helpful for narrowing down your topic. 

Log into Lexis Advance, click the Browse Topics tab, and select a topic.  If you don't see your topic listed, try using the provided search bar to see whether your topic is categorized as a sub-topic within this list. 

Once you click on a topic, a box pops up with several options.  If you click on Get Topic Document, you'll see results listed in a number of categories, including Cases, Legislation, and more.  The News and Legal News categories at the right end of the list may help you identify current developments of interest for your note.  Don't forget about the filtering options on the left that will allow you to search within your results, narrow your jurisdiction, and more.

Similar to Lexis Advance, Westlaw Edge has a Topics tab that may be helpful if you know what area of law you'd like to write about.

Log onto Westlaw Edge, and click on the Topics tab.  This time, you won't be able to search within this list, so if you're area is not listed, you should either run a regular search from the main search bar at the top or try out some of the topics listed under this tab - once you click on a topic, you can search within its contents.

What is great about the Topics in Westlaw Edge is the Practitioner Insights page you access by clicking on a topic.  This is an information portal that allows you quick access to cases, legislation, top news, and more on your selected topic.

In United States federal courts, a circuit split occurs whenever two or more circuit courts of appeals issue conflicting rulings on the same legal question. Circuit splits are ripe for legal analysis and commentary because they present a situation in which federal law is being applied in different ways in different parts of the country, even if the underlying litigants themselves are otherwise similarly situated. The Supreme Court also frequently accepts cases on appeal that involve these types of conflicted rulings from various sister circuits.

To find a circuit split on a topic of interest to you, try searching on Lexis and Westlaw using this method:

in the search box, enter the following: (circuit or court w/s split) AND [insert terms or phrases to narrow the search]

You can also browse for circuit splits on Bloomberg. On the Bloomberg homepage, in the "Law School Success" box, Circuit Splits Charts appear listed under Secondary Sources.

Other sources for circuit splits are American Law Reports (ALR) and American Jurisprudence (AmJur). These publications provide summaries of the law, point out circuit splits, and provide references for further research.

"Blawgs" or law-related blogs are often written by scholars or practitioners in the legal field.  Ordinarily covering current events and developments in law, these posts can provide inspiration for note topics.  To help you find blawgs on a specific topic, consider perusing the ABA's Blawg Directory or Justia's Blawg Search .

Research Methodology

Types of research methodologies.

There are different types of research methodologies. Methodology refers to the strategy employed in conducting research. The following methodologies are some of the most commonly used in legal and social science research.

Doctrinal legal research methodology, also called "black letter" methodology, focuses on the letter of the law rather than the law in action. Using this method, a researcher composes a descriptive and detailed analysis of legal rules found in primary sources (cases, statutes, or regulations). The purpose of this method is to gather, organize, and describe the law; provide commentary on the sources used; then, identify and describe the underlying theme or system and how each source of law is connected.

Doctrinal methodology is good for areas of law that are largely black letter law, such as contract or property law. Under this approach, the researcher conducts a critical, qualitative analysis of legal materials to support a hypothesis. The researcher must identify specific legal rules, then discuss the legal meaning of the rule, its underlying principles, and decision-making under the rule (whether cases interpreting the rule fit together in a coherent system or not). The researcher must also identify ambiguities and criticisms of the law, and offer solutions. Sources of data in doctrinal research include the rule itself, cases generated under the rule, legislative history where applicable, and commentaries and literature on the rule.

This approach is beneficial by providing a solid structure for crafting a thesis, organizing the paper, and enabling a thorough definition and explanation of the rule. The drawbacks of this approach are that it may be too formalistic, and may lead to oversimplifying the legal doctrine.

Comparative

Comparative legal research methodology involves critical analysis of different bodies of law to examine how the outcome of a legal issue could be different under each set of laws. Comparisons could be made between different jurisdictions, such as comparing analysis of a legal issue under American law and the laws of another country, or researchers may conduct historical comparisons.

When using a comparative approach be sure to define the reasons for choosing this approach, and identify the benefits of comparing laws from different jurisdictions or time periods, such as finding common ground or determining best practices and solutions. The comparative method can be used by a researcher to better understand their home jurisdiction by analyzing how other jurisdictions handle the same issue. This method can also be used as a critical analytical tool to distinguish particular features of a law. The drawback of this method is that it can be difficult to find material from other jurisdictions. Also, researchers should be sure that the comparisons are relevant to the thesis and not just used for description.

This type of research uses data analysis to study legal systems. A detailed guide on empirical methods can be found here . The process of empirical research involves four steps: design the project, collect and code the data, analyze the data, determine best method of presenting the results. The first step, designing the project, is when researchers define their hypothesis and concepts in concrete terms that can be observed. Next, researchers must collect and code the data by determining the possible sources of information and available collection methods, and then putting the data into a format that can be analyzed. When researchers analyze the data, they are comparing the data to their hypothesis. If the overlap between the two is significant, then their hypothesis is confirmed, but if there is little to no overlap, then their hypothesis is incorrect. Analysis involves summarizing the data and drawing inferences. There are two types of statistical inference in empirical research, descriptive and causal. Descriptive inference is close to summary, but the researcher uses the known data from the sample to draw conclusions about the whole population. Causal inference is the difference between two descriptive inferences.

Two main types of empirical legal research are qualitative and quantitative.

Quantitative, or numerical, empirical legal research involves taking information about cases and courts, translating that information into numbers, and then analyzing those numbers with statistical tools.

Qualitative, or non-numerical, empirical legal research involves extracting  information from the text of court documents, then interpreting and organizing the text into categories, and using that information to identify patterns.

Drafting The Methodology Section

This is the part of your paper that describes the research methodology, or methodologies if you used more than one. This section will contain a detailed description of how the research was conducted and why it was conducted in that way. First, draft an outline of what you must include in this section and gather the information needed.

Generally, a methodology section will contain the following:

• Statement of research objectives
• Reasons for the research methodology used
• Description and rationale of the data collection tools, sampling techniques, and data sources used, including a description of how the data collection tools were administered
• Discussion of the limitations
• Discussion of the data analysis tools used

Be sure that you have clearly defined the reasoning behind the chosen methodology and sources.

• Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students Nadia E. Nedzel Aspen (2004) A guide to American legal research and the federal system, written for international students. Includes information on the research process, and tips for writing. Located in the Law Library, 3rd Floor: KF 240 .N43 2004.
• Methodologies of Legal Research: Which Kind of Method for What Kind of Discipline? Mark van Hoecke Oxford (2013) This book examines different methods of legal research including doctrinal, comparative, and interdisciplinary. Located at Lilly Law Library, Indianapolis, 2nd Floor: K 235 .M476 2013. IU students may request item via IUCAT.
• An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin Oxford University Press (2014) This book includes information on designing research, collecting and coding data, analyzing data, and drafting the final paper. Located at Lilly Law Library, Indianapolis, 2nd Floor: K 85 .E678 2014. IU students may request item via IUCAT.
• Emplirical Legal Studies Blog The ELS blog was created by several law professors, and focuses on using empirical methods in legal research, theory, and scholarship. Search or browse the blog to find entries on methodology, data sources, software, and other tips and techniques.

Literature Review

The literature review provides an examination of existing pieces of research, and serves as a foundation for further research. It allows the researcher to critically evaluate existing scholarship and research practices, and puts the new thesis in context. When conducting a literature review, one should consider the following: who are the leading scholars in the subject area; what has been published on the subject; what factors or subtopics have these scholars identified as important for further examination; what research methods have others used; what were the pros and cons of using those methods; what other theories have been explored.

The literature review should include a description of coverage. The researcher should describe what material was selected and why, and how those selections are relevant to the thesis. Discuss what has been written on the topic and where the thesis fits in the context of existing scholarship. The researcher should evaluate the sources and methodologies used by other researchers, and describe how the thesis different.

The following video gives an overview of conducting a literature review.

Note: this video is not specific to legal literature, however it may be helpful as a general overview.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few suggestions for digging into sources once you have selected a topic.

Research Guides

Research guides are discovery tools, or gateways of information. They pull together lists of sources on a topic. Some guides even offer brief overviews and additional research steps specifically for that topic. Many law libraries offer guides on a variety of subjects. You can locate guides by visiting library websites, such as this Library's site , the Law Library of Congress , or other schools like Georgetown . Some organizations also compile research guides, such as the American Society of International Law . Utilizing a research guide on your topic to generate an introductory source list can save you valuable time.

Secondary Sources

It is often a good idea to begin research with secondary sources. These resources summarize, explain, and analyze the law. They also provide references to primary sources and other secondary sources. This saves you time and effort, and can help you quickly identify major themes under your topic and help you place your thesis in context.

Encyclopedias provide broad coverage of all areas of the law, but do not go in-depth on narrow topics, or discuss differences by jurisdiction, or  include all of the pertinent cases. American Jurisprudence ( AmJur ) and Corpus Juris Secundum ( CJS ) have nationwide coverage, while the Indiana Law Encyclopedia focuses on Indiana state law. A number of other states also have their own state-specific encyclopedias.

American Law Reports ( ALR ) are annotations that synopsize various cases on narrow legal topics. Each annotation covers a different topic, and provides a leading or typical case on the topic, plus cases from different jurisdictions that follow different rules, or cases where different facts applying the same rule led to different outcomes. The annotations also refer to other secondary sources.  

Legal periodicals include several different types of publications such as law reviews from academic institutions or organizations, bar journals, and commercial journals/newspapers/newsletters. Legal periodicals feature articles that describe the current state of the law and often explore underlying policies. They also critique laws, court decisions, and policies, and often advocate for changes. Articles also discuss emerging issues and notify the profession of new developments. Law reviews can be useful for in-depth coverage on narrow topics, and references to primary and other secondary sources. However, content can become outdated and researchers must be mindful of biases in articles. 

Treatises/Hornbooks/Practice Guides are a type of secondary source that provides comprehensive coverage of a legal subject. It could be broad, such as a treatise covering all of contract law, or very narrow such as a treatise focused only on search and seizure cases. These sources are good when you have some general background on the topic, but you need more in-depth coverage of the legal rules and policies. Treatises are generally well organized, and provide you with finding aids (index, table of contents, etc.) and extensive footnotes or endnotes that will lead you to primary sources like cases, statutes, and regulations. They may also include appendices with supporting material like forms. However, treatises may not be updated as frequently as other sources and may not cover your specific issue or jurisdiction.

Citation and Writing Style

• Legal Writing in Plain English Bryan A. Garner University of Chicago Press, 2001. Call # KF 250 .G373 2001 Location: Law Library, 3rd Floor Provides lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this book offers valuable insights into the writing process: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. This guide uses real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching experience. Includes sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section.
• The Elements of Legal Style Bryan A. Garner Oxford University Press, 2002. Call # KF 250 .G37 2002 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Reference This book explains the full range of what legal writers need to know: mechanics, word choice, structure, and rhetoric, as well as all the special conventions that legal writers should follow in using headings, defined terms, quotations, and many other devices. Garner also provides examples from highly regarded legal writers, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Clarence Darrow, Frank Easterbrook, and Antonin Scalia.
• Grammarly Blog Blog featuring helpful information about quirks of the English language, for example when to use "affect" or "effect" and other tips. Use the search feature to locate an article relevant to your grammar query.
• Plain English for Lawyers Richard C. Wydick Carolina Academic Press, 2005. Call # KF 250 .W9 2005 Location: Law Library, 3rd Floor Award-winning book that contains guidance to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing. Includes exercises at the end of each chapter.
• The Chicago Manual of Style University of Chicago Press, 2010. Call # Z 253 .U69 2010 Location: Law Library, 2nd Floor While not addressing legal writing specifically, The Chicago Manual of Style is one of the most widely used and respected style guides in the United States. It focuses on American English and deals with aspects of editorial practice, including grammar and usage, as well as document preparation and formatting.
• The Chicago Manual of Style (Online) Bryan A. Garner and William S. Strong The University of Chicago Press, 2017. Online edition: use the link above to view record in IUCAT, then click the Access link (for IU students only).
• The Bluebook Compiled by the editors of the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. Harvard Law Review Association, 2015. Call # KF245 .B58 2015 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Circulation Desk The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools, law reviews and journals, and used in a majority of U.S. federal courts.
• User's Guide to the Bluebook Alan L. Dworsky William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2015. Call # KF 245 .D853 2015 Location: Law Library, Circulation Desk "This User's Guide is written for practitioners (law students, law clerks, lawyers, legal secretaries and paralegals), and is designed to make the task of mastering citation form as easy and painless as possible. To help alleviate the obstacles faced when using proper citation form, this text is set up as a how-to manual with a step-by-step approach to learning the basic skills of citation and includes the numbers of the relevant Bluebook rules under most chapter subheadings for easy reference when more information is needed"--Provided by the publisher.
• Legal Citation in a Nutshell Larry L. Teply West Academic Publishing, 2016. Call # KF 245 .T47 2016 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Circulation Desk This book is designed to ease the task of learning legal citation. It initially focuses on conventions that underlie all accepted forms and systems of legal citation. Building on that understanding and an explanation of the “process” of using citations in legal writing, the book then discusses and illustrates the basic rules.
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Online) Peter W. Martin Cornell Legal Information Institute, 2017. Free online resource. Includes a thorough review of the relevant rules of appellate practice of federal and state courts. It takes account of the latest edition of The Bluebook, published in 2015, and provides a correlation table between this free online citation guide and the Bluebook.
• Last Updated: Oct 24, 2019 11:00 AM
• URL: https://law.indiana.libguides.com/dissertationguide

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4 Choosing, Designing, and Building the Legal Research Theme

• Published: January 2020
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A research problem originates when the researcher considers the situation as complex, confusing and needs to probe into the way in which it can be resolved. The chapter discusses methods of selection of a problem by looking to incongruities and gaps and choice on the basis of personal interests, social relevance, and availability of time, fund and research materials. To define is to zero down the research problem. It next focuses on the drafting of a research proposal and research design, its importance, content and steps. Through this discussion it focuses on 3 questions: How to conduct literature review? What is its importance? How to contextualise a discussion in relation to the existing body of knowledge? It also discusses the formulation of a hypothesis, its importance and verification in light of vast data collected in the course of research. From the beginning to the final stage how intellectual activity is to be carried on in a systematic manner is the theme of this chapter.

Legal research being a ‘continuum’ 1 in plan, process, and application, an integrated intellectual discourse revolving around a research problem should ideally be in action from the moment of choice of the problem to the final event of research publication. The researcher shall put in all efforts to keep the central theme coherent along with effectively handling the alternatives, sub-themes, and distractions. Thus, at various stages of research, proper planning of the research work and development of independent idea becomes essential. Such a design not only provides a shape and direction to the research work but also formally satisfies the academic requirement of synopsis registration or sanction of grant by the funding agency. This chapter discusses the steps in the choice and definition of the research problem, designing the research plan, conducting the literature review, building the theme around the hypothesis or central idea, data collection, analysis, and inferences and suggestions.

Selection of Research Problem

Choosing a research problem from a broad area of study is the starting point in legal research. The choice of research problem should be appropriate, because it is upon this factor that the success and efficacy of research are ensured. While an unwieldy problem will overburden the researcher with risks of superficiality, it is also equally possible that too narrow a topic may yield a limited result. Research on a socially relevant problem, an issue of contextual importance, which demands immediate and effective cure or intellectually challenging matter will have better social response and practical utility than research on a problem which has relatively less practical use. Even past social problems and legal responses to the same, or biographical research or lens on history with new perspectives have great social relevance and educative value because they are part of inherited knowledge. Faulty selection may mar the worth of research whereas its deficient formulation will expose inherent shortcomings. The factors that support research—time, money, competence, and materials—should also be considered in selection of the research problem. Thus, practically speaking, in research, as in life, the researcher is the beneficiary or the victim of his or her own choice.

A beginner in research faces starting trouble in selection of the research problem. Problems occur in social contexts and come to the surface, pointing out difficulties in providing the perfect legal solution to them. Law contains social policies and reflects economic and political choices. Its application might raise multiple issues about its desirability, efficacy, and impact. The legal system has normative character in regulating the individual and collective behaviour of people. Its functioning witnesses instances of compliances or deviances, social acceptance or wrath, and benevolent or adverse impacts. Ambiguities in interpretation of the law, the need to make social impact assessment of law’s operation, and search for most appropriate legal solution, leave gaps of knowledge unfilled, which the researcher should look to address. If the researcher is a vigilant social observer, looks at the things happening around with a questioning mind, and proceeds with reflective thinking, he or she would definitely come across a variety of problems on various issues.

There is no dearth of research problems. Newspapers, electronic media, publication of government reports or data, suggestions or suspicions raised in previous publications, may divulge grievances and unsatisfactory conditions. Sharp divisions of views on any question of facts and position of law should attract the attention of the researcher. The repeated recognition of deficiencies in knowledge cries out for solution through research. What is required as a prerequisite for the right choice of research question on the part of researcher is possession of adequate knowledge of the general and specific subject area. 2

Most preferably, the effort of locating the problem for legal research shall be the privilege of the researcher rather than that of his or her research supervisor or guide. Compulsion to cultivate the habit of thinking and questioning trains the research mind. As a person having knowledge of law at a particular level, the researcher will be able to gauge or suspect the gap between justice and law, between one law and another, and between law in the statute book and law in action. The researcher knows his or her area of interest, inclination to probe into a specific domain, and the benefits and obstacles in working on a specific topic. 3 The excitement that he or she gets in locating the problem situation cannot be substituted by an ‘allocation of research topic’ that the research supervisor or committee may arrogate to make.

This is not to underestimate the role of the guide or the committee. As experienced researchers and eminent scholars, they will be able to pinpoint the advantages and disadvantages of working on such topics or may suggest modifications for confining to specific areas or widening the scope of study. Any amount of discussion the researcher holds with his or her research supervisor, teachers, specialists, classmates, and other senior researchers in the field will enable the researcher to crystallize his or her thoughts on the topic. Proper perception of the purpose of research, method, and type of research will enable mapping of the research topic. It is better to have a short list of topics, with some amount of familiarity in those subjects to choose among them. It is not necessary that the researcher’s proposed topic shall be within the area of specialization on the part of research supervisor or that of the researcher. The role of the supervisor is to give methodological guidance and facilitate systematic study without falling into the traps of overgeneralization and hasty inferences. 4

Participation in conferences, classroom discussions, and listening to the views of persons on the spot who handle legal matters in administration, or who happen to be sufferers or victims provide good input in locating the problem. If the legal professionals, judges, journalists, and civil society bodies share their experiences in suggesting grey areas, gaps, and incongruities, that also provides valuable guidance in locating the research problem.

Reading widely and wildly is another course of action for identification of the research problem. Being a social reason, reflecting economic policy, and mirroring culture, law is looked at from diverse perspectives. Political views on the same law may differ. Different sectors of the economy—manufacturer and labour or consumer, farmer and industrialist, and so on—may contest each other’s position about the law. The dominant and marginalized communities may look at the same law from opposing perspectives. The growth of law and its social history may provide distinct law–society interaction perspectives. The majority decision in a judgment and the dissent or separate opinions do provide contesting propositions about factual and legal issues and differing policy considerations based on contested values. The media coverage, the criticisms, and appreciations about the law or judgments give different shades of views.

Secondary materials such as books, articles, or journals usually treat the legal principle or policy with critical remarks, either appreciating the good part or pointing out the defects and shortcomings. In addition, books on legal philosophy and jurisprudence address the issues of value-based policy choices and non-preferences. The legal environment, as a result, is inherently and eminently argumentative. Applying the logic of H.H. Abelson that conflicts in experiences constitute a fertile source of research problem, 5 it is possible to say that the legal researcher has to creatively make use of the disputatious discourses in law in identifying the research problem. Abelson also considered past research as providing a breeding ground for new ideas or suggestions, provocatively inviting research. 6 A purposeful survey, meticulously carried out even for a few weeks, will help the researcher in knowing the grey areas or identifying incoherencies.

The third source of research problem is the inclination of sponsoring agencies, fund providers, or lists prepared by research institutions as ‘thrust areas’ of research. 7 When funding agencies require research to be done on specific or named areas or topics, the researchers do not have liberty to choose. Collaborative research with links to foreign researchers also excludes the process of selecting the research problem from a wide range of choice. Law reform research handled by the Law Commission is also on assigned areas and does not involve the problem selection issue. While academic bodies such as the UGC provide a wide scope for choice of research topics, research projects sponsored by individual ministries on human resources development, environmental protection and forest conservation, finance, taxation, fiscal policy, consumer protection, local self-government, and so on are confined to their respective areas. 8 Choice of research topics in respect of them becomes guided and regulated because of the funding agency’s requirements and immediate needs. This predicament is unavoidable as research is a purposive intellectual exercise and a problem-solving tool. Quality research can emerge from a selection of research problems made from within, views S.L. Sharma. 9 Selecting a research problem on the basis of an external body’s suggestion makes research ritualistic according to him. But in front of fund providers who might shortlist the subjects of their preference and priority, the researcher can hardly afford to be a chooser. Although this is a limitation of client-initiated research project, its relevance to the practical world through applied research is of great significance. 10

Teaching provides great inspiration for research. Preparation for class modules or revision of them, case law discussion, survey of literature and materials, and guidance for moot courts many a time raise new issues beckoning research. Teaching repeatedly on the same subject in subsequent years, like subsequent editions by the same author, embody deeper issues for analysis and research. Ellinger and Keith consider that the source of inspiration for research is the basic hard work in academic life and commitment to excellence. 11 Classroom discussions, which attract questions ranging from foolish to challenging ones, generate different perspectives to legal controversies, and enable clarification of concepts. Amartya Sen writes, ‘The skill of doing research, the hard preparation needed for doing new and original work—going beyond the old established knowledge, and indeed the courage to think in novel and daring lines—are immensely helped by good and exciting teaching.’ 12 Michael Pendleton notes, ‘Teaching is a wonderful way to get ideas for articles…. A student raises a point you had never thought before—a very common experience and one reason why teaching can keep you young.’ 13 Research supervision also brings enormous academic benefit through vicarious learning.

Suggestions made by previous researchers in their reports or publications about the further research needed on the same or collateral topics can also guide in selecting the research problem. Their research finding may provoke application of research in different situations. For example, research on the functioning of the panchayat raj in few districts of a particular state may inspire a similar study in other districts of the same or different state. Availability of a list of past research may also help in avoiding the oft-beaten path and consequent duplication.

Terry Hutchinson suggests brainstorming as the most basic method to kick-start the research process. 14 According to her, this involves writing down anything relating to the possible topic without being judgmental or censoring ideas and assessing various propositions from different angles. For example, the issue relating to same-sex marriage may be examined from the angle of legislative history, moral perceptions, cultural values, religious precepts, cultural ethos, empirical data, human rights perspective, gender justice approach, and so on. Who, what, when, how, where, and why are the questions that can be used in addition to this, for mind mapping and arriving at the formulation of the research problem. Thinking from different perspectives, namely, optimism, feminism, environmentalism, pro-life, and pro-society approaches will open up new ways of looking at the issue. 15

J.C. Almack’s four-fold procedure to select a research problem includes: ( i ) analyse what is known, ( ii ) look for gaps or deficiencies in explanations or areas of darkness, ( iii ) look for incongruities, inconsistencies, controversies, and untested conclusions, and ( iv ) follow clues and suggestions in previous writings, keep a memorandum of ideas and hypotheses, and watch the greatest and least areas of activity. 16 While most of the points that Almack makes are self-explanatory, the last point has an element of using the method of history of ideas. This method presupposes a systematic study of the reason behind the evolution of an idea, its earlier versions and forms, its growth through several stages, socio-political and economic context in which it flourished, eclipsed, and faltered, and its social relevance and contribution. The focus on the most and least activity zone has the potentiality of assessing central tendencies, which can be mapped using the statistical method of research.

Gathering some hints from the experimental research method, it is possible to put forward the following steps suggested by W.A. McCall for identification of problems in legal research: ( i ) becoming a scholar in one or more specialties, ( ii ) reading, writing, listening critically and reflectively, ( iii ) converting obstacle into opportunity by change in mindset, ( iv ) starting research, and watching problems budding out of it, and ( v ) not losing the problem already at hand. 17 McCall’s observation is pragmatic and convincing. Continued perseverance in identifying the research problem, engaging critically with research data, and avoidance of any casual attitude will go a long way in building the research theme.

The social dimension of law calls for a legal researcher’s empathetic and humanistic treatment of people suffering difficulties. By being sensitive to the suffering of any class of people, the researcher will be able to identify the more pressing areas of his or her study. S.L. Sharma thinks that research born out of the suffering experience is destined to be of superior quality. He writes, ‘Suffering, it will be agreed, is the source of creative ideas, and more so is intellectual suffering. Intellectual suffering means a sense of deep excitement about the problem arising either out of one’s experience of having lived through that problem in actual life or out of one’s empathetic experience of it.’ 18 Most problems faced by vulnerable sections such as women, children, backward classes of citizens, tribal communities, minorities, workers, and the poor are to be addressed with sense of humanism, and given more scope for research.

In the process of selection of the research problem, subjecting it to scrutiny on the basis of relevant criteria becomes important. 19 Firstly, such evaluation can be from the angle of the purpose of research such as exploration, explanation of evolution, understanding the correct legal position, evaluation of legal institution, law reform, prediction, and publication. The choice of research problem should be conducive to purpose fulfilment.

Secondly, it may be asked whether the problem reflects any element of social suffering at the communitarian or intellectual level. Social responsibility of the intelligentsia towards a better human world, good ecology, and harmony is a factor that should motivate the choice of research problem. Whether production of new knowledge will profoundly benefit the society, or how the research finding will help policymakers or the general public in dealing with current problems should be a criterion for finalizing the selection of problem. Social desirability of research on a specific topic is a factor that deserves consideration.

Thirdly, it should be considered whether the problem has adequate empirical dimensions. In view of the growing importance of socio-legal studies, the component of social reality in the research problem becomes significant. Although there is a general inclination to indulge in doctrinal legal research, in order to make legal research society-based, such focus on the scope for empirical study will enhance social value of research.

Fourthly, it should be considered whether research on the problem at hand will expand the theoretical knowledge on the subject or whether it has adequate practical relevance.

Fifthly, it is relevant to understand whether the research on a specific problem is satisfying a purely intellectual curiosity or whether it will bring consequential benefits such as recognition of expertise in key areas in addition to bringing rewards of academic or professional positions. Further, the issue whether the topic is of personal interest to the researcher also becomes relevant.

Sixthly, situational suitability factors such as availability of time, grant of money, materials, and facilities at the disposal of researcher vis-à-vis those required for conducting research should be taken into consideration. Research that requires three to four years of study cannot be undertaken in three to four months. An empty-handed person cannot afford to be involved in fieldwork for long time, entailing travel, field study, and questionnaire for data collection.

It is difficult to attribute relative weights to the various criteria in order to select. However, if the overall evaluation tends to prefer the choice, the researcher may finalize the topic selection.

As suggested by Bob Hancke, some of the considerations in good selection of the research theme are as follows: ( i ) the chosen research problem shall be relevant to the real world situation, ( ii ) a good research problem arises from adequate pre-research reading, observing, interacting, and critical thinking, ( iii ) research questions shall be close to empirical materials, ( iv ) research potential of a topic depends upon availability of data for answering the research question, verifiability of data, and prevalence of the problem in time and space, ( v ) past occurrence or current continuance of a problematic situation can enable positive outcome of research, and ( vi ) possibility of numerous answers to a research question is a discouraging factor. 20

Definition or Formulation of the Research Problem

After identification of the research problem, the researcher shall define the problem. Etymologically, to define is to put a fence around or to limit. An overbroad topic becomes sharply focused after appropriate formulation of its contours. Zeroing in on the exact aim of the inquiry brings precision to research. For example, a study of the law of divorce in general is unwieldy, whereas a socio-legal study of the legal rights of a Hindu woman at and after divorce with special reference to the experience from 2008 to 2017 in district ‘X’ becomes well-focused. In the latter case, in terms of community, gender, legal issue, duration, and geographical area, the topic’s scope becomes better defined. Similarly, a study of principles of natural justice in the law of taxation is too wide to be handled, while the study of audi alteram partem in the application of Income Tax Act, 1961 is manageable. The former example points to a situation where formulation of the problem is through inductive approach, and the latter reflects deductive approach.

In the inductive approach, the researcher gets aquainted with the area of life under study, which progressively sharpens the focus of inquiry. According to S.L. Sharma, this method recommends the ‘direct and naturalistic examination of the empirical social world’ in the course of problem formulation. 21 Flexibility is the hallmark of the inductive approach, as the scholar may shift from one line of inquiry to another, move to uncontemplated areas, proceed with new observation, and alter the criterion of relevancy of data. In contrast, deductive reasoning puts forward a theoretical proposition in an a priori manner, defines the line of inquiry by formulation of the problem in its light, and tests the hypothesis on the basis of data collected.

Problem formulation envisages, according to S.L. Sharma, giving of title, framing of research issues, and development of concepts. 22 The title of the research problem may be either descriptive or analytical. For example, ‘A study of fundamental rights’ is a descriptive title, whereas ‘A study of interrelationship among fundamental rights’ is an analytical title.

Merton believes that framing of research issues should be done by asking questions such as: What is the phenomenon the researcher really wants to know? Why does a particular phenomenon occur? And in what specific conditions does it occur? Identifying the nature of an object or relationship, cause–effect analysis, and impact assessment will be possible through such questioning. 23 For example, he may pose questions such as: Does expansion of fundamental rights occur because of the relationship of mutual assistance and balancing among fundamental rights? Why does such expansion take place? In what circumstances and under what conditions does such expansion occur? Instead of asking questions, or sometimes in addition to it, the researcher may sharpen the line of inquiry by formulating hypotheses or suggesting the possible solution to the research problem.

Development of concepts by devising empirical referents provides clarity to the inquiry. In the sphere of interrelationship of fundamental rights, models such as ‘directness of legislation’, ‘exclusiveness’, ‘direct and inevitable consequence’, ‘harmonious construction’, ‘pith and substance’, and ‘emanation and penumbra’ are some of the concepts that occur during the analysis of the interrelationship. 24 Similarly, ‘wall of separation between state and religion’, ‘equal religious freedom of all’, and ‘equidistance of state from all religions’ are some of the concepts that emerge while studying secularism. The implication of adherence to a particular concept or deviation from it shall be kept in mind in the operationalization of the concepts. Depending on how a particular trajectory of case law is moving from one approach to another, one can build up a better clarity in inquiry.

An appropriate formulation of the research problem, by keeping the above factors in mind, has the potentiality of bringing a high degree of specificity and clarity. It enables the researcher to eliminate irrelevant inquiries and unnecessary burdens and distractions.

Research Proposal

Two preliminary documents which provide the blueprint or plan of the whole intellectual exercise of research at its threshold are the research proposal (RP) and research design (RD). 25 The purpose of RP is to convince the academic authorities, ethics committees, or funding agencies to give clearance to the research project. The viability, feasibility, social relevance, and practical contribution of the project, which determine its acceptability, should be made clear in the RP. The RP should show that the research is well designed, intellectually challenging, socially significant, capable of being handled effectively within the prescribed timeframe, ethically appropriate, and that the request for financial aid is justified. Winning a research project is vital for one’s career and advancement of knowledge, and hence the researcher should ensure that preparation of the RP is geared to its acceptability. The RP serves the purpose of involving in focused thinking, getting feedback from experts, obtaining formal approval, seeking and getting fund, and in assisting project management and documentation. 26

The RP and RD have common components such as title of the project, statement of the research problem, explanation of background, aims and objectives, methodology, and limitations of the proposed research. But the RP is more comprehensive than RD in that the former speaks more about the contextual expediency of research, its practical contribution, social desirability, justifications for financial sanction with detailed budgetary break-up, and pragmatic timeline within which the work will be executed. But it may not contain, unlike RD, such details as narration of methodological strategies, data sources, and hypothetical models.

A desirable structure of the RP shall consist of ( i ) cover page details of title, author, date, and submission, ( ii ) a brief executive summary of objectives and research design, ( iii ) introduction to the problem, ( iv ) description of research design and methods, ( v ) method of disseminating research findings, ( vi ) timeline, ( vii ) resources—men and materials—required, and statement of the budget, ( viii ) competence of author or other collaborating people to manage the project, and ( ix ) references. 27 The introduction shall outline the aims and objectives of research, need for research or occurrence of problem, location and beneficiaries of research, and its significance. The timetable shall be pragmatic with statement of proposed month-wise progress of the work. The budget should reflect hour-wise remuneration for researchers, expenses for consumables, equipment, and literary data, cost of services of secretariat, travel and communication costs, printing of questionnaire, remuneration to data analysts, dissemination seminar on draft report, and the cost of preparing final report. 28 Compliance with the guidelines prescribed by the funding agency becomes imperative. The RP should reflect a down-to-earth approach, should be clear about social relevance, sincere in cost estimation, and exhibit readiness for time-bound completion without delay or haste.

Precautionary steps in the preparation of an acceptable RP include adequate background reading about the problem, consultation with specialists, developing conceptual clarity on research questions, seeking the advice of collaborating agencies with which the researcher would like to associate for data collection or analysis, and preliminary discussion with representatives of research participants. 29 These steps enable appropriate planning of the entire research strategy. Mapping all the components of the RP, careful drafting of it with sufficient but not overbroad details, and adding a checklist to the RP about essential inclusions, are required. Requests for financial help should be given with adequate break-ups and based on realistic cost estimates.

The RP should also disclose limitations of the research. These might be the possible sample errors, non-availability of certain information, inevitability of reliance on secondary data, dependence upon the cooperation of research participants, vastness or scarcity of data, language difficulties, or geographical limitations. It might be even the limitation of timings. For example, an empirical study of the working of NOTA (none of the above) will have to be conducted when an election is taking place.

Research Design

Research Design is a plan or a process of deliberate anticipation directed towards bringing an expected situation. 30 It involves visualization of the entire process of conducting research before its actual commencement. 31 It includes the plan, structure, and strategy of investigation so as to obtain answer to research questions. 32 The structure connotes the scheme and paradigm of the operation of variables while strategy hints at the methods to be used to gather and analyse the data. RD provides a basis for interpretation of data. It is a ‘central creative act underpinning the development of new research’. 33

Just like an architect designs a building, contemplating its construction with chosen materials with a suitable budget and timeframe, keeping in mind the purpose for which the building will be used, a researcher also sketches the plan of his work by looking at the objective or purpose/s of the research at hand. 34 There cannot be the same blueprint for all types of buildings, whether they are residential accommodation, factory, office, hotel, school, or mall. Similarly, the diverse purposes of legal research—exploration, description, historical narration, evaluation, and reform—call for multiple types of research models suitable to the objectives. The RD for exploration of customary law requires fieldwork or sociological study, whereas analytical research calls for doctrinal legal research. Trend analysis of law’s evolution has a pattern different from that of evaluation of social impact of law. The law reform researcher may opt for multi-method research by combining doctrinal and non-doctrinal research methods and different strategies underlying them, 35 whereas legal philosophical research might delve deep into value discourse.

RD offers guidelines in organizing the intellectual discourse and in delineating the work. It reminds the thematic line for ensuring coherence in the analysis. But its role is not to straitjacket the journey. Bob Hancke observes, ‘Think of research design as a craftsman’s toolbox, not a rigid set of prescriptive rules: what you do with it, is ultimately up to you—you ask your question, and organize and debate around it; the link between your question, your answer, and your data and cases, are all in your hands.’ 36 The subjective element inherent in research will not become haphazard if RD provides broad parameters.

Following are the components of RD. First, there should be clear and precise statement of the topic in the form of a title . The title can be tentative in the draft stage and can be finalized after the formulation of research problem. Title should be analytical and to the point, simple and self-explanatory, and not ambiguous. 37 It should properly represent the research theme and reflect the nature of study. 38 The readers and evaluators assess whether the title is justified in terms of the exposition of the research finding.

Second, the researcher should give a brief introduction to the research problem. He or she should state the background, narrate the occurrence of felt difficulties, identify the grey area, and point out the prevalent debate on the issue in the relevant literature. Locating or contextualizing the research problem in the socio-legal milieu shall be the outcome of this exercise. The present state of art and current level of understanding in the form of answers to research question/s should be made clear, so that inching or even galloping towards new horizons in the present work might be anticipated.

Third, the RD should state the motives and goals of research. Looking at the area of concern, how the investigation would clear prevalent confusion, provide scientific understanding of the issues, and provide solutions by filling the gaps should be explained. Personal inclination and interest about the research problem may also be highlighted. 39 Some of the equivocal or unsatisfactory positions that call for research-based answers may also be explained.

Fourth, the RD should contain research questions . This is the central component of RD, because the whole research activity aims to answer these questions. Research questions involve examining the relationship between two or more variables. 40 Such a relationship may be positive, negative, or causal. For example, the relationship between poverty, crime rate, and legal solution; abandonment of children, juvenile delinquency, and remedial mechanism under law; rural indebtedness, farmers’ suicide, and legal regime of welfare state; increased pendency of cases, number of judicial institutions, and ADR practices; skewed position of female population, crimes against women, and lack of stern legal measures; mutuality of support and balancing between two layers of government, two sets of fundamental rights, or two organs of government.

The criteria for assessment of relationship are correlation, temporal precedence, or sequence and non-availability of alternative explanation. Choosing the right research question is the key to the success of research. Suppose existing literature or legal position gives evidence about a particular type of relationship or its absence amidst variables, the researcher may consider it as an initial idea or hypothesis. Identification of possible answers to the research question is a breakthrough that should be preceded by a thorough examination of materials—factual, legal, and theoretical—available at the preliminary stage. For example, it is possible to project a hypothesis on the basis of a preliminary survey of non-profit organization law that adequately elaborate legal arrangements helping or insisting on purpose compliance by non-profit organizations ensures their good governance. 41 It is necessary to explain what the research intends to achieve, or in other words, whether it is explorative, explanatory, descriptive, reform-oriented, or evaluative. 42

Fifth, the RD should explain briefly the documentary and library resources with adequate reference to primary and secondary legal materials, which are going to be used in the research work. Primary materials include the Constitution, legislation, treaties, administrative circulars, and case law, whereas secondary materials include commentaries, books, journals, encyclopaedia, articles, Law Commission reports, and so on. The narrative shall contextualize the discussion to the problem at hand and the controversies involved in the debate. The contours and thrust of literature review shall be reflected in the RD.

Sixth, when the researcher uses the non-doctrinal or empirical method of legal research, the choice of tools to be used for data collection should be made clear. 43 Amidst various tools such as survey, questionnaire, interview, observation, case study, and statistical method, which tools will be used, how, and upon which group of research participants, are to be laid out in the RD. How the participant or research target group is going to be selected, what sampling method is going to be employed—whether probability, random, stratified, systematic, cluster, quota, purposive, or convenience type of sampling—and what will be the size of sample are to be planned by the researcher. Regarding the type of questionnaire, interview and observation going to be used for research, again, the RD should disclose the specific choice with justifying reason. The RD should sketch the qualitative and quantitative method planned in the research. The RD should not fail to describe how privacy and confidentiality would be safeguarded, and how imperatives of research ethics would be satisfied.

Seventh, the RD shall disclose the specific method of research and point out the combination of multiple methods if any, with explanation of suitability of such methods. 44 The benefits of applying specific methods such as historical, comparative, and empirical methods in the present research should be explained. The RD should speak about the strategies of inductive and deductive methods used in the proposed research. The RD should also describe method of data analysis and use of coding in order to maintain confidentiality.

Eighth, the RD should speak about the likely contribution the research would be making to existing knowledge. How it would bring clarity to the present understanding of law, or point out deficiencies, or propose reforms for promoting better interests of the society should be explained. When the existing law is seen at present from a limited perspective and the RD proposes to look at it from different angles with new dimensions, advancement in the knowledge domain occurs. The RD should speak about the lines of growth of knowledge through the current research.

Finally, the RD shall give tentative chapter break-ups for exposition of research findings. Continuity of thought should reflect in the sequencing of chapters. The headings and sub-headings may be properly structured for ensuring clarity in presentation. A brief working bibliography should also be enclosed for establishing one’s preparedness. The strength of the RD largely depends on the level of intellectual debate that it initiates, continues, and contextualizes in the existing body of knowledge; and upon the convincing way in which a specific method or combination of methods is planned for effective execution. The researcher’s competence to handle the research project will be explicit from the overall quality of the RD.

RDs are of two broad categories: observational and interventional. An RD which deals with variables without experimental research is called an observational RD. An RD which makes interventional focus on cause-and-effect relationships with scope for an experimental method of verification is interventional RD. The former is commonly used in legal research.

Literature Review or Evaluation of Previous Research

Most research works do not start from a zero level of understanding of the topic in the knowledge system. Some scholars, thinkers, or communities might have already bestowed their thoughts, and engaged in intensive debate on the topic as evident from available literature. The legal mind does not leave any space unattended without norms, as it can formulate a new proposition by extending the value system to promote justice. Thus, for the added reason of promoting high potentiality for creative discourse on policies and principles, literature review (LR) or evaluation of previous research acquires great significance.

LR is a systematic study of existing research or published information with the purpose of identifying key information relevant to the topic, assessing the status of existing research, critically examining support for alternative theories or arguments, and evaluating research methods used in previous studies. 45 It is a method by itself, ‘involving the secondary analysis of explicit knowledge’ 46 expressed in books with enlightening concepts. LR provides background to the research, contextualizes the issues, unravels the domain of previous thoughts on research questions, and sets up bridges between the research project and current state of knowledge. 47 It also throws light on alternative theoretical perspectives and methodology employed by earlier scholars.

Synthesizing prevalent or past views around a particular topic of research is its contribution. 48 To know the truth of the present, one has to know the truth of the past; in this process, one can shake off the inhibitions of the tradition, be free from the futility of the radical, and constructively endeavour for the betterment of the world. 49 In legal research, LR is not confined to the process of locating or contextualizing the problem or providing conceptual overview. Its function extends to all stages and all parts of exposition of the thesis. LR is the building material for doctrinal legal research’s architecture.

LR may be traditional or systematic. The former involves a written appraisal (re-view) of what is already known or existing knowledge on a topic without the application of method. In contrast, systematic LR is review with a stated purpose, a question, and a defined search approach with the criteria of exclusion and inclusion. It is a method of making sense of a large body of information, and a means to contributing to the answers to questions about what works and what does not.

LRs vary, depending on several factors, according to Noel Card: 50

Focus of the LR may be on method, on theoretical perspective, or on typical practices followed in previous research, and hence may vary.

Goals such integrating generalizations spread over various literary sources, resolving the conflicts, or overarching of various fields may shape the LR differently.

LRs may vary with perspectives such as neutral perspective, ideological perspective, or arguing for a position.

LR may be representative of diverse viewpoints or may be exhaustively reviewing all the available literature. Representative LR helps the researcher save himself or herself from a labyrinth of huge literary data in which the researcher may be caught.

LR may build up conceptual organization by using the literature around specific types of questions.

In synthesizing literary sources, LR may assume qualitative or quantitative approaches. Qualitative LRs engage in narrative reviews reflecting subjective evaluation. Quantitative LRs use numbers and perform statistical analysis.

With reference to the audience to which the LR is addressed, there may be variations: stand-alone LR, LR for practitioners or professionals, LRs for policymakers, and LR for academics. Thus, varying dimensions of study influence the types of LRs.

How a systematic LR should be conducted is another issue. Harris Cooper’s five-stage actions of LR can help in this matter. 51 The first stage of LR is formulation of a research problem, which enables the researcher to identify the literature relevant for answering the question or relevant to the target group or population. Which categories of literary data are helpful in answering the questions must be perceived by the researcher. A broad approach to a wide sweep of data enables generalizable conclusions, whereas a narrow approach looks to a higher degree of consistency but is satisfied with smaller quantity of literature.

The second stage involves literature retrieval or data collection. Unless the collection of literary data is exhaustive or fairly makes use of all representative samples of literature, the conceptualization based on literature survey cannot be free from bias. An inclination to study only published works may keep the unpublished works untouched. But the researcher has to go beyond the published work and study the unpublished or unreported literary resources when they are relevant. Unreported judgments of courts have also significance, especially when the focus is on subordinate court judgments which are not reported. Unpublished reports of committees or commissions or unpublished PhD or master’s degree theses or project reports may also be relevant in some circumstances. However, the researcher has to authenticate the source. Still, he or she cannot afford to claim to be exhaustive because, some documentary sources may be in a language alien to the researcher. If the translation of a most important source available in other literature is accessible, the researcher should use such source also.

In order to comply with the requirement of an exhaustive use of all documentary information relating to a topic, the researcher should adopt a systematic search for all materials. Preparation of a working bibliography helps the researcher as a path finder. A working bibliography is a systematic and up-to-date list of primary and secondary literary data on a topic. 52 A quick and exhaustive survey of cases from the latest ones to the oldest relevant to the topic and to the research question is now possible by using electronic databases of case law. Keyword searches, subject index searches, free text searches, nominal table of cases, and use of a judge’s name help in computer-based searches. 53 Digests, yearbooks, and commentaries help in identifying relevant cases. For the purpose of research, study of dissenting or separate judgments is very important, as they reflect critical reasoning in differing from the majority view.

Statutory databases should also be used for getting data. Survey of delegated legislation is also essential as legal policy can be learnt, along with detailed legal framework. Relevant international treaties, declarations, agreements, protocols, and judicial decisions should also be collected. If the researcher opts for a comparative study, relevant data of those jurisdictions should also be collected. Secondary materials such as commentaries, books, journals, edited volumes, and articles/comments/opinions in newspapers or periodicals are relevant for the study because they highlight the undersides, difficulties, and deficiencies in legal policies. Confining to academic writings alone will not be appropriate, as valuable ideas assessing legal measures may be coming forth from the works not classified as ISSN or ISBN. 54

It is the worth of the material in terms of ideas, rather than its form, that becomes significant. The working bibliography is a growing list and may serve as a checklist of study. A brief noting about the content of material may serve as an annotated bibliography. A researcher should develop an aptitude of a hunter in the library, ever ready with a research note book, and do a multitude of tasks at once. An alert mind moves from one source to another in search of wide information, and it is regressive to avoid reading in fear of losing originality in views. As F.L. Whitney writes, much knowledge does not hamper originality. 55 Interdisciplinary research provides access to alternative thoughts from different perspectives or from socio-economic and political angles. Ronald Dworkin emphasizes the profitability of interdisciplinarity in evolving original views. 56

The third stage is reading the collected materials and determining which information should be included in the analysis. Doctrinal legal research with comprehensive analytical, historical, comparative, and critical study imposes a heavy burden upon the researcher to read vast materials. The researcher should make quality use of time and enhance the reading speed in a systematic manner. 57 A high degree of reading ability contributes to success. Research reading for identifying the relevance of material may employ searching reading, using index and key word search, noting new and interesting findings, and getting cross-references for further search and reading. Understanding, digesting, and reflecting over the literature shall be stepping stones for LR. The researcher should decide whether the methodology which is reflected in the previous research or a particular literature it has produced is of questionable quality or whether it can be relied upon and if so to what extent. Although the data may involve an interesting debate or a nice way of presentation, yet it may not be relevant to the central theme of the work. Indulging in such distraction will miss the focus of research, and contaminate the reasoning process. 58

The fourth stage is analysis and interpretation of literary data. This is a challenging intellectual exercise. The acumen of the researcher for independent thinking is tested at this stage. The reviewer may adopt a qualitative approach by internal synthesis of alternative propositions. Although this keeps the researcher prone to some element of subjectivity, yet it is widely accepted in non-empirical research. In contrast, the quantitative approach suggests tallying or vote-counting as a method of categorizing different propositions. While it reduces subjectivity, it is more suitable in the sphere of impact assessment rather than in doctrinal legal research.

The final stage at which LR is carried out is in the presentation or exposition of the research finding. There is no rigid format for research reporting. LR in both doctrinal and empirical legal research should deal with all the diverse prominent viewpoints expressed in previous research with sufficient detail so that an independent reader shall be able to draw similar conclusions on the basis of perusal of various arguments. The exposition of research findings should answer the questions raised in the beginning of research or state why the questions cannot be answered. Further, the report shall not be a dry ‘study-by-study listing’ nor a superficial anthology of quotations, but shall be an organic argumentative discourse synthesizing the strands of thoughts with independent viewpoints and couched in evaluative statements.

In the intellectual exercise of research, hypothesis acquires considerable significance because it is a projection of a nucleus of an idea or a seed of thought as a possible answer to the question at hand as against nebulous conjectures, and a preview of a concrete theory. The whole inquiry receives specific direction of development and a possible proposition for solution in the hypothesis. The process of crystallization of thoughts in this context is an intensive mental activity in response to a wide array of doctrines articulated in literary sources or those pressing on the basis of thrust of factual circumstances. The intriguing interface and gaps between law and fact, ideology and practice, higher law and ordinary law, enduring and transient norms, and between purposes and functioning of institutions or organizations give clues for formulating the tentative answer. In brief, it is a product of a thinking and imagining mind exposed to facts and theory, and avoids the predicament of an empty shuttle weaving in the wind.

Hypothesis is an intelligent guess or imaginative hunch about the possible answer, an initial proposition offered for further scrutiny and acceptance or disapproval. It is a provisional idea whose merit is to be evaluated on further study in the light of data. Etymologically, it means ‘to suppose’. It looks forward to testing. It stands in between inquiry and theory. By enabling concentration on a definite point of inquiry, it gives criteria for distinguishing relevant data from those that are not and avoids a situation of blind search and collection of unnecessary data.

Characteristics of a good hypothesis, according to Jie Chen et al., include the following: ( i ) it should have been based on a review of literature, ( ii ) it should relate dependent and independent variables, and ( iii ) it should be capable of being tested empirically or through experiments. 59 William Goode and Paul Hatt characterize usable hypothesis as containing following features: ( i ) it must be conceptually clear (by defining concepts or explaining key words), ( ii ) it must be specific (by articulating various operations and possible predictions, avoiding general statements and by detailing the sub-hypotheses), ( iii ) it should be related to available techniques of testing, and ( iv ) it should be related to a body of theory. 60 Pauline Young is of the view that the usefulness of a hypothesis depends upon the extent to which a researcher has engaged in keen observation, disciplined imagination, and sound theoretical thinking. 61

Law being a type of social science, legal research should also generally possess most of the above characteristics. But law is more than a knowledge system. It shapes the behaviour of individuals and of communities; it protects, facilitates, and regulates human activities; it guides state–individual relations, organizes and controls public institutions by linking them to people through accountability, and controls relations amidst the community of nations. As a result, its empirical domain is quite wide; application through case law and administrative action is intense with a variety of factual backgrounds; and its reach in various sectors such as state, market, non-profit, family, and international community provide enough scope for testing the hypothesis. The numerous schools of jurisprudence—natural law, analytical, historical, anthropological, sociological, economic, feminist, and critical—which explain the theoretical terrain of various concepts from different perspectives provide inspiring and valuable inputs for its formulation. In a way, the legal researcher’s task is both easy and arduous: easy because of exposure to the hard reality of life as demonstrated in the day-to-day experiences of the legal world and the availability of a large number of theoretical explanations in legal philosophy or jurisprudence, and arduous because of too many factual details and confusingly diverse schools of jurisprudence, which provide less guidance for selection and consequent dependence on vagaries of choice of the legal researcher.

Oliver Wendell Holmes’ proposition sheds light on factors to be taken into consideration in understanding the law and legal problems and in resolving issues:

The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience. The felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories, intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, and even the prejudices which judges share with their fellow-men, have had a good deal more to do than syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed. The law embodies the story of a nation’s development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics. 62

Since the facts of life are ‘imbedded in a thick crust of cultural norms and are intertwined with dynamic and social relations’ as Pauline Young 63 puts it, law, along with its fellow elements of culture, namely, morality, religion, fashion, and opinion shape the human behaviour, which should be considered integrally in the deeper discourse on law. Ronald Dworkin, in his essay, ‘Legal Research’ emphasizes the need to understand the basis of a legal principle (as in Donoghue v Stevenson ) in moral conception linked with economic or psychological policies. 64 This suggests that the perception of law from the angle of different schools of jurisprudence and diverse understanding of various concepts and also the interdisciplinary scholarship on law provide valuable intellectual input or source for projecting hypothesis in legal research. Let me elaborate.

Natural law theories have provided a rich intellectual resource for linking law with the higher purpose of promoting justice, equal liberty, security, and good society. The method, content, and functioning of positive law ought to orient towards the purpose of conforming to higher law ideals, is their essence. St Thomas Aquinas viewed that law’s foundation consists in its precept that good shall be done and pursued and evil avoided. 65 Reason as the basis of law insists that the institutions of social life in the form of family or state are essential for realization of the human being’s full potentials. Man-made law, deviating from goals of justice, is a perversion of law. Immanuel Kant believed in the universal law of principle of right. The virtue of good law enables a good society ( ubi jus ubi societas ). 66

Social contract philosophers 67 attributed the higher purposes of security, social happiness, and justice to the very of origin and existence of the state itself. Stammler’s principles of respect and of participation envisaged mutual obligations and equal opportunities. 68 Neo-natural law scholars such as John Rawls consider principles of social justice as necessary for making a rational choice between various available systems. 69 The way in which a concept of justice specifies basic rights and duties will affect problems of efficiency, coordination, and stability. His first principle of justice that there shall be the most extensive system of equal rights and liberties of all, and the second principle that social and economic inequalities shall be so arranged that the least advantaged person shall be given the greatest benefit build a philosophic framework traceable in an aspirational constitution as the Indian Constitution. Each generation shall preserve the culture and civilization and pass them on to the next generation along with accumulation of its own cultural wealth.

Clarence Morris argues that justice can be realized only through good law. 70 Reason as a major ingredient of justice insists that judicial appointment, court’s functioning, access to courts, and jurisprudence of remedies shall be solely justified on the basis of justice. John Finnis views that law consists of basic values for the good of human beings and requirement of practical reasonableness. 71 The approach that unjust law is no law and requires to be disobeyed had influenced civil disobedience movement. The values of ecology and environmentalism have also put forward a wide range of convincing theories that have links with natural law ideology. The concepts of sustainable development, public trust, inter-generation equity, pollution prevention, and resource conservation provide the starting point for thinking in the area of environmental studies.

As a highly influential source of ideologies, natural law stream of thinking has been a great treasure of ideas for formulating possible answers to human problems in the field of public law by reference to unfathomable values of good life and good society. In the context of constitutional democracies aspiring for good governance, protection of human rights with orientation to people’s welfare, nation’s unity, and utilization of legal institutions as purposive instruments, these values become a talisman or criterion for testing the social utility of the legal system itself. A perusal of hypotheses in sample academic research works in public law will disclose how natural law ideology was an inspiring source for such hypotheses.

A work on the interrelationship of fundamental rights looks at the goals of justice in the operation of the legal system, equality’s inevitable insistence on reasonableness, human dignity’s emphasis on promoting justice in the matter of access to positive rights, liberties, and remedies; fairness as an inevitable component of procedural justice, and balancing of rights inter se, lest there be uncomfortable result put forward a hypothesis about the mutuality of assistance and balancing amidst fundamental rights. 72 Empirical evidence in case law about both comfortable and problematic positions arising from compliance and non-compliance with hypothetic propositions as well as a survey of philosophical concepts underlying various fundamental rights enable such hypotheses.

Marc Galanter’s analysis of competing equalities had conjectured around the relation between formal and substantial equality, and suitability of the judiciary or political process to spearhead the task of social justice through protective discrimination. 73

Rajeev Dhavan’s research question, whether judges of the Indian Supreme Court proceeded to decide cases on the basis of a Western understanding and training or whether they used indigenous insights in deciding the cases appears to have been born in the logical expectations of a highly aspirational Constitution. 74 A research work on judicial activism formulates hypotheses by referring to the fundamentals of judicial process where the debate about judicial lawmaking, the means employed for the purpose, ascendance of judiciary against the background of legislative and executive failures, inter-organ control, and impact of judicial activism upon civil liberties and personal freedoms. The researcher contextualizes questions by an informed discussion on constitutionalism, judicial policymaking, and reference to wide-ranging public interest litigation. 75

Similarly, research on treaty-making power can profitably hypothesize that against the backdrop of increased importance of treaties in the era of globalization, democratic control through inter-organ and inter-governmental control through the requirement of effective consultation of federal units and legislature provides for accountability, and that if such an arrangement is not forthcoming, it would cause discomfort unless informal consultations of stakeholders and institutions take place. Here also the researcher projects the hypothesis after adequately engaging in a discussion on the nature and impact of treaty-making power, federalism, and democratic accountability. 76

In the field of international law, when a researcher deals with the issues of a victim’s right to compensation, access to justice, fair trial, protection, participation, and effective remedy from international criminal tribunals (ICTs), he or she brings out the background and rationale of victim’s rights, distils the approaches in various jurisdictions and international forums about the concept of victim, and refers to a range of rights available to him/her, and the changing pattern of law. Against this background the researcher states the hypothesis that the definition of the term ‘victim’ under ICT is too narrow, the procedural and substantive rights of the victims are inadequate, and existing enforcement mechanisms ineffective. 77 A research work on the impact of terrorism on human rights contextualizes the literature on human rights violations in counter-terrorism measures, looks at the functioning of institutional mechanisms such as a human rights council (HRC), and formulates a hypothesis that the HRC has the potential to address the negative consequences of counter-terrorist measures on the right to life and right to freedom from torture. 78

While dealing with the research problem of the offence of rape in relation to dilemmas of governance through criminal law sanctions, a researcher can do a good job by elaborate references to inadequate safeguard measures at the levels of complaint, investigation, medical help, trial, and inconsistencies in quantification of punishments and compensation to victims. Feminist and human rights perspectives and the imperative of administration of justice provide a credible base on which the researcher can state the hypothesis that effective governance by the criminal justice system at every step of handling the offence of rape is the key towards minimizing its incidence in India. 79

Economic school of thinking has supplied radical ideas about the economic foundation of law and the legal system, and the ways of resolving class conflicts using legal instruments. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels regarded that law is a superstructure on an economic system, and that economic facts are independent of and antecedent to law. 80 Class character of law comes to the forefront when they view that law is an instrument used by the rulers to keep the masses under subjection. In contrast to a capitalist society where the bourgeois minority dominates and oppresses the working class, dictatorship of the proletariat in the Marxist state should result in dissolving the property class or bourgeois and execute the policy of ‘from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs’. 81

A classless society shall emerge without any scope for exploitation or dominance. In centre-staging economic justice and in highlighting the economic basis of giving superior position to fair economic phenomenon, the economic approach to law has been successful. The goals of equitable distribution of material resources of production to subserve the common good and avoidance of concentration of wealth in a few hands enshrined in the Indian Constitution provide the criteria for evaluating legal policy and its application. The researcher can hypothesize by extending this major premise.

Marc Galanter in his most cited law review article, ‘Haves’, takes up the issue of ‘Repeat Player’ litigants gaining advantages of experience, resources, access to lobbying, and strategic use of procedural rules and compared to the ‘One Shotters’ or generally the have-nots, how they (Repeat Players) come ahead. 82 As he proceeds with his analysis of the skewed position of the world of litigation tilting in favour of the rich, he makes clear the need to reorient the system, especially in civil right cases.

In post-globalization academic research, the discourse on issues relating to foreign direct investment (FDI), domain name dispute settlement, protection of traditional knowledge, rights of development-induced displaced persons, role of corporate social responsibility, and so on, start with the exposition of an economically divided world where the tension between the haves and have-nots grip the line of reasoning. A researcher looking at the issue of FDI from the third-world perspective refers to the historical experience of regulation of FDI by the host country, the forum available for dispute settlement, the need for evenly spreading of the benefits of investment so as to avoid negative impact upon the people of the host country, and suspects whether the existing network of voluntary codes and soft laws to institutionalize duties on the foreign investor has proved ineffective in ensuring the social responsibility of multinational corporate investors. In this light, the researcher formulates his or her hypotheses that investment protection is the predominant spirit of international investment law, that the law lacks a balanced approach with regard to all stakeholders, and that it restricts the authority of states to regulate the operations of multinational corporate investors. 83

A researcher on the role of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the resolution of domain name trademark disputes narrates the post–information technology development of abuse of well-known trademarks by resort to domain names, the difficulties involved in litigation method, and the emerging regime of ADR in this sphere. He or she projects the hypothesis that in view of failure of the uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP) to live up to expectations, the ADR mechanism becomes suitable. 84

The economic difficulties which indigenous people face in the context of soft law of traditional knowledge provoke a researcher to depict the picture of exploitation by the powerful in the face of silence of a strong law against the backdrop of high expectations by international legal regime and constitutional ideology. The researcher frames research questions, instead of hypotheses, ranging from inquiry as to its nature, problems in matters of food and medicine in India, competence to deal with the acts of bio-piracy, extent of legal protection, and implications of differentiation between sui generis system and full-fledged legal framework on traditional knowledge. 85

While examining the issue of whether post-liberalization developments in industrial disputes law adjudication have traversed a different path than that expected in the Constitution and Industrial Disputes Act, a researcher finds it appropriate to describe the trajectory of development, wishes of the constitutional jurisprudence, and expectations of working class, and venture a hypothesis that the higher judiciary has kept its commitment to constitutional goals of labour welfare on priority and has not drastically diluted the workers’ rights. 86 Since many of the problems relate to economic issues, law and economics analysis has a great role in this sphere. The problems of environmental pollution are largely due to undue emphasis on economic development and exploitation of resources. The economics of environmentalism and legal solutions to pollution have to go hand in hand. This calls for an integrated strategy for environmental research.

The realist school of jurisprudence has doubted the false sense of security which the father figure of law pretends to give, and looked at the law as it operates in the courthouse, or in the course of administration, or as perceived by a violator of the law (guess of a bad man). 87 The scholars under this school tried to understand law in its social setting without the gap between ‘is’ and ‘ought’ perspectives, and in terms of purpose and effect. They attempted to predict judicial decisions of trial and appellate courts by objective trend analyses and quantitative studies through jurimetrics. An impressive body of literature on judicial process and the law of precedent has catalogued the factors—social, ideological, personal, economic, political, historical, and traditional—that influence judicial decisions.

O.W. Holmes, Benjamin Cardozo, Julius Stone, Rupert Cross, and others have contributed significantly in delineating judicial philosophy, juristic technique, and the rationale for doctrine of precedents. 88 Proper understanding of the sociological reasons for applying the doctrine of precedent or for deviating from it helps in the appreciation of judicial process. How the doctrine of stare decisis is not an inexorable command of the Constitution, and how the dynamism of judicial process in overruling past precedent or inventing a new one has made an advancement of law shall be properly studied by the researcher. A highly inspiring and informative resource material in this regard is A. Lakshminath’s book titled Precedent in Indian Law . The limits of judicial lawmaking and the strategies of incremental growth through filling the interstices provide doctrinal input for study of topics related to the judicial process. 89

Sociological approaches to law have supplied new perspectives on the social base, dimension, and impact of law. Jeremy Bentham, although a positivist, believed in a social philosophy that law shall function to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number by remedying evil and promoting pleasure. 90 Roscoe Pound considered that making, interpretation, and application of law shall take account of social facts. 91 In order to promote the social function of law or bring about social engineering, there shall be identification of social base of the law, factual study of legal administration, social impact assessment, and the extent to which maximum wants can be satisfied with the minimum of friction and waste. The jurist shall assist in categorizing and balancing the individual, public, and social interests. The task of balancing is a delicate one, as it involves weighing of interests with reference to ideals and social goals. The predominance of social interests in general security, security of social institutions, general morals, conservation of social resources, general progress, and in individual life shall be borne in mind in this process.

Duguit’s concept of social solidarity gives clues about the factors that build up a highly integrated system of social relations. 92 Ihering’s notion of social motion embedded in interaction between egoistic and altruistic levers provides some understanding of law–society interaction. 93 Ehrlich’s emphasis on the centrality of social phenomenon in law’s growth hints at the hinterland of law upon which it is backed. 94 Theoretical approaches about emergence, functioning, and governance of institutions or groups point out the importance of communitarian values. Research, especially in the field of family law, criminal law, labour law and non-profit organization (NPO) law, require good understanding of the sociology of law and the models (consensus, conflict, and integrated) through which social change and law interact.

Historical school enlightens us about the law’s genesis in tradition, its rootedness in common conscience of the community, and the importance of living law of people which survives in customs and social practices. 95 It provides perspectives about conducting of trend analysis and focusing on anthropological factors that influence legal phenomenon. The interaction between the past and present emerging in historical studies is another factor which the researcher cannot afford to ignore.

A down-to-earth approach that the efficacy of law depends upon the power of enforcement employed by a sovereign through sanctions influenced positivist analytical scholars like Bentham and John Austin. 96 In designing a research work on the enforcement aspect of a particular law, a researcher can draw the support of positivist analytical thoughts and frame hypotheses on those lines. On the whole, various schools of law provide different angles of thinking about legal and social problems.

Law as a component of culture gains immense theoretical insights from the understanding of culture. According to Abid Hussain, ‘Culture is a sense of ultimate value possessed by a particular society as expressed in its collective institutions by its individual members in their dispositions, feelings and attitudes and manners as well as significant forms which they give to material objects.’ 97 The question of aiming and achieving perfection by eliminating cultural faults involves the issue of competence to author change, the role of society, state, and the intelligentsia in this task, and the method of effecting change using the inputs of knowledge and love.

The constructs of culture—language, ethnicity, and religion—need to be protected and nurtured by a co-existential policy of multiculturalism. The challenges that a multicultural society faces in a globalized world are many, and they are to be addressed by employing the norm of equal liberty of all. Culture has an impact upon family life, social practice, and education or the knowledge system. Simultaneously, culture is what we produce as a part of our living and thinking and doing. Family law is linked to culture as a part of it as well as influencing it. In any of the research problems touching upon culture, it is appropriate that theoretical formulation has an underpinning of cultural dimension of law, as it provides viable and socially relevant criteria.

Interdisciplinary approach is another source for hypothesis formulation. From the sister disciplines of social sciences such as sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, and psychology, the legal researcher can get valuable insight and rich theoretical visions. He or she can get several factual details from physical and natural sciences such as geology, geography, physics, energy science, biology, and ecology, which have implications for solving legal problems. The science of statistics is of great help in analysing and interpreting quantitative data. Ronald Dworkin feels that an ad hoc type of taking a dip in other disciplines is hardly satisfactory and that developing a competence for theorization within the related discipline with in-depth understanding of the subject is required. 98 He also recommends increased use of collaborative research where the legal researcher has the skill and strategies and mathematical techniques of social scientist and proceeds in research with well-formed questions. In assessing the deterrent effect of particular increase in punishment or in determining the impact of maternal mortality rate on abortion law, the state-of-the-art learning technique has its own importance, as per Dworkin. He observes that a good number of interdisciplinary researchers can be produced by qualitatively improving interdisciplinary legal education and by introduction of study of some law papers in the bachelor’s degree programme.

Regarding hypothesis inferred from factual data, it gets valuable inputs from both the deductive and inductive methods of reasoning. A researcher uses deductive reasoning when a certain single idea can be deduced from the complexities of observed facts whereas he or she employs induction when the process involves reasoning from particulars to a whole group of phenomena or situations. Inductive logic starts with a selective perception and goes ahead with a bottom-up approach. The above approach holds good even relating to case law–based hypotheses. Further, induction and deduction are inseparable aspects of reasoning and keep shifting each other mutually.

About the types of hypotheses, it is necessary to briefly point out that these consist of ( i ) null hypothesis, denoted by H 0 , and ( ii ) alternative hypothesis, denoted by H 1 . Banamali Mohanty and Santa Misra say, ‘The null hypothesis is a hypothesis of no difference. It states that in the general population, there is no change, no difference or no relationship.’ 99 For the sake of argument it will presume that an independent variable does not bring any change in the position of dependent variable. Legal systems introduce new laws and expect a pre-planned change to occur. For example, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and its amendments constitute an independent variable upon which the occurrence of dowry-related incidents take place. The latter is the dependent variable. H 0 will deny any change occurring owing to the legislation in the behaviour of people.

This is only a starting point for inquiry. Diametrically opposed to this proposition is the alternative hypothesis. According to Mohanty and Misra, ‘The alternative hypothesis states that there is a change, a difference or a relationship for the general population. In the context of an experiment, H 1 predicts that independent variable (treatment) will have an effect on the dependent variable.’ 100 In the example given above, H 1 may state that the legislation brings total change and eradicates the social evil of dowry. H 2 may state that along with legislation there should be education of public opinion favouring implementation of the law. Testing the hypothesis is a technical task with quantitative data analysis and interpretation. 101

The dichotomy of null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis is comparable to Wambaugh’s test of identifying the ratio decidendi in a judgment. According to this test, first one has to identify a supposed proposition which is believed to be the principle crucial for the decision of the case. Second, he has to reverse the proposition, and test whether with the reversed proposition the court would have arrived at the same or an opposite conclusion. If answer is the former (same result), the supposed proposition is not a ratio decidendi, and if the answer is the latter (opposite conclusion) the supposed proposition becomes ratio decidendi of the case. Null hypothesis initiates a discussion on the negative line of reasoning, similar to the Wambaugh test, and makes the finding strong. 102 The basic rule of criminal justice system that unless proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt, each accused person shall be presumed to be innocent has a null hypothesis in innocence.

Interdisciplinary Research in Law: Needs, Challenges, and Strategies

Law’s competence to shape human behaviour, group action, and functioning of public and private institutions in a democratic society embeds it in social processes and social action. Since they have economic, social, political, historical, psychological, philosophical, statistical, and technological dimensions, and law is intertwined with them, understanding of legal issues requires probing into those related matters. Ronald Dworkin considers that most legal doctrines are rooted in these aspects and legal research should inevitably address them. 103 ‘Law and economics’ is a significant discourse touching upon vital issues of factors of production (land, labour, capital, and enterprise), economic processes (production, distribution, and consumption) and ideologies (welfare, market efficiency, distributive justice, poverty eradication) that attracts varieties of discussion including cost-benefit analysis. The social structure (hierarchic features such as caste, patriarchy, cultural pluralism, and so on), social institutions (family, civil society, education system, and so on), and social movements shape the onward march of society. The dynamics of social transformation enter into law’s life. The level of political participation of people, whether vibrant or dormant, decides the fate of decision-making.

Political ideologies, institutions, and movements also mould the legal system. With good understanding of historical evolution of legal norms, background of legal institutions, and their relationship with society, present legal problems can be analysed better. Probing from the angle of psychology would unravel the nuances of behaviour of criminals, victims, and participants of judicial process. Statistics and quantitative analysis provide sharp pictures about the reality and enable formulation of appropriate inferences. How the legal system has facilitated and responded to technological developments, and with what consequences, is an issue that can be handled better by an interdisciplinary approach. While technology drives ahead civilization’s progress, humanizing its consequence through adherence to values becomes a responsibility of law. These interdisciplinary studies may be cross-disciplinary or multidisciplinary. Grafting of one with another is the former, while using multiple methods without grafting is the latter type.

Interdisciplinarity brings valuable non-legal perspectives into the discussion of legal problems and enables the researcher and readers to look from different angles. Since legal process and its functioning witness the operation of multiple forces and factors, a comprehensive knowledge becomes essential for resolving a problem at hand. For example, in evaluating the success and failure of land reforms law, economic, social, historical, statistical, and political study gives a holistic picture. Interdisciplinary approach enables verification of facts through cross-checking of data. Statistical analysis can verify the inferences based on economic and political study. Another advantage of the interdisciplinary approach is that the rich and philosophically sound principles of social science disciplines such as sociology, economics, political science, psychology, and history give valuable inputs for legal reasoning. In fact, the innovative idea of the basic structure doctrine in India was built by the judiciary by using materials from political science, history, and philosophy. In policy research, a dry discussion of legalistic measures does not help. Social sciences, because of their scholarly traditions and social concerns, inspire progressive policies in law too. Researchers in both doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research make use of interdisciplinary methods because of the above reasons.

Interdisciplinary research in law faces serious challenges. First, the researcher has to study the research method of the discipline from which he or she takes assistance. Getting a mastery on a method of sister discipline requires meticulous understanding of skills, discussion with scholars of the concerned discipline, and understanding of the way of its application. He or she has to perceive whether and how it is suitable and how it is to be applied in practice. Second, interface between the two or more disciplines in the matter of method asks for internalization and conforming to quality. According to Reza Banakar and Max Travers, the methodology of interdisciplinarity ‘guarantees a degree of quality control’ and ‘ensures the internalization of standards and values underlying any particular discipline by the newcomers to that discipline’. 104 Ensuring of quality and attempting at methodological innovation have to be done in a balanced manner.

Third, interdisciplinary research may have to find a new method which does not exist in the present disciplines but is compatible with those disciplines. Combination of methods to transcend the present state of art is required for the purpose. 105 Fourth, puritan mindset with regard to method of particular discipline should be set aside when interdisciplinary approach requires going beyond the present methods of the discipline. The researcher has to decide how much he or she has to borrow from a particular discipline.

In order to face the above challenges, establishing links with the scholars of sister disciplines, carefully understanding the skills of research in those disciplines, and innovating about methods are required. Keeping in mind the research questions and research objectives, the researcher has to plan the methodology. Rigid adherence to all the features of method of the sister discipline may be relaxed without compromising on quality.

Data Collection

Research proceeds successfully only with exhaustive collection of data generated from relevant and reliable sources. All the primary and secondary sources and points of view related to the research question should be brought to the process of analysis and exposition in a systematic manner. Since a detailed discussion about the method of data collection will be found in later chapters dealing with various types of research, which vary according to the research objectives and with the requirements of specific methods of research, elaboration of this aspect becomes superfluous here. However, certain comments need to be made about peculiarities of different research objectives and methods that have implications on data collection. Research for exploration of law will be focusing on finding the law in various sources including customs.

Philosophical research would collect data about the values, their different expositions, and factual basis for the values. Research for narration of evolution will probe into historical data and collect them from archives and other sources. Explanation-oriented research will be collecting data for analysis and interpretation. Evaluation of the impact and efficacy of law needs sociological data collected through fieldwork and quantitative study. Legal research for law reform would combine various facets of doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods and proceed with multi-method legal research. Interdisciplinary study calls for entry into and exploration of the areas of sister disciplines such as economics, sociology, ethics, political science, and psychology. Policy research will be looking more at social facts, broad constitutional guidance, and the way in which gaps are to be filled by getting inputs from emerging community aspirations.

The data collection tools vary with the methods of legal research. Doctrinal legal research flourishes with study of primary materials which speak what the law is and secondary materials which give clue on how it is understood or analysed. Collection of both the materials would be required, although a researcher’s estimation over primary materials become crucial. Data collection for comparative study goads the researcher to get materials from other jurisdictions. Today the task has become a bit easier with the internet facility. Since a legal doctrine has basis in foundational facts which can be gleaned from interdisciplinary study, the researcher has to collect relevant data from other sources. Non-doctrinal legal research relies on the study of society by using tools such as survey, observation, questionnaire, sample study, interview, case study, and ethnographic study. Each of the tools, whether going for unit analysis or community/class study, has its own distinct features. Non-doctrinal legal research would be producing qualitative and quantitative data.

Analysis and interpretation of data elevates the levels of thoughts and findings and falsifies the proposition that the stream can never rise above the source. Appropriate classification of data and meticulous noting of tendencies and drawing inferences from the same help in the process of analysis and arrive at research findings. Inductive and deductive reasoning, application of analogies, and exposition of coherent propositions in the form of legal doctrines build up the theme of the work. The hypotheses stated earlier or research questions at the inception are to be answered in giving the research findings. A comprehensive understanding of all the data and responses to all the arguments on various issues shall be of great help to the researcher. Report writing and conclusion drawing is a serious mental exercise in integrating the implications of facts, thoughts, and legal principles. Since a detailed discussion of these aspects will be undertaken in subsequent chapters, the discussion on theme building can be tentatively concluded here with a note that the stream of thought in legal research must be systematized by focusing on a central theme and a major line of argument.

Rajkumari Agrawala , ‘Indian Legal Research: An Evolutionary and Perspective Analysis’ in S.K. Verma and Afzal Wani (eds), Legal Research and Methodology (2nd edn, Indian Law Institute, 2001), 138 .

Richard Race , ‘Research Question’ in Neil J. Salkind (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Research Design (vol. 3, SAGE Publications, 2010), 1261–3 .

F.L. Whitney , The Elements of Research (rev. edn, Prentice-Hall, 1948), 70–1 . However, in practice, researchers generally leave it to a supervisor to suggest a problem, according to S.L. Sharma in ‘Identification and Formulation of Research Problem’ in Verma and Wani (n 1 ), 301–8, 302.

‘Proper supervision is not spoon feeding, it is feeding the frame,’ notes B.A. Wortley in ‘Some Reflections on Legal Research’ in Verma and Wani (n 1 ), 1–15, 8–10.

H.H. Abelson , The Art of Educational Research (World Book Co., 1933), 18 , cited in Whitney (n 3 ), 72.

Abelson (n 5 ).

List of researchable topics for Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) grants may provide hints about choice of research problem.

If the researcher is looking for funds for research, an internet search will definitely help.

Sharma (n 3 ), 303.

David R. Thomas and Ian D. Hodges , Designing and Managing your Research Project (SAGE Publications, 2010), 74–6 .

E.P. Ellinger and K.J. Keith, ‘Legal Research: Techniques and Ideas’ in Verma and Wani (n 1 ), 219–41, 234–7.

Amartya Sen , ‘Learning from One Another’, The Hindu (14 January 2015) < https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/learning-from-one-another/article6785725.ece > accessed 21 February 2019 .

Michael Pendleton , ‘Non-empirical Discovery in Legal Scholarship: Choosing, Researching and Writing a Traditional Scholarly Article’ in Mike McConville and Wing Hong Chui , Research Methods for Law (Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 159–80, 163 .

Terry Hutchinson , Researching and Writing in Law (Law Book Co., 2002), 105 .

Hutchinson (n 14 ), 111. Hutchinson refers to Edward de Bono’s ‘Thinking Hats’, which the researcher can imaginatively use by looking from the angle of emotion, pessimism, optimism, and neutrality.

J.C. Almack , Research and Thesis Writing (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1930), 48 , cited in Whitney (n 3 ), 72.

W.A. McCall , How to Experiment in Education (Macmillan Co., 1923), 7–8 , cited in Whitney (n 3 ), 73.

Sharma (n 3 ), 303. The way in which the flow of tearful sympathy from poet-sage Valmiki towards a bird dying as the victim of a hunter’s arrow opened up the story in Ramayana illustrates the importance of empathizing with the sufferer as the trigger of thinking.

For a discussion on the criteria of personal suitability and social value, see Whitney (n 3 ), 86–7.

Bob Hancke , Intelligent Research Design (Oxford University Press, 2009), 28–33 .

Sharma (n 3 ), 305.

Sharma (n 3 ).

R.K. Merton , ‘Notes on Problem Finding in Sociology’ in R.K. Merton et al., Sociology Today: Problems and Prospects (Basic Books, 1959) , cited in Sharma (n 3 ), 306; also see Norman Blaikie , Designing Social Research (Polity Press, 2000), 147 .

P. Ishwara Bhat , Fundamental Rights: A Study of Their Interrelationship (Eastern Law House, 2004) .

Blaikie (n 23 ), 13–15.

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 49.

Blaikie (n 23 ), 15–21.

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 71.

R. Ackoff , The Design of Social Research (University of Chicago Press, 1953), 5 , cited in Blaikie (n 23 ), 21.

Victor S. D’Souza, ‘Designs of Study in Empirical Research’ in Verma and Wani (n 1 ), 309–17.

F.N. Kerlinger and E.J. Pedhazur , Multiple Regression in Behavioural Research (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973), 300 , cited in Blaikie (n 23 ).

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 62.

David de Vaus , Research Design in Social Research (SAGE Publications, 2001), 8 .

P.M. Bakshi, ‘Legal Research and Law Reform’ in Verma and Wani (n 1 ), 111.

Hancke (n 20 ), 22.

While ‘Indian Supreme Court Judges: A Portrait’ would be descriptive and too general, ‘Kinship in Professional Relation: A Study of District Lawyers of X District’ is an analytical title. See Sharma (n 3 ), 305–6.

Blaikie (n 23 ), 22–3.

Bruce R. DeForge, ‘Research Design Principles’ in Salkind (n 2 ), 1253–8; see also Race (n 2 ). Variables are categories that have at least two distinct values that differ across research subjects. For example, the measure of poverty, ill-health, and employment vary from person to person or community to community, and because of differential attributes, they can be called variables. See J. Scott Brown, ‘Variables’ in Salkind (n 2 ), 1604–6.

P. Ishwara Bhat , Non Profit Voluntary Organisations Law (Eastern Book Co., 2018), 27 .

DeForge (n 40 ), 1254.

Blaikie (n 23 ), 27–30.

Rogerio M. Pinto, ‘Mixed Method Design’ in Salkind (n 2 ), 813–22.

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 105. According to A. Fink, literature review is ‘a systematic, explicit and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners’, see A. Fink , Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper (2nd edn, SAGE Publications, 2005), 3 .

Jill K. Jesson , Ledia Matheson , and Lora M. Lacey , Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Technique (SAGE Publications, 2001), 9 .

For a discussion, see Blaikie (n 23 ), 71.

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 105.

Robert Millikan , Evolution in Science and Religion (Yale University Press, 1929), 166 .

Noel A. Card, ‘Literature Review’ in Salkind (n 2 ), 725–8, 725–6.

Harris Cooper , Synthesizing Research : A Guide for Literature Review (3rd edn, SAGE Publications, 1998) , cited in Card (n 50 ), 727–8.

On preparing a working bibliography, see Whitney (n 3 ), 98–100.

Databases such as SCC Online, AIR, Manupatra, Westlaw, Jstor, and so on.

Thomas and Hodges (n 10 ), 117.

Whitney (n 3 ), 99.

Ronald Dworkin , ‘Legal Research’, (1973) 102(2), Daedalus , 53–64, 60–3 .

For some hints about this exercise, see Whitney (n 3 ), 100–3.

Card (n 50 ), 727.

Jie Chen, Neal Kingston, Gail Tiemann, and Fei Gu, ‘Hypothesis’ in Salkind (n 2 ), 585–7, 587.

William J. Goode and Paul K. Hatt , Methods in Social Research (McGraw Hill, 1952), 68–72 .

Pauline V. Young , Scientific Social Surveys and Research (4th edn, Prentice Hall, 1996), 104 .

Oliver Wendell Holmes , The Common Law (Little, Brown and Company, 1951), 1 .

Young (n 61 ), 101.

Dworkin (n 56 ); Donoghue v Stevenson 1932 AC 562 .

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (trans. J.G. Dawson), Article 4 cited in M.D.A. Freeman , Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2008), 138–42) .

Immanuel Kant , Philosophy of Law: An Exposition of Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence as the Science of Rights (trans. William Hastie , T & T Clark, 1887) cited in R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 475–6 .

M.D.A. Freedman , Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet and Maxwell, 2011), 105–12 discussing the views of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jaques Rousseau.

Rudolf Stammler , The Theory of Justice (trans. Isaac Husik , Macmillan, 1925) cited in R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 479–80 .

John Rawls , A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, [1971] 1999), 4, 52–6 .

Clarence Morris , The Justification of Law (University of Pennsylvania, 1970) cited in R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 484–5 .

John Finnis , Natural Law and Natural Rights (2nd edn, Clarendon Press, 1980), 84–94 cited in M.D.A. Freeman , Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2008), 171 .

Bhat (n 24 ).

Marc Galanter , Competing Equalities: Law and the Backward Classes in India (Oxford University Press, 1984) .

Rajeev Dhavan , Supreme Court of India: A Socio-legal Critique of Its Juristic Techniques (N.M. Tripathi, 1978) .

G.B. Reddy , Judicial Activism in India (2nd edn, Gogia Law House, 2013), 25 .

Manoranjan Kumar , ‘Treaty Making Power: A Critical and Comparative Study with reference to USA, Australia and India’, (2014, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to Chanakya National Law University, guided by Professor A. Lakshminath) .

T. Lakshmi Narayana , ‘Enforcement of Rights of Victims under International Law with Special Reference to International Criminal Tribunals’, (2013, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to JNU, 2013, guided by Professor B.S. Chimni) .

Y.S.R. Murthy , ‘Impact of Terrorism on Human Rights: Role of the United Nations Human Rights Council’, (2013, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to T.N. Dr Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, guided by Professor T.S.N. Sastry) .

Paromita Chattoraj , ‘Offence of Rape: Dilemmas of Governance through Criminal Law Sanctions’, (2013, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to KIIT Law School, guided by Professor V.D. Sebastian) .

Karl Marx , A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (Progress Publishers, 1859) , Preface; Frederich Engels , ‘The Housing Question’, pamphlet published in 1887, available in Marx and Engels, Selected Works , vol. III (Progress Publishers, 1970), 365–6 cited in M.D.A. Freeman , Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2008), 1169 .

Karl Marx , The Critique of the Gotha Program (Wildside Press, 1875) .

Marc Galanter , ‘Why the Haves Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change’, (1974) 9 (1), Law and Society Review , 95–160 .

P. Thulasidhass , ‘The International Law of Foreign Investment: Principles and Practices’, (2013, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to JNU, guided by Professor B.S. Chimni) .

Shyamala D. , ‘Role of ADR in the Resolution of Domain Name-Trademark Conflicts’, (2014, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to the University of Mysore, guided by Professor P. Ishwara Bhat) .

Aradhana Nair , ‘Protection of Indian Traditional Knowledge: Food and Medicines’, (2014, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to Symbiosis International University, Pune, guided by Professor V.N. Paranjape) .

V. Nagaraj , ‘Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Industrial Disputes Act in the Post-liberalization Era’, (2002, Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to the University of Mysore, guided by Professor P. Ishwara Bhat) .

Bad man is a person prone to commit an offence or violate a law. His conjecture about the possible action under law is meant by the word guess. Oliver Wendell Holmes , ‘The Path of the Law’ (1897) 10(8), Harvard Law Review , 457–77, 457 .

Holmes (n 87 ); Benjamin Cardozo , The Nature of the Judicial Process (Yale University Press, 1921) ; Julius Stone , Legal System and Lawyer’s Reasoning (Stanford University Press, 1968) ; Rupert Cross and J.W. Harris , Precedent in English Law (Clarendon Press, 1991) .

‘Legal scholarship must marshal the insight available from the court’s own decisions and assist in a balanced evaluation of the court’s role in protecting cherished values like certainty, predictability and continuity in the law and also in promoting the much needed law reform that judiciary may profitably 131undertake without doing violence to the institutional and political ideologies’, A. Lakshminath , Precedent in Indian Law (2nd edn, Eastern Book Co., 2005), 30 .

Jeremy Bentham , Theory of Legislation (ed. Upendra Baxi , LexisNexis, 2010) .

Roscoe Pound , Outlines of Lectures on Jurisprudence (5th edn, Cambridge University Press, [1920] 1943) cited in M.D.A. Freeman , Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2008), 897–9 ; R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 430–6 .

Leon Deguit , ‘The Law and the State’, 31(1) Harvard Law Review , 1–185 ; also see R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 436–9 .

Rudolf von Ihering , Law as a Means to an End (Boston Book Co., 1931) ; also see R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 423–5 .

Eugen Ehrlich , Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law (trans. Walter L. Moll , Harvard University Press, 1936) ; also see R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 425–7 .

Friedrich Karl von Savgny , Introduction to The System of Modern Roman Law , vol. I (trans. William Holloway , Higginbothams, 1867) ; Friedrich Karl von Savgny , ‘On the Vocation of Our Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence’ (trans. Abraham Hayward , Littlewood Co., 1831) cited in R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 376–84 .

John Austin , The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (ed. Wilfred E. Rumble , Cambridge University Press, 1995) ; H.L.A. Hart , The Concept of Law (3rd edn, Oxford University Press) cited in R.W.M. Dias , Jurisprudence (5th edn, Aditya Books, 1994), 343–55 .

Abid Hussain , The National Culture of India (National Book Trust, 1994), 3 .

Ronald Dworkin , ‘Legal Research’, (1973) 102(2), Daedalus , 53–64 .

Banamali Mohanty and Santa Misra , Statistics for Behavioural and Social Sciences (SAGE Publications, 2016), 253 .

Mohanty and Misra (n 80 ).

See Chapter 13 of this volume.

Eugene Wambaugh, Study of Cases , cited in P.J. Fitzgerald , Salmond’s Jurisprudence (12th edn, Universal Law Publishing Co., 2014), 180 .

Ronald Dworkin , ‘Legal Research,’ (1973) 102(2) Daedalus , 53–64 .

Reza Banakar and Max Travers , ‘Law, Sociology and Method’ in Reza Banakar and Max Travers (eds), Theory and Method in Socio-legal Research (Hart Publishing, 2005), 1–25, 4 .

Banakar and Travers (n 85 ), 5.

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What Is A Research (Scientific) Hypothesis? A plain-language explainer + examples

By:  Derek Jansen (MBA)  | Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

If you’re new to the world of research, or it’s your first time writing a dissertation or thesis, you’re probably noticing that the words “research hypothesis” and “scientific hypothesis” are used quite a bit, and you’re wondering what they mean in a research context .

“Hypothesis” is one of those words that people use loosely, thinking they understand what it means. However, it has a very specific meaning within academic research. So, it’s important to understand the exact meaning before you start hypothesizing. 

Research Hypothesis 101

• What is a hypothesis ?
• What is a research hypothesis (scientific hypothesis)?
• Requirements for a research hypothesis
• Definition of a research hypothesis
• The null hypothesis

What is a hypothesis?

Let’s start with the general definition of a hypothesis (not a research hypothesis or scientific hypothesis), according to the Cambridge Dictionary:

Hypothesis: an idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved.

In other words, it’s a statement that provides an explanation for why or how something works, based on facts (or some reasonable assumptions), but that has not yet been specifically tested . For example, a hypothesis might look something like this:

Hypothesis: sleep impacts academic performance.

This statement predicts that academic performance will be influenced by the amount and/or quality of sleep a student engages in – sounds reasonable, right? It’s based on reasonable assumptions , underpinned by what we currently know about sleep and health (from the existing literature). So, loosely speaking, we could call it a hypothesis, at least by the dictionary definition.

But that’s not good enough…

Unfortunately, that’s not quite sophisticated enough to describe a research hypothesis (also sometimes called a scientific hypothesis), and it wouldn’t be acceptable in a dissertation, thesis or research paper . In the world of academic research, a statement needs a few more criteria to constitute a true research hypothesis .

What is a research hypothesis?

A research hypothesis (also called a scientific hypothesis) is a statement about the expected outcome of a study (for example, a dissertation or thesis). To constitute a quality hypothesis, the statement needs to have three attributes – specificity , clarity and testability .

Let’s take a look at these more closely.

Need a helping hand?

Hypothesis Essential #1: Specificity & Clarity

A good research hypothesis needs to be extremely clear and articulate about both what’ s being assessed (who or what variables are involved ) and the expected outcome (for example, a difference between groups, a relationship between variables, etc.).

Let’s stick with our sleepy students example and look at how this statement could be more specific and clear.

Hypothesis: Students who sleep at least 8 hours per night will, on average, achieve higher grades in standardised tests than students who sleep less than 8 hours a night.

As you can see, the statement is very specific as it identifies the variables involved (sleep hours and test grades), the parties involved (two groups of students), as well as the predicted relationship type (a positive relationship). There’s no ambiguity or uncertainty about who or what is involved in the statement, and the expected outcome is clear.

Contrast that to the original hypothesis we looked at – “Sleep impacts academic performance” – and you can see the difference. “Sleep” and “academic performance” are both comparatively vague , and there’s no indication of what the expected relationship direction is (more sleep or less sleep). As you can see, specificity and clarity are key.

Hypothesis Essential #2: Testability (Provability)

A statement must be testable to qualify as a research hypothesis. In other words, there needs to be a way to prove (or disprove) the statement. If it’s not testable, it’s not a hypothesis – simple as that.

For example, consider the hypothesis we mentioned earlier:

Hypothesis: Students who sleep at least 8 hours per night will, on average, achieve higher grades in standardised tests than students who sleep less than 8 hours a night.  

We could test this statement by undertaking a quantitative study involving two groups of students, one that gets 8 or more hours of sleep per night for a fixed period, and one that gets less. We could then compare the standardised test results for both groups to see if there’s a statistically significant difference. 

Again, if you compare this to the original hypothesis we looked at – “Sleep impacts academic performance” – you can see that it would be quite difficult to test that statement, primarily because it isn’t specific enough. How much sleep? By who? What type of academic performance?

So, remember the mantra – if you can’t test it, it’s not a hypothesis 🙂

Defining A Research Hypothesis

You’re still with us? Great! Let’s recap and pin down a clear definition of a hypothesis.

A research hypothesis (or scientific hypothesis) is a statement about an expected relationship between variables, or explanation of an occurrence, that is clear, specific and testable.

So, when you write up hypotheses for your dissertation or thesis, make sure that they meet all these criteria. If you do, you’ll not only have rock-solid hypotheses but you’ll also ensure a clear focus for your entire research project.

What about the null hypothesis?

You may have also heard the terms null hypothesis , alternative hypothesis, or H-zero thrown around. At a simple level, the null hypothesis is the counter-proposal to the original hypothesis.

For example, if the hypothesis predicts that there is a relationship between two variables (for example, sleep and academic performance), the null hypothesis would predict that there is no relationship between those variables.

At a more technical level, the null hypothesis proposes that no statistical significance exists in a set of given observations and that any differences are due to chance alone.

And there you have it – hypotheses in a nutshell. 

If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to help you. If you need hands-on help developing and testing your hypotheses, consider our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through the research journey.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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16 Comments

Very useful information. I benefit more from getting more information in this regard.

Very great insight,educative and informative. Please give meet deep critics on many research data of public international Law like human rights, environment, natural resources, law of the sea etc

In a book I read a distinction is made between null, research, and alternative hypothesis. As far as I understand, alternative and research hypotheses are the same. Can you please elaborate? Best Afshin

This is a self explanatory, easy going site. I will recommend this to my friends and colleagues.

Very good definition. How can I cite your definition in my thesis? Thank you. Is nul hypothesis compulsory in a research?

It’s a counter-proposal to be proven as a rejection

Please what is the difference between alternate hypothesis and research hypothesis?

It is a very good explanation. However, it limits hypotheses to statistically tasteable ideas. What about for qualitative researches or other researches that involve quantitative data that don’t need statistical tests?

In qualitative research, one typically uses propositions, not hypotheses.

could you please elaborate it more

I’ve benefited greatly from these notes, thank you.

This is very helpful

well articulated ideas are presented here, thank you for being reliable sources of information

Excellent. Thanks for being clear and sound about the research methodology and hypothesis (quantitative research)

I have only a simple question regarding the null hypothesis. – Is the null hypothesis (Ho) known as the reversible hypothesis of the alternative hypothesis (H1? – How to test it in academic research?

this is very important note help me much more

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Legal Research Methodology: Types And Approaches of Legal Research

Legal research methodologies explore unsettled legal questions, acquire and analyze relevant information, and apply findings to solve legal problems.

Let’s understand the definition of legal research methodologies and the types and approaches to Legal research methodologies.

Understand Legal Research Methodology

What is legal research methodology.

Legal research methodologies serve three main functions, exploring a legal problem, critically describing facts and legislation, and explaining or interpreting legal issues and concepts.

Why is a methodology needed in the first place?

The methodology is a means of inquiry to achieve these purposes in a meaningful way .

In legal research, the methodology;

• is a systematic inquiry that provides information to guide legal research,
• is the trained and scientific investigation of the principles and facts of any subject,
• helps the readers understand the research methods to discover the truth and evaluate the results’ validity,
• helps the researchers follow a consistent logic in research and prepare them to meet possible challenges,
• is also an important way to jam reliable and valid knowledge and explore the relationship between theory and practice.

Understanding research methods will help students conduct and write up their research monographs, dissertations, or theses systematically.

However, research methodology is different from research methods. ‘Research method’ usually implies all methods and techniques used to collect and process the data.

Thus, the method is a tool or technique such as a qualitative or quantitative method. It also includes interviews, case studies, or surveys.

On the other hand, research methodology refers to the body of methods that guide thinking within a specific field of study.

A methodology is a justification or rationale for the research approach and is concerned with the general strategy or approach of undertaking research.

Legal research methodology is a must.

It is vital for a researcher to know the research methodology and understand the underlying methodologies’ assumptions.

Researchers also need to know the criteria by which they can decide that certain methodologies will apply to certain problems.

Research methodology has been defined as the means of acquiring scientific knowledge. It has also been defined as a means to gather information and data to achieve a valid outcome.

Legal research methodology is simply a way of addressing and exploring unsettled legal questions or issues.

Legal research methodologies are techniques by which one acquires legally relevant information, analyzes, interprets, and applies them to resolve issues and present the findings.

Thus, legal research methodology is a scientific and systematic way to solve any legal question.

Legal research methodology also refers to rules of interpretation of legal problems and issues. It is a systematic effort to make an argument to arrive at a true or accurate account of the subject matter under consideration.

The researcher should explain properly why he uses a particular method to evaluate research results by the researcher himself or others. Adopting a particular methodology should stem from the research objective and purpose.

Types of Legal Research

Two types of Legal research are;

• Qualitative Research for Legal Research.
• Quantitative Research for Legal Research.

The main difference between qualitative and quantitative legal research is that; qualitative legal research is pure and applied research, concerned with the analysis of theories. Whereas quantitative legal research is concerned with testing the theories in the real world.

Depending upon the nature of the research question, legal research is also classified as descriptive and exploratory one.

Descriptive research attempts to describe a situation, problem, phenomenon, or behavior systematically. A description is concerned with making complicated things understandable and simple.

Exploratory research is undertaken to explore areas about which the researcher has little or no knowledge . It involves findings the reason for things, events and situations, showing why and how they have come to be what they are. Exploratory research enables the researcher to formulate problems for more in-depth study, develop hypotheses, and find the best solution.

Another popular distinction is between pure doctrinal research and non-doctrinal or empirical research.

While the former is theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge without a specific application, the latter is original work undertaken to acquire new knowledge with a specific practical application in view.

Doctrinal legal research is concerned with the analysis of legal theories, concepts, rules, and principles.

Most doctrinal legal research is based on the ‘black-letter law’ approach, which focuses on the knowledge of law found in the legal texts, legal theories, statutes, and court judgments with ‘little or no reference to the world outside the law.’

The doctrinal or ‘black-letter’ legal research aims to explain, systemize, and clarify the law on any particular topic by a distinctive mode of analysis.

In recent times, pure doctrinal legal research has been criticized for its rigidity, narrower scope, and inflexibility in addressing diverse contexts m which legal issues or situations arise and operate.

As a result, empirical or inter-disciplinary legal research emerged as a distinct type of legal scholarship in the law schools of western countries to study law in the broader social and political contexts.

This empirical and interdisciplinary legal research employs various social science and humanities methods. According to Epstein and King,

What makes research empirical is that it is based on observations of the world, in other words, data, which is just a term for facts about the world.

These facts may be historical or contemporary or based on legislation or case law, the results of interviews or surveys , or the outcomes of secondary archival research or primary data collection .

Another important classification is between qualitative and quantitative research.

Qualitative Research for Legal Research

Qualitative research is concerned with the explanation, interpretation, and understanding of phenomena or issues, or things. It relies primarily on human perception and understanding. It concerns the subjective assessment of the social or legal problem, situation, and attitude.

Qualitative research is critical in the behavioral sciences, where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior. A qualitative approach is concerned with the subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions, and behavior.

Quantitative research offers:

• richly descriptive reports of individual perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, views, and feelings,
• the meanings and interpretations are given to events and things, as well as their behavior;
• it displays how these are put together, more or less coherently and consciously,
• into frameworks that make sense of their experiences; and
• illuminates the motivations which connect attitudes and behavior, the discontinuities, or
• even contradictions between attitudes and behavior, or
• how conflicting attitudes and motivations are resolved in particular choices made.

Qualitative research is related to the analysis of some abstract idea, doctrine, or theory. It is generally used to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.

In qualitative research, researchers use analytical techniques and their views on the subject matter in question.

Qualitative research varifies the old established principles of laws. It may lead to discovering a new theory, refinement, or interpretation of an existing theory, principles, or legal issues.

On the other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory.

Qualitative research involves more explicit judgment, interpretation, or critical evaluation of a problem.

As far as legal study is concerned, the qualitative method is applied to analyze legal propositions or legal theories or doctrines and explore existing statutory propositions and cases in light of propositions or doctrines.

Qualitative research of law involves studying general theoretical questions about the nature of laws and legal systems, the relationship of law to justice and morality , and problems of application of law in a given society.

The main advantage of the qualitative method is that qualitative analysis draws on the interpretive skills of the researcher and opens up the possibility of more than one explanation being valid.

The main criticism of qualitative research is that it is too impressionistic and subjective. Qualitative findings rely too much on the researcher’s subjective assessment of views about what is significant.

The qualitative research findings tend to be open-ended, which is difficult to generalize: Many qualitative research works are doctrinal. Observation, interviewing, case study, examination, and analysis are the most common method of qualitative research.

Quantitative Research for Legal Research

Quantitative research for legal research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. It consists of counting how frequently things happen. It applies to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity. It is also known as the statistical method.

Because in quantitative research, researchers use an array of statistical methods and generalizations to determine the meaning of data.

It has been the dominant strategy for conducting socio-legal research. Quantitative methods often test or verify existing theories or hypotheses.

Quantitative research involves finding a solution to a real-life problem requiring an action or policy decision.

Quantitative research also tests many variables through the generation of primary data. The generalization process from sample to a population is an example of quantitative instead of qualitative research methodology.

Quantitative research can contribute new evidence, challenge old theories, and help conceptual clarification.

Usually, the quantitative approach involves generating data in quantitative form, which can be subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis formally and rigidly. Quantification can make it easier to aggregate, compare and summarise data.

Data can be collected from questionnaire surveys, fact-finding inquiries, and interviews. Data analysis is one of the important components of quantitative research.

The quantitative method is also sometimes termed an empirical approach as data are collected to test the hypothesis or examine the propositions or interpretations of findings.

Advantages of the Quantitative Legal Research Methods

• First, quantitative data are gathered by various forms of statistical techniques based on the principles of mathematics and probability. The analysis appears to be based on objective laws rather than the researcher’s values.
• Second, statistical tests of significance give researchers additional credibility in terms of their interpretations and their confidence in their findings.
• Third, quantitative data analysis provides a solid foundation for description and analysis.
• Fourth, large volumes of quantitative data can be analyzed relatively quickly, provided adequate preparation and planning have occurred in advance.
• Finally, tables and charts effectively organize quantitative data and communicate the findings to others.

The quantitative research method supplements traditional legal research to investigate the complexities of the law, legal actors, and legal activities.

Quantitative legal research is mostly applicable for conducting non-doctrinal, empirical, and socio-legal research . Objectivity remains the main aspect of quantitative research.

A set of rules or procedures should be followed in quantitative research, even though qualitative research tends to be more flexible.

While the researcher’s values and bias influence qualitative research, quantitative research seeks to report the findings objectively, and the role of the researcher is neutral.

Which One is Better – Quantitative or Qualitative Legal Research Methods?

To some extent, it depends on the training of the researcher and the nature of the research questions. But choosing one method in exclusion of others may be counterproductive for advancing legal scholarship.

Rather blending both quantitative and qualitative approaches can be the best way to accomplish the objectives of research work.

It is generally accepted that using more than one method strengthens the validity and credibility of the research.

5 Approaches to Legal Research

Legal research methodology is not particularly different from the research methodology used in other disciplines.

Nonetheless, it has some special attributes regarding source materials and ways of approaching the problems.

Researchers should be clear about the methodology and reasons for choosing a particular methodology.

Effective legal research is hardly possible without a proper understanding of research methodology . A researcher should justify the important methodological choices in their work.

Legal research may be of combination of methods for interpreting and applying legally relevant information. There are no single or universal approaches to legal research methodologies.

There are several approaches to research methodology , such as analytical, inter-disciplinary, comparative, and historical.

A particular type of methodology depends considerably upon the research question formulated and the sources of materials chosen.

Analytical Approach to Legal Research

Interdisciplinary approach to legal research, socio-legal approach to legal research, comparative approach to legal research, historical approach to legal research.

An analytical method is the most important and widely used in legal research. The analysis involves an explanation of the cause and effect of complex phenomena.

Analytical skill is crucial for any legal researcher. The analytical approach requires logical reasoning and interpreting laws to conclude .

Since laws are written in abstract and general terms by their nature, it is the researchers’ and judges’ task to apply those general rules to concrete factual circumstances, for which they apply logic and common sense to analyze and interpret the words in the law.

In most cases, the analytical approach deals with one or more legal concepts or legal theories.

Analytical research uses interpretive methods to examine cases, statutes, and other forms of law to seek out, construct, or reconstruct rules and principles.

An analytical approach is sometimes viewed as doctrinal research.

Doctrinal research of law provides a systematic exposition of the rules governing a particular legal category, analyses the relationship between the rules, explains areas of difficulty, and predicts future developments.

The sources of law have been the primary materials, law doctrines, case law, and legislation. The legal research is largely confined to an analysis of legal doctrine .

The salient characteristic of the analytical approach is its emphasis on the autonomy of law as an independent discipline or science.

Thus, the analytical approach of legal research can lead to ‘close reasoning.’

The analytical method serves the fundamental object of giving effect to the terms of a legislative instrument.

Analytical research is applied to dissect the terms of a provision, draw inferences from them, and apply the conclusions to resolve legal questions.

The most relevant aspects of the analytical approach are:

• what did the law-maker intend to achieve with the legislation under consideration?
• What is the underlying policy rationale of a piece of legislation?

In the analytical approach, the researcher should highlight the positive aspect of the law, e.g., what a legal situation is, and its normative aspect, e.g., what a legal situation should be.

Thus, it not only describes facts and circumstances but also defines parameters and interprets the facts. It involves applying critical judgment and developing one’s view of the situation.

The normative analysis concerns rational criticism and evaluation of legal doctrines and rules. Such judicial interpretation and process should only be a logical application of existing rules of law .

On the other hand, the positivistic approach holds that the conception of law is a coherent and complete system.

It implies a concerted effort to integrate disciplinary insights and apply the integrated insight to the study of problems.

The interdisciplinary approach of legal research advances the proposition that legal research ought not to content itself with the strictly legal but should also explore the interface between law and the other disciplines.

It integrates disciplines such as history, political science, economics and philosophy, and even different methodologies.

The interdisciplinary approach is distinguished from a multidisciplinary approach, which juxtaposes several disciplines without any attempt to integrate or synthesize aspects of their knowledge and perspectives.

The interdisciplinary approach requires looking at various aspects of the subject and viewing it from more than one perspective.

The interdisciplinary approach suggests the accommodation of sociology of law, economics and law, and law and technology within a single discourse to integrate and establish communicative links between disciplines.

The objective of interdisciplinary research is to combine knowledge, skills, and forms of research experience from two or several disciplines to transcend some of the theoretical and methodological limitations of the discipline in question and create a basis for developing a new form of analysis.

This is evident from integration because legal researchers and lawyers need to look at the law from a much broader angle than previously.

Inter-disciplinary research is “research designed to secure a deeper understanding of law as a social phenomenon, including research for the historical, philosophical, linguistic, economic, social or political implications of the law.”

On the other hand, it also seeks to evaluate the influence of other disciplines on legal scholarship. An interdisciplinary approach often produces results relevant to more than one discipline.

This interrelationship of disciplines is often reflected because many reputed law schools have designed their curriculum to include other subjects to explain a problem coherently and logically.

The interdisciplinary approach also suggests that social science methodologies and information are integrated into legal discourse.

The interdisciplinary approach as the interface of law and social science dates back to the Realist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. That movement highlighted the differences between ‘law in the books’ and ‘law in action.’

A sociological approach to law is one of the most characteristic features of modem jurisprudence—the socio-legal approach views law as a means of social control and change.

According to this approach, the law is essentially a social phenomenon.

The sociology of law seeks to explain the nature o law in terms of the empirical conditions within which doctrines and institutions exist in particular societies or social conditions.

Socio-legal research uses the theories and methods of social science to explore the operation of law, legal processes, and legal institutions.

The sociological approach tells us that law is a social phenomenon and works in a social setting instead of a textual approach.

According to the socio-legal approach, analysis of law is directly linked to the analysis of the social situation to which the law applies and should be put into the perspective of that situation.

It contrasts with the textual or ‘ black letter law ‘ approach, which emphasizes the text’s literal meaning. It calls for going beyond the ‘black letter law and investigating the social milieu against which law is enacted and applied.

On the relationship between law and sociology, Roger Cotterrell wrote succinctly.

Both law and sociology are concerned with the whole range of significant forms of social relationships.

And in practice, the criteria determining which relationships are significant are often similar, deriving from the same cultural assumptions or conceptions of policy relevance.

Furthermore, both legal and sociological inquiries typically seek to view these phenomena as part of, or potentially part of, an integrated social structure.

Thus, law and sociology share a fundamentally similar basic subject matter despite their radical differences in method and outlook.

Law is the practical craft of systematic control of social relations and institutions.

Sociology is the scientific enterprise that seeks systematic knowledge of them.

The socio-legal approach helps researchers to realize a closer understanding of the policy objectives of any legal rule.

The sociological views law as an emanation of social elements and depends not on state authority but on social compulsion.

The socio-legal research assesses the impact of legal doctrines upon society.

The sociological approach tries to investigate through empirical data how law and legal institutions affect human attitudes and what impact they create on society; assess the suitability of legal institutions to the needs of society.

It aims to understand legal and social phenomena, whereas the main concern of the traditional approach to jurisprudence is to undertake analytical-linguistic studies.

Using the law as an instrument of government policy requires understanding the socio-economic context in which the law works and what effects are likely to happen.

In socio-legal research, the law is considered one of the social policy tools.

A wide range of strategies is used in socio-legal research, from the statistical analysis of the survey to the interview analysis.

By using these strategies, the socio-legal approach addresses the following questions:

• what are the effects of law and the legal order on the social order?
• What are the effects of the social order on the legal order?
• What are the effects of the law on attitude, behavior, institutions, and organizations in society, maintenance, and change of society?
• What are the effects of attitudes, maintenance, behavior, institutions, and organizations in society, maintenance, and change of society on the law?

Each legal system has its history, fundamental principles and procedures, and forms of legal publication sources.

But in this globalized and interdependent world-the study of the law of other countries is assuming greater significance.

The law of foreign countries is increasingly becoming relevant in national court proceedings involving international transactions.

Interaction between various legal systems is sometimes described as a transnational legal system. The comparative method is advantageous for understanding the transnational legal system.

The comparative approach as a study of legal systems by comp comparison has assumed wider significance due to the ongoing globalization process.

With the growth of international and regional legal orders, understanding the forms and methods of comparative legal study has become essential to all those wishing to understand and engage in current legal debates.

Even one needs a comparative method to understand the law within one’s own country. The comparative method offers how the differences between the law of diverse countries and systems are analyzed.

In this way, a comparative study is appreciated for its benefit to the national legal system.

The comparative method aims to harmonize but not unify the world’s different laws and legal cultures.

Because often, the comparative approach may involve a comparison of two or more national legal systems.

But undoubtedly, comparative study helps to harmonize the laws of different countries.

In this sense, it has an international dimension.

The comparative approach takes the insider’s view on the legal systems studied and helps understand the institutional structure of concepts, thinking, and organizations of the systems in question.

The comparative method denotes different ways of addressing the same issue and finding differences. The comparison may give a fuller view of the subject under investigation.

However, the objective of the comparative method is not to draw mere similarities and dissimilarities.

Instead, it can enable a researcher to suggest a suitable solution to legal problems in light of a set of rules ideal for a given society.

The comparative method may confer the following 3 advantages:

• comparative research can throw doubts on the usefulness or firmly entrenched views;
• it may suggest a suitable solution to legal problems;
• A comparative study tends to aid in assembling which principles, applicable in the field concerned, are fundamental and which are secondary.

The historical approach looks at the evolution and development of a particular system of rules to provide useful contextual background and a fuller understanding of a certain legal discipline both for the researcher and the ultimate reader.

A historical approach examines the relations between law and events, showing how the law has been used at different times for different purposes and how it connects with interests and classes, political ends, and social movements.

The historical approach helps us understand how a particular institution or law evolved and why they need a change in the present context.

It takes the view that history has a significant role in explaining the current state of law, its past development, and likely future direction.

For example, to understand the institutional and jurisdictional aspects of the United Nations , a brief look at the whole concept and history of collective security and that of the League of Nations could be of some help.

The historical approach takes us from the past to the future. The historical approach serves to understand the present situation and shows the general trend of changes in laws.

As the present can not be properly understood without some knowledge about the past, the foremost purpose of the historical approach is to gain a clear perspective of the present.

But historical research can aim at the simply scholarly desire of the researcher to arrive at an accurate account of the past.

The sources of the historical approach include parliamentary debates on any legislative scheme, official reports of inquiry, case reports, newspaper reports, and journals.

The researcher should be careful about the authenticity and integrity of the documents.

In evaluating documents, the researcher should try to determine their completeness by verifying whether there have been additions or deletions to the original text.

The researcher should also maintain objectivity in interpreting historical events and show an adequate historical perspective of the issue under research.

For this purpose, primary sources or historical documents should be used as extensively as possible .

There is “no set legal methodology” that is applicable in all cases. It is not always possible to make clear-cut distinctions among the above ways of approaching the methodology.

A research paper that is concerned essentially with examining a subject may also involve comparison.

The researcher can choose a method best suited to questions and available sources. It depends upon the nature of the research question.

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Research Hypothesis In Psychology: Types, & Examples

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

A research hypothesis, in its plural form “hypotheses,” is a specific, testable prediction about the anticipated results of a study, established at its outset. It is a key component of the scientific method .

Hypotheses connect theory to data and guide the research process towards expanding scientific understanding

Some key points about hypotheses:

• A hypothesis expresses an expected pattern or relationship. It connects the variables under investigation.
• It is stated in clear, precise terms before any data collection or analysis occurs. This makes the hypothesis testable.
• A hypothesis must be falsifiable. It should be possible, even if unlikely in practice, to collect data that disconfirms rather than supports the hypothesis.
• Hypotheses guide research. Scientists design studies to explicitly evaluate hypotheses about how nature works.
• For a hypothesis to be valid, it must be testable against empirical evidence. The evidence can then confirm or disprove the testable predictions.
• Hypotheses are informed by background knowledge and observation, but go beyond what is already known to propose an explanation of how or why something occurs.

Predictions typically arise from a thorough knowledge of the research literature, curiosity about real-world problems or implications, and integrating this to advance theory. They build on existing literature while providing new insight.

Types of Research Hypotheses

Alternative hypothesis.

The research hypothesis is often called the alternative or experimental hypothesis in experimental research.

It typically suggests a potential relationship between two key variables: the independent variable, which the researcher manipulates, and the dependent variable, which is measured based on those changes.

The alternative hypothesis states a relationship exists between the two variables being studied (one variable affects the other).

A hypothesis is a testable statement or prediction about the relationship between two or more variables. It is a key component of the scientific method. Some key points about hypotheses:

• Important hypotheses lead to predictions that can be tested empirically. The evidence can then confirm or disprove the testable predictions.

In summary, a hypothesis is a precise, testable statement of what researchers expect to happen in a study and why. Hypotheses connect theory to data and guide the research process towards expanding scientific understanding.

An experimental hypothesis predicts what change(s) will occur in the dependent variable when the independent variable is manipulated.

It states that the results are not due to chance and are significant in supporting the theory being investigated.

The alternative hypothesis can be directional, indicating a specific direction of the effect, or non-directional, suggesting a difference without specifying its nature. It’s what researchers aim to support or demonstrate through their study.

Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis states no relationship exists between the two variables being studied (one variable does not affect the other). There will be no changes in the dependent variable due to manipulating the independent variable.

It states results are due to chance and are not significant in supporting the idea being investigated.

The null hypothesis, positing no effect or relationship, is a foundational contrast to the research hypothesis in scientific inquiry. It establishes a baseline for statistical testing, promoting objectivity by initiating research from a neutral stance.

Many statistical methods are tailored to test the null hypothesis, determining the likelihood of observed results if no true effect exists.

This dual-hypothesis approach provides clarity, ensuring that research intentions are explicit, and fosters consistency across scientific studies, enhancing the standardization and interpretability of research outcomes.

Nondirectional Hypothesis

A non-directional hypothesis, also known as a two-tailed hypothesis, predicts that there is a difference or relationship between two variables but does not specify the direction of this relationship.

It merely indicates that a change or effect will occur without predicting which group will have higher or lower values.

For example, “There is a difference in performance between Group A and Group B” is a non-directional hypothesis.

Directional Hypothesis

A directional (one-tailed) hypothesis predicts the nature of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. It predicts in which direction the change will take place. (i.e., greater, smaller, less, more)

It specifies whether one variable is greater, lesser, or different from another, rather than just indicating that there’s a difference without specifying its nature.

For example, “Exercise increases weight loss” is a directional hypothesis.

Falsifiability

The Falsification Principle, proposed by Karl Popper , is a way of demarcating science from non-science. It suggests that for a theory or hypothesis to be considered scientific, it must be testable and irrefutable.

Falsifiability emphasizes that scientific claims shouldn’t just be confirmable but should also have the potential to be proven wrong.

It means that there should exist some potential evidence or experiment that could prove the proposition false.

However many confirming instances exist for a theory, it only takes one counter observation to falsify it. For example, the hypothesis that “all swans are white,” can be falsified by observing a black swan.

For Popper, science should attempt to disprove a theory rather than attempt to continually provide evidence to support a research hypothesis.

Can a Hypothesis be Proven?

Hypotheses make probabilistic predictions. They state the expected outcome if a particular relationship exists. However, a study result supporting a hypothesis does not definitively prove it is true.

All studies have limitations. There may be unknown confounding factors or issues that limit the certainty of conclusions. Additional studies may yield different results.

In science, hypotheses can realistically only be supported with some degree of confidence, not proven. The process of science is to incrementally accumulate evidence for and against hypothesized relationships in an ongoing pursuit of better models and explanations that best fit the empirical data. But hypotheses remain open to revision and rejection if that is where the evidence leads.

• Disproving a hypothesis is definitive. Solid disconfirmatory evidence will falsify a hypothesis and require altering or discarding it based on the evidence.
• However, confirming evidence is always open to revision. Other explanations may account for the same results, and additional or contradictory evidence may emerge over time.

We can never 100% prove the alternative hypothesis. Instead, we see if we can disprove, or reject the null hypothesis.

If we reject the null hypothesis, this doesn’t mean that our alternative hypothesis is correct but does support the alternative/experimental hypothesis.

Upon analysis of the results, an alternative hypothesis can be rejected or supported, but it can never be proven to be correct. We must avoid any reference to results proving a theory as this implies 100% certainty, and there is always a chance that evidence may exist which could refute a theory.

How to Write a Hypothesis

• Identify variables . The researcher manipulates the independent variable and the dependent variable is the measured outcome.
• Operationalized the variables being investigated . Operationalization of a hypothesis refers to the process of making the variables physically measurable or testable, e.g. if you are about to study aggression, you might count the number of punches given by participants.
• Decide on a direction for your prediction . If there is evidence in the literature to support a specific effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, write a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis. If there are limited or ambiguous findings in the literature regarding the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, write a non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis.
• Make it Testable : Ensure your hypothesis can be tested through experimentation or observation. It should be possible to prove it false (principle of falsifiability).
• Clear & concise language . A strong hypothesis is concise (typically one to two sentences long), and formulated using clear and straightforward language, ensuring it’s easily understood and testable.

Consider a hypothesis many teachers might subscribe to: students work better on Monday morning than on Friday afternoon (IV=Day, DV= Standard of work).

Now, if we decide to study this by giving the same group of students a lesson on a Monday morning and a Friday afternoon and then measuring their immediate recall of the material covered in each session, we would end up with the following:

• The alternative hypothesis states that students will recall significantly more information on a Monday morning than on a Friday afternoon.
• The null hypothesis states that there will be no significant difference in the amount recalled on a Monday morning compared to a Friday afternoon. Any difference will be due to chance or confounding factors.

More Examples

• Memory : Participants exposed to classical music during study sessions will recall more items from a list than those who studied in silence.
• Social Psychology : Individuals who frequently engage in social media use will report higher levels of perceived social isolation compared to those who use it infrequently.
• Developmental Psychology : Children who engage in regular imaginative play have better problem-solving skills than those who don’t.
• Clinical Psychology : Cognitive-behavioral therapy will be more effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety over a 6-month period compared to traditional talk therapy.
• Cognitive Psychology : Individuals who multitask between various electronic devices will have shorter attention spans on focused tasks than those who single-task.
• Health Psychology : Patients who practice mindfulness meditation will experience lower levels of chronic pain compared to those who don’t meditate.
• Organizational Psychology : Employees in open-plan offices will report higher levels of stress than those in private offices.
• Behavioral Psychology : Rats rewarded with food after pressing a lever will press it more frequently than rats who receive no reward.

• Feb 28, 2023

Law & Legal Research- Hypothesis |Case Study| Questionnaire

So, what is ‘law’ really.

The law can be defined as a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by a controlling authority, and having binding legal force/ authority. Law is an instrument which regulates human conduct/behaviour.

Law essentially means Justice, Morality, Reason, Order, and Righteous from the point of view of the society. Law also means Statutes, Acts, Rules, Regulations, Orders, and ordinances from the point of view of the legislature.

It has also been considered as a social construct that defines the extent of people’s rights and duties towards their nation.

Here are some of the definitions of law by popular jurists of their time:

According to Austin:

“A law is a command which obliges a person or persons to a course of conduct"

According to Salmond:

“The law may be defined as the body of principles recognized and applied by the State in the administration of Justice”.

Here are the four major types of law in the Indian Judicial System:

1. Criminal Law

This is a set of laws that takes cognizance of crimes committed by individuals in society. These set of laws are enforced by the police and adjudicated upon by Magistrates, the Court of Sessions, the High Court and the Supreme Court. Crimes are not taken up against an individual but against the State itself (as it is viewed as a hindrance to the harmony existing in society i.e. a social pathology).

For example: Murdering someone leads to a penalty under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code with punishment by death, life imprisonment or fine or both.

2. Civil Law

This is a set of laws that deal with actions that aren’t a crime. It is a part of the law dealing with disputes between organizations and people. It covers different areas similar to defamation, custody of youngsters, proper training, divorce, commerce union membership, property disputes, possession points, insurance coverage claims etc.

3. Common Law

Common law is a body of unwritten laws based on legal precedents established by the courts. Common law influences the decision-making process in unusual cases where the outcome cannot be determined based on existing statutes or written rules of law.

For example: In adjudicating upon matters under the Indian Contract Act, the courts consider common law doctrines and allow case precedents that are held under the aegis of the Privy Council or the House of Lords in England.

Also, in Indian Trademark Law (Trademarks Act, 1999), the doctrine of prior use is incorporated from the existing common law rights of a proprietor.

4. Statutory Law

Statute or Statutory Law is a law established by an act of the legislature that’s signed by the Executive or Legislative body. For State law, the Acts are handled by the state legislature and signed by the State governor. In rare circumstances, the Chief (President or Governor) could refuse to assent the law or reject it, which is similar to the ‘veto’ power.

For example The Indian Contract Act of 1872, The Finance Act, of 2020, GST Act, of 2017.

How research gets added to the mix

Research is defined as the careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or problem using scientific methods.

Legal research has been defined as a process of finding the law that governs an activity and materials that explain or analyse that law.

Legal research includes various processes ranging from information gathering to analysing the facts of a problem and communicating the investigation results. It is the amalgamation of scientific methods (pertaining to the study of data) and the law to make the latter better and more efficient for society.

A research problem can be simply defined as a problem which a researcher wants to solve or analyse and get valuable insights on. Post the indentification of "problem", generally a Hypothesis follows.

Now, what is a Hypothesis?

A Hypothesis can be defined as an idea formed beforehand which has less value than the generally formed view about a particular problem.

A hypothesis is a specific, clear, and testable proposition or predictive statement about the possible outcome of a scientific research study based on a particular property of a population, such as presumed differences between groups on a particular variable or relationships between variables.

According to Robert A Berslein and James A Dryer :

“A hypothesis is an assertion of the causal association between two properties”

Importance of Hypothesis in Legal Research:

A hypothesis gives a point of enquiry i.e. a starting point in delving into a particular research problem. In the absence of a hypothesis, a researcher is a lost ship on a wide sea without a navigation system.

Hypothesis helps a researcher in deciding the direction of the study and helps him formulate the required materials for the same.

Hypothesis provides precision to a research problem.

A hypothesis helps in drawing relevant and specific conclusions to a study.

A hypothesis helps in identifying the nature of the research and its extent.

Hypothesis helps in the collection and analysis of data by equipping the researcher with the input of “what to look for”.

The two major ways to put a hypothesis to the test

The case study method.

A case study is a research method that involves an up-close, in-depth and detailed investigation of a subject of study and its related contextual position. They can be produced following a form of research.

A case study helps in bringing the understanding of a complex issue or object. It can extend experience or add strength to the existing knowledge through previous research. Their contextual analysis revolves around a limited number of events or conditions and how they relate.

Therefore, a case study is a research method which allows a person to understand why and how to investigate questions. Here, a researcher has no control over variables, especially in situations when the case is current. In a studied case, many additional factors affect the phenomenon and can be described or analysed only by a case study.

In legal research, a case study can be used for many purposes as it allows the capacity to describe different factors and interactions with each other in real contexts. It offers various learning opportunities and experiences by influencing the different practices of theories.

For researchers, it is considered a valuable data source in terms of the diversity and complexity of educational purposes and settings. It plays a significant role in putting theories into regular practice. It is always important for the student to understand the clarity in nature and focus of the case study.

The importance of case study in research:

Major aspects of a problem can be understood and analysed easily. The results can be then presented comprehensively.

Case studies help secure a wealth of details about a unit of study and the techniques that can be used to research a similar problem. The data and direction of research can be adopted or modified to enter a new domain of a problem.

Case studies help researchers arrive at the actual human experience and attitudes which constitute the full and actual reality of a problem.

A case study is a suitable method when the problem under study forms a process rather than one isolated incident.

Case studies are regarded as scientific as they are conducted by analysing historical/empirical data about a problem.

The Questionnaire Method

A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions or other types of prompts that aims to collect information from a respondent. It is essentially one of the primary methods of data collection for the investigation of research problems.

Lundberg defines a questionnaire as

“a set of stimuli to which literal people are exposed to observe their behaviour under these stimuli”

According to Bogardus : A questionnaire is

“A list of questions sent to several persons for their answers and which contains standardised results that can be tabulated and treated statistically”

Types of Questionnaires:

Pauline V. Young (PV Young) classified questionnaires into:

1. Structured Questionnaires : These include pre-coded questions with well-defined skipping patterns to follow the sequence of questions. Most of the quantitative data collection operations use structured questionnaires.

As per PV young:

"Structured questionnaires are those which pose definitive, concrete and pre-oriented questions i.e. they are prepared in advance and not constructed on the spot during the questioning period”

This type of questionnaire can be categorized into further two types:

Closed-form: A questionnaire that has few alternative answers (like a yes/no, true/false)

Open-ended: A questionnaire that provides the answerer with the freedom to express his opinion without an endpoint. This method is used primarily for intensive studies.

2. Unstructured Questionnaire : These include open-ended and vague opinion-type questions. Some of them may be questions that are not in the format of interrogative sentences and the moderator or the enumerator has to elaborate on the sense of the question. Focus group discussions use such a questionnaire.

This type assumes insight, articulateness, and fact possession and aims for precision to attain maximum information regarding a particular problem. Because it is flexible, this is one of the most common types of questionnaires used by modern lawmakers.

The Distinction between Questionnaire and a normal Interview:

A questionnaire is self-administered whereas, in an interview, an interviewer needs to conduct the proceeding.

A questionnaire is geared at collecting data from literate people who can comprehend the questions whereas, interviews are admissible to both literates and illiterates as the interviewer acts as a medium.

The rate of response is poor in questionnaires whereas, in interviews, people generally answer the questions then and there.

The questionnaire method is less expensive to administer whereas, interviews are generally expensive and hard to conduct.

Questionnaires provide anonymity to the answerers whereas, in interviews, there is an absence of complete anonymity.

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Legal Research Methodology: Types And Approaches of Legal Research

Legal research methodology is the process of gathering and analyzing legal information in order to answer a legal question.

Table of Contents

What is Legal Research Methodology?

Legal research methodology is the process of gathering and analyzing legal information in order to answer a legal question. It is a systematic approach to finding, understanding, and applying the law.

Types of Legal Research

There are two main types of legal research methodologies: qualitative research and quantitative research.

Qualitative research is based on the analysis of text and other non-numerical data. It is often used to understand the meaning of the law and how it is applied in practice. Quantitative research is based on the analysis of numerical data. It is often used to test hypotheses about the law and to measure its impact.

Qualitative Research for Legal Research

Qualitative research methods can be used to answer a wide range of legal research questions. Some common examples include:

• Interpreting the meaning of a legal statute
• Understanding the application of the law in a particular case
• Identifying the underlying principles of a legal doctrine
• Exploring the impact of the law on a particular group of people

Qualitative research methods typically involve the following steps:

• Identifying the research question
• Gathering data
• Analyzing the data
• Presenting the findings

Quantitative Research for Legal Research

Quantitative research methods can also be used to answer a wide range of legal research questions. Some common examples include:

• Testing the hypothesis that a particular law has a particular effect
• Measuring the impact of a legal change on a particular group of people
• Determining the relationship between two or more legal variables

Quantitative research methods typically involve the following steps:

• Formulating a hypothesis

Which One is Better – Quantitative or Qualitative Legal Research Methods?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The best research method for a particular project will depend on the specific research question being asked.

In general, qualitative research methods are better suited for research questions that seek to understand the meaning of the law or how it is applied in practice. Quantitative research methods are better suited for research questions that seek to test hypotheses about the law or to measure its impact.

Advantages of the Quantitative Legal Research Methods

The advantages of quantitative legal research methods include:

• They can be used to test hypotheses about the law
• They can be used to measure the impact of the law
• They can be used to compare different legal systems
• They can be used to identify trends in the law

Legal research methodology is a complex and challenging field. However, it is an essential skill for anyone who wants to understand and apply the law. By understanding the different types of legal research and the different research methods, you can choose the right approach for your specific research project.

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Types of Legal Research

Legal research is like detectives’ work for lawyers. They search for information about laws, court cases, and legal rules to find answers to their questions. This helps them understand the law better, solve legal problems, and make strong arguments in court. Lawyers need to do this research so they can give good advice to their clients and write legal papers correctly.

Table of Content

1. Descriptive Legal Research

2. quantitative legal research, 3. qualitative legal research, 4. analytical legal research, types of legal research- faqs.

Descriptive legal research is about summarizing legal concepts, laws, or court cases without going into deep analysis. It’s like providing an overview of legal topics, explaining them clearly without getting too detailed. This type of research helps in understanding the basics of legal issues, setting the stage for more in-depth exploration. Instead of dissecting legal principles, descriptive research straightforwardly presents them, making it easier for readers to grasp complex legal ideas without getting overwhelmed by complexity.

For example, if a law student provides a summary of a Supreme Court decision, it’s descriptive legal research

Features of Descriptive Legal Research:

• Descriptive legal research condenses intricate legal concepts, statutes, or case law into straightforward summaries, making them understandable for non-experts.
• This type of research prioritizes clarity by simplifying legal language and removing unnecessary jargon, ensuring that the information is easily accessible to a wide audience.
• Descriptive legal research aims to present legal information objectively, without introducing personal opinions or biases, allowing readers to form their own interpretations.

Advantages of Descriptive Legal Research:

• Descriptive legal research makes legal concepts accessible to individuals without formal legal training, such as clients, policymakers, or the general public, facilitating a better understanding of legal issues.
• It provides a foundational understanding of legal topics, acting as a starting point for further exploration or analysis, aiding individuals in quickly grasping key concepts.
• Descriptive legal research is a time-efficient method for obtaining basic legal information, saving individuals from diving into lengthy legal texts or conducting extensive analyses.

Disadvantages of Descriptive Legal Research:

• Descriptive legal research may lack depth, offering only a surface-level understanding of legal topics without providing thorough analysis or insights.
• It often presents legal information in isolation, without providing broader contextualization or analysis of how legal principles apply in specific situations or contexts.
• Simplifying complex legal concepts for accessibility purposes can sometimes result in oversimplification, potentially overlooking important nuances or exceptions and leading to misunderstandings.

Quantitative legal research involves analyzing numerical data related to legal matters. By using statistical methods, they identify correlations and trends within legal data, providing objective insights into legal issues. This method offers a systematic approach to understanding the empirical aspects of the law, contributing valuable insights to the legal field.

For example, An example of quantitative legal research is studying court records to analyze sentencing trends based on demographic factors like race or gender.

Features of Quantitative Legal Research:

• Quantitative legal research involves measuring and analyzing legal phenomena using numerical data. Researchers collect quantitative data like case counts or court decisions to study patterns within the legal system.
• This research relies on statistical methods such as regression analysis or hypothesis testing to analyze legal data and identify relationships or trends.
• Quantitative legal research emphasizes objectivity in data collection and analysis, relying on empirical evidence rather than subjective interpretation.

Advantages of Quantitative Legal Research:

• It offers an objective approach to studying legal issues, enhancing credibility by relying on empirical data rather than personal biases.
• By studying representative samples, researchers can make generalizations about legal phenomena, applying findings to broader contexts.
• Quantitative research can predict future legal outcomes based on historical data, informing decisions and projections.

Disadvantages of Quantitative Legal Research:

• Quantitative research may oversimplify complex legal issues, potentially overlooking qualitative aspects.
• Challenges in data availability and quality can affect the reliability and validity of research findings.
• While identifying correlations, establishing causality remains challenging, as other factors may influence outcomes.

Qualitative legal research dives deep into legal matters by closely examining non-numerical data. Researchers employ methods like interviews, observations, and textual analysis to gain in-depth insights into the thoughts, experiences, and perspectives of those involved in the legal system. This approach focuses on understanding the broader context surrounding legal issues and seeks to reveal the social, cultural, and psychological factors that shape legal processes and results.

For example, An example of qualitative legal research is interviewing individuals involved in a court case to understand their experiences and perspectives. Researchers analyze the interview data to uncover the social and psychological factors that influence legal outcomes.

Features of Qualitative Legal Research:

• Qualitative legal research involves thoroughly examining legal issues by exploring non-numerical data. Researchers aim to understand the underlying meanings, experiences, and perspectives of legal actors through detailed investigation.
• This method relies on qualitative data collection techniques such as interviews, observations, and textual analysis. Researchers gather rich and contextual data to gain insights into the social, cultural, and psychological factors influencing legal processes.
• Researchers analyze the social, political, and economic factors shaping legal phenomena, providing a holistic understanding of law’s complexities.

Advantages of Qualitative Legal Research:

• Qualitative legal research provides detailed insights by capturing diverse perspectives and experiences of legal actors.
• This method enables researchers to grasp legal issues within their broader socio-cultural and historical contexts, offering nuanced insights into law’s societal operations.
• Qualitative research methods offer adaptability in data collection and analysis. Researchers can tailor their approaches to research questions, exploring emerging themes in depth.

Disadvantages of Qualitative Legal Research:

• Qualitative research is subjective, involving interpretation of subjective data such as interviews. Researchers’ biases may influence analysis and findings, affecting research validity.
• Qualitative research demands significant time and resources due to detailed data collection and analysis. Conducting interviews, transcribing recordings, and analyzing qualitative data are labor-intensive tasks.
• Qualitative research findings may not easily generalize to broader contexts. Focusing on specific cases limits applicability to other settings or situations.

Analytical legal research means carefully looking at legal rules, laws, or court decisions to understand them better. It’s not just about describing them simply; it’s about figuring out why they exist, what they mean, and how they’re used. Researchers study legal arguments, find patterns or problems in the reasoning, and think about what it all means for the law. This helps make the law better over time.

For example, An example of analytical legal research is examining multiple court decisions on a particular legal issue to identify patterns or inconsistencies in judicial reasoning. Researchers critically assess legal arguments to gain insights into legal principles and their applications.

Features of Analytical Legal Research:

• Analytical legal research involves critically examining legal principles, statutes, or court decisions. Researchers delve deep into legal texts to understand underlying reasoning, identify inconsistencies, and uncover hidden implications.
• This method goes beyond surface-level description, focusing on detailed analysis of legal concepts. Researchers scrutinize legal arguments, dissecting them to uncover underlying assumptions.
• Analytical legal research involves synthesizing information from various legal sources to develop comprehensive insights into legal issues.

Advantages of Analytical Legal Research:

• Analytical legal research provides a sophisticated understanding of legal principles and concepts. By critically analyzing legal texts, researchers gain insights into the complexities of the law.
• This method offers a strategic advantage to legal practitioners and scholars by enabling them to anticipate potential legal challenges or counterarguments. By identifying weaknesses or gaps in legal arguments, researchers can develop more robust and persuasive legal strategies.
• Analytical legal research contributes to the development and evolution of legal principles and practices. By uncovering inconsistencies or gaps in legal reasoning, researchers highlight areas for reform or clarification, shaping the development of the law over time.

Disadvantages of Analytical Legal Research:

• Analytical legal research can be time-consuming due to the complex analysis required. Researchers must carefully examine legal texts, identify relevant sources, and synthesize complex information, which can be labor-intensive and time-consuming.
• The interpretation of legal texts in analytical legal research is inherently subjective. Researchers’ biases, perspectives, or interpretations may influence the analysis and conclusions, potentially leading to subjective or contested interpretations.
• Analytical legal research can be hard because legal reasoning and arguments are complicated. Researchers have to read complex legal documents and understand difficult language and detailed arguments. This can be tough, especially for new researchers.

In conclusion, legal research is crucial for navigating the intricacies of the law. Through various methods like descriptive, quantitative, qualitative, and analytical research, scholars and practitioners unravel legal complexities and inform decision-making. Each approach offers distinct advantages and challenges, enriching our understanding of legal matters. By embracing diverse research methodologies, legal professionals can develop informed strategies and contribute to the evolution of legal principles. This ensures fairness and justice in society, ultimately strengthening the rule of law.

What is legal research?

Legal research means looking up laws, rules, past court decisions, and legal principles to find answers to legal questions. It’s like detectives’ work for lawyers, helping them build strong cases, give good advice, and write legal papers.

Why is legal research important?

Legal research helps lawyers give the right advice, make strong arguments in court, and write legal papers correctly. It ensures that lawyers understand complex legal problems and keep the legal system fair and honest.

What are the different types of legal research?

There are different ways to do legal research. Some methods include summarizing legal ideas, studying numbers related to legal issues, exploring people’s experiences in the legal system, and deeply analyzing legal concepts.

How do I do legal research?

Legal research involves using legal databases, libraries, and online sources to find the right legal information. Researchers use keywords, laws, case names, or references to find what they need, and then they study and put together the information to answer legal questions.

What problems can I face when doing legal research?

Legal research can take a lot of time and can be hard because there’s so much legal information to go through. Also, it can be tricky to make sure the information you find is correct and reliable, as it can change depending on where you are or what the situation is.

Note: The information provided is sourced from various websites and collected data; if discrepancies are identified, kindly reach out to us through comments for prompt correction.

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