| Unit name | Social and Legal Theory |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0083 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Emeritus Professor. Morag McDermont |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
LAWDM0084 |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit provides a core element in the MSc in Socio-Legal Research. Students are taught general research methods and philosophy of the social sciences separately. This course therefore concentrates on advanced legal and, more specifically, socio-legal research methods. It includes: statutory interpretation and precedent; doctrinal legal methods (including library based research and case analysis); socio-legal methods (including examination of a range of methods and ethical issues drawn from diverse fields of socio-legal scholarship). The latter includes consideration of feminist scholarship, critical legal studies, biography, discourse analysis, postmodernism, interpretivism, and positivism and draws upon a range of interdisciplinary sources from the social sciences and humanities. No prior knowledge of law or of sociology is assumed, although the course assumes participation in the core research methods and philosophy of social science courses alongside it. More detailed applications of the theoretical content take place in the options and the compulsory dissertation.
