| Unit name | Advanced Legal and Socio-Legal Research Methods (for PGRs) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0176 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Bibbings |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This unit introduces you to a range of advanced legal and socio-legal research methodologies and methods and explores how they can be deployed in legal research. These include: doctrinal legal methods including library based research, case analysis and use of precedent, and statutory interpretation; socio-legal methods drawing on diverse fields within the social sciences and humanities; and a range of ‘outsider methodologies’ including feminist approaches to legal research. The unit encourages you to consider how the various elements of a research project – research questions, theoretical framework, methodology and methods, data analysis, and outputs and dissemination – fit together, with the aim of equipping you to construct your own coherent and robust research projects.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit is a compulsory part of the training offered to PhD students in Law
An overview of content
This unit introduces you to a range of advanced legal and socio-legal research methodologies and methods and explores how they can be deployed in legal research. These include: doctrinal legal methods including library-based research, case analysis and use of precedent, and statutory interpretation; socio-legal methods drawing on diverse fields within the social sciences and humanities; and a range of ‘outsider methodologies’ including feminist approaches to legal research. The unit will include content that explores research ethics as the ongoing responsibility of the researcher; positionality, objectivity and bias; and different doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods for working with statutes, and working with cases.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Students will develop confidence in constructing a research project and defending the elements of its construction to others. They will also develop insight into the ethical issues raised by research, and their own positionality and responsibilities as researchers.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
The unit will be delivered through:
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
The unit maintains a strong focus on the practicalities of how to construct a research project, with students encouraged critically to engage with a range of research proposals, including through mock funding panel exercises and critical discussion. Through this process, students will be able to test ideas and gain feedback from their peers and the unit tutors. The formative assessment offers students the opportunity to obtain individual written feedback on an outline research project of 1,000 words.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
3,000-word outline research plan to include a) a methodology review of the PhD topic, and b) a summary of the PhD chapter plan and timeline for completion. This will be accompanied by a ten-minute presentation to the PGR cohort, the PGR Director and the Unit Coordinator. This will form the basis for the first-year progress review. An aggregate mark will be awarded, covering all three parts of the assessment. This assessment covers all Intended Learning Outcomes for this unit.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis, and the student will ordinarily be permitted to submit revised work.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0176).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
