NEED & IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH DESIGN: AN ANALYSIS

PROJECT REPORT ON-

NEED AND IMPOERTANCE OF

RESEARCH DESIGN: AN ANALYSIS
PROJECT SUBMITTED TO-

MR. ANINDHYA TIWARI

(FACULTY OF LAW & JUSTICE IN THE GLOBALIZING WORLD)

PROJECT SUBMITTED BY-

MAHUA DUTTA
ID – MU20LLM1Y012
STREAM – LL.M. (1 Year)
SEMESTER – I

MATS UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR

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 CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work entitled “NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
DESIGN: AN ANALYSISe” submitted to MATS University, Raipur, is record of an original
work done by me under the able guidance of Mr. Anindhya Tiwari, Faculty Member, MATS
University, Raipur.

MAHUA DUTTA
ID: MU20LLM1Y012
Stream – LL.M.
Semester - I
Date- 8th Feb, 2021

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This is not just a customary acknowledgement of help that I received but a sincere expression of
gratitude to all those who have helped me to complete this project and made it seem apparently
more readable than otherwise it would have been.

I am in debt to my faculty advisor MR. ANINDHYA TIWARI for giving such an interesting and
wonderful topic “NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH DESIGN: AN ANALYSIS”
and who has been extremely kind to make space for all my enthusiasm & endeavours and
making it seem easy by clearly explaining its various aspects.

I am also grateful to all my friends and seniors who have given their valuable suggestions
pertaining to the topic and have been a constant source of help and support.

Thanking everyone.

MAHUA DUTTA

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 CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION…………………………….2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………....3
Chapter 1- INTRODUCTION……………………………….…….4
Chapter 2- TYPES OF RESEARCH………………………….………..7
Chapter 3- RESEARCH DESIGN…………………………………………….....13

Chapter 4- TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN……………………

Chapter 5- COMPLEXITIES OF MODERN LEGAL

RESEARCH……………….………………………………....20
Chapter 6- CONCLUSION………………………………………..26
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………27

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 CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support
legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of
action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application
and communication of the results of the investigation.”

The processes of legal research vary according to the country and the legal system involved.
However, legal research generally involves tasks such as:

 Finding primary sources of law, or primary authority, in a given jurisdiction (cases,

statutes, regulations, etc.).
 Searching secondary authority (for e.g. law reviews, legal dictionaries, legal treatises, and
legal encyclopaedias such as American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum), for
background information about a legal topic.
 Searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting information.

Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law
librarians, and paralegals. Sources of legal information range from printed books, to free legal
research websites (like Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, Findlaw.com,
Martindale Hubbell or CanLII) and information portals to fee database vendors such as Wolters
Kluwer, LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Law libraries around the world provide
research services to help their patrons find the legal information they need in law schools, law
firms and other research environments. Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to
legal information on the web, either individually or via collective action, such as with the Free
Access to Law Movement.

In general, it can be elucidated that all research is the gathering of evidence or information for
ascertaining an assumption or verifying some hypothesis. Research is, therefore, an enquiry for
the verification of a fresh theory or for supplementing prevailing theories by new-knowledge.

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The purpose of the Legal Research is to safeguard the interest of the society as a whole by
protecting its physical (or) mental health. Legal research is for authority to verify some
hypothesis and is a continuum under the broad theme of enquiry about law, an analysis is made
of the rules, concepts and institutions of the law and of the legal system in it’s entirely.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The paper is descriptive in nature and doctrinal in approach. It is largely based on secondary and
electronic sources. The researcher has mainly resorted to several online articles for the
completion of the project. However the documentary material in the form of books and articles in
the library has also been referred to for the subject matter at hand. The mode of citation used in
the project is Bluebook (19th Ed.) Citation Format.
Objectives of Research

Right from the evolution of human society, intellectuals of the society are always inclined to
probe for facts of the empirical world and to reveal the truth, “Every aspect of human behaviours
or facts of life has a problem. In 'society there were problems, there are problems and there will
be problems, we have to find out answer to those problems. Hence this is the requirement of the
society to conduct research. In simple words we can say research is a prerequisite for a dynamic
society. To seek the answer of a problem and development of society, research plays a
significant role. Every research is socially oriented, as research is always conducted for the
betterment of advancement of the society. It may discover new facts or test old existing facts.
The aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden or unknown and which has not been
discovered so far.

The research has its functions and uses. We conduct research either to enhance the efficiency of
our system, increase the volume and quality of information, to add on to what already exists or
for creating material conditions of comfort. This also makes us become a class apart. In other
words, research has got to be meaningful.

Legal Research

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Any systematic investigation, inquiry or search for information is research. “Systematic
investigation of problems and matters concerned with law is Legal Research”.

Legal research may be pursued to obtain better knowledge and understanding of any problem of
Legal Philosophy, Legal History, Comparative study of Law, or any system of positive law. It is
also very essential for writing text and teaching, for ascertainment of the correct rules bounded
by their limitations.

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 CHAPTER 2- TYPES OF RESEARCH

 Historical Research–It means “Finding out the previous law in order to understand the
reasons behind the existing law and the course of its development.”

 Doctrinal Research / Traditional Research - Doctrinal legal research means researching

into Legal Rules, principles, concepts or doctrines. It involves a rigorous systematic
exposition, analysis and critical evaluation of legal rules, principles or doctrines and their
inter-relationship. It arranges the existing law in order and provides thematic parameters
for such an order. It also concerns with critical review of legislations and of decisional
processes and their underlying policy. The central question of inquiry here is ‘what is the
law?’ on a particular issue. It is concerned with finding the law, rigorously analyzing it
and coming up with logical reasoning behind it. Therefore, it immensely contributes to
the continuity, consistency, and certainty of law. The basic information can be found in
the statutory material i.e.

primary sources as well in the secondary sources. However, the research has its own limitations,
it is subjective, that is limited to the perception of the researcher, away from the actual working
of the law, devoid of factors that lie outside the boundaries of the law, and fails to focus on the
actual practice of the courts.

 Non-doctrinal Legal Research

It is also known as socio-legal research and it looks into how the law and legal institutions molds
and affects the society. It employs methods taken from other disciplines in

order to generate empirical data to answer the questions.

 Empirical Research - Non-Doctrinal research is fact oriented. Legal researcher undertaking

non-doctrinal research “takes either some aspect of the Legal decision process or the people
and institution supposed by regulated law.” It rules on experience or observation alone. After
without due regards for system and theory. It is data-based research coming up with

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 conclusions and is capable of being verified by observation or experienced. It can also be
called an experimental type of research.  In this research, it is necessary to get at facts first
hand & actively to about doing certain things to stimulate the production of deserved
information. Empirical Legal Research describes how to investigate the roles of legislation,
regulation, legal policies and other legal arrangements at play in society. It acts as a guide to
paralegals, lawyers and law students on how to do empirical legal research, covering history,
methods, evidence, growth of knowledge and links with normativity. This multidisciplinary
approach combines insights and approaches from different social sciences, evaluation
studies, Big Data analytics, and empirically informed ethics.
For example, Pharmaceutical companies use empirical research to try out a specific drug on
controlled groups or random groups to study the effect and cause.

 Comparative Research - The comparative legal research is used to study legislative texts.
Jurisprudence and also legal doctrines, particularly of foreign laws. It stimulates awareness of
the cultural and social characters of the law and provides a unique understanding of the way
law develops and works in different cultures. This involves a comparison of legal doctrines,
legislations and foreign laws. It highlights the cultural and social character of law and how
does it act in different settings. So it is useful in developing and amending, and modifying the
law. But a cautious approach has to be taken in blindly accepting the law of another social
setting as a base because it might not act in the same manner in a different setting.

 Induction and Deduction Research - The choice between induction and deduction depends on
a series of factors, but above all on the objectives of our study. It can also be linked to and
determine the differences between qualitative and quantitative methods.1

 Descriptive Legal Research

Descriptive Legal research is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of
the population or phenomenon that is being studied. This methodology focuses more on the
“what” of the research subject rather than the “why” of the research subject. In other words,
descriptive legal research primarily focuses on the nature of a demographic segment, without

1
At, http://universalteacher.com/1/importance-of-research-design/, last accessed on September 7 th, 2018

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 focusing on “why” something happens. In other words, it is a description based which does not
cover the “why” aspect of the research subject.

For example, a lawyer that wants to understand the crime trends among Mumbai will conduct a
demographic survey of this region, gather population data and then conduct descriptive research
on this demographic segment. The research will then give us the details on “what is the crime
pattern of Mumbai?”, but not cover any investigative details on “why” the patterns exits.
Because for the lawyer trying to understand these crimes patterns, for them, understanding the
nature of their crimes is the objective of the study.

 Quantitative research

Quantitative Legal Research is a characteristic of Descriptive Legal Research Methodology that

attempts to collect quantifiable information to be used for statistical analysis of the population
sample. It is a popular research tool that allows us to collect and describe the nature of the
demographic segment. Quantitative Legal Research collects information from existing and
potential data using sampling methods like online surveys, online polls, questionnaires, etc., the
results of which can be depicted in numerical form. After careful understanding of these
numbers, it is possible to predict the future and make changes to manage the situation.

An example of quantitative research is the survey conducted to understand the turnaround time
of cases in the high court and how much time it takes from the time the case is filed until the
judgment is passed. A complainant’s satisfaction survey template can be administered to ask
questions like how much time did the process take, how often were they called to court, and
other such questions.

 Qualitative Legal Research

Qualitative Legal Research is a subjective form of research that relies on the analysis of
controlled observations of the legal researcher. In qualitative research, data is obtained from a
relatively small group of subjects. Data is not analyzed with statistical techniques. Usually,
narrative data is collected in qualitative research.

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 Qualitative research can be adopted as a method to study people or systems by interacting with
and observing the subjects regularly. The various methods used for collecting data in qualitative
research are grounded theory practice, narratology, storytelling, and ethnography.

Grounded theory practice: It is research grounded in the observations or data from which it was
developed. Various data sources used in grounded theory are quantitative data, review of
records, interviews, observation, and surveys.

Narratology: It refers to the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure. It also shows
the way in which the result affects the researcher’s perception.

Storytelling: This is a method by which events are recounted in the form of a story. The method
is generally used in the field of organization and management studies.

Ethnography- Ethnography is used for investigating cultures by collecting and describing data
intend to help the development of a theory.

 Analytical Legal Research

Analytical Legal Research is a style of qualitative inquiry. It is a specific type of research that
involves critical thinking skills and the evaluation of facts and information relative to the
research being conducted. Lawyers often use an analytical approach to their legal research to
find the most relevant information. From analytical research, a person finds out critical details
to add new ideas to the material being produced.

For example, examining the fluctuations of Crime Rates of India between 2010-2020 is an
example of descriptive research; while explaining why and how the Crime rates spiked over
time is an example of analytical research.

 Applied Legal Research

Applied Legal Research is a methodology used to find a solution to a pressing practical problem
at hand. It is a straightforward practical approach to the case you are handling. It involves doing
full-fledged research on a specific area of law followed by gathering information on all

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 technical legal rules and principles applied and forming an opinion on the prospects for the
client in the scenario.

For Example, if your client is an employee of an organization and is fighting against wrongful
termination of contract then the practical approach to this would be by carefully evaluating the
company policies and finding company policies that were violated and to suing the organization
based on those arguments.

 Pure Legal Research

Pure legal research is also known as basic Legal Research usually focuses on generalization and
formulation of a theory. The aim of this type of research methodology is to broaden the
understanding of a particular field of investigation.  It is a more general form of approach to the
case you are handling. The researcher does not focus on the practical utility

For Example, researchers might conduct basic research on illiteracy leads to unemployment.
The results of these theoretical explorations might lead to further studies designed to solve
specific problems of unemployment.

 Conceptual Legal Research

Conceptual Legal Research is defined as a methodology wherein research is conducted by

observing and analyzing already present information on a given topic. Conceptual research
doesn’t involve conducting any practical experiments. It is related to abstract concepts or ideas.

They are generally resorted to by the philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or
reinterpret the existing concepts but has also proven to be a useful methodology for legal
purposes.

For example, many of our ancient laws were influenced by the British Rule. Only later did we
improve upon many laws and created new and simplified laws after our Independence. So
another way to think of this type of research would be to observe, come up with a concept or
theories aligned with previous theories to hopefully derive new theories.

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 Empirical Legal Research

Empirical Legal Research describes how to investigate the roles of legislation, regulation, legal
policies and other legal arrangements at play in society. It acts as a guide to paralegals, lawyers
and law students on how to do empirical legal research, covering history, methods, evidence,
growth of knowledge and links with normativity. This multidisciplinary approach combines
insights and approaches from different social sciences, evaluation studies, Big Data analytics,
and empirically informed ethics.

For example, Pharmaceutical companies use empirical research to try out a specific drug on
controlled groups or random groups to study the effect and cause.

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 CHAPTER 3- RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is the set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analysing
measures of the variables specified in the research problem research. The design of a study
defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-
analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study), research problem, hypotheses,
independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection
methods and a statistical analysis plan. A research design is a framework that has been created to
find answers to research questions.Research design offers the investigator an opportunity to carry
out different research operations efficiently. This makes research as valuable as possible
producing maximum information with minimum effort, time and money.A research design
basically means the plan or technique of shaping the research, or as Hakim (1987) puts it “design
deals mainly with aim, purposes, motives and plans within the practical constraints of location,
time, money and availability of staff”. The possibilities of success of a research study is
significantly improved when the “beginning” is properly defined as a precise statement of goals
and justification.

Once the research problem is formulated, a specific topic is assigned and the hypothesis is
formulated, the next stage is to work out a research design. Preparing research design is an
important stage in the process of conducting a research. Kerlinger defines a research design
as “the plan, structure and strategy of investigation purporting to answer research
questions and control variance.”
The term ‘plan’ implies the overall scheme or programme of the research embracing on outline
of what the researcher intends to do, ranging from the stage of formulation of hypotheses and
their working implications to the final stage of data analysis. The term ‘structure’ intends to
define the research study in a more specific way as the outline. The term ‘strategy’ is used in a
more specific way than ‘plan’ and involves the methods and techniques for collection of data and
their analyses so as to achieve the precise research objectives.

Miller defines “designed research” as “the planned sequence of the entire process involved

in conducting a research study”. According to P.V. Young, “Research design is the logical and
systematic planning and directing of a piece of research.” Selltiz and others define research

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design as “a catalogue of the various phases and facts relating to the formulation of a research
effort. It is an arrangement of the essential conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
form that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy with a procedure.”
In the words of Ackoff “Design is the process of making decisions before the situation arises in
which the decision has to be carried out. It is a process of deliberate anticipation directed towards
bringing an unexpected situation under control.” E.A. Suchman says that “A research design
represents a compromise dictated by many practical considerations that go into social research.
He says further, “A research design is not a highly specific plan to be followed without
deviation, but rather a series of guide posts to keep one headed in the right direction.”

According to Jahoda, Deutsch and Cook, “A research design is the arrangement of conditions
for collection and analysis of data in a manner that alms to combine relevance to the
research purpose with economy in procedure.”
Thus, it becomes amply clear from the above definitions that research design is nothing but a
scheme of work to be undertaken by a researcher at various stages, facilitating the research work
in a systematic manner and conducting the various operations methodologically.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Research design acts as a guide to achieve the goal of the researcher step by step in a calculative
and cautious manner within a prescribed time limit and specified cost. If the study is not
completed within the time limit, it will not only increase the cost but also cause a series of other
problems associated with research, affecting the quality of research. Therefore, “the challenge of
a research design is to translate the general scientific model into a practical research operation.
Research design will refer to the entire process of planning and carrying out a research study”.

It involves the arrangement of conditions and observations in such a way that alternative answers
to the questions taken up in the research are ruled out, containing a built in system of checks
against all the factors that might affect the validity of the research outcome.

A research design:

 Broadens your mind

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  Provides fascinating & exciting experience
 Gives understanding of world around you
 Makes you meet new people
 Gives fun & reward but can be very tedious and monotonous

There are four key characteristics of research design:

Neutrality: When you set up your study, you may have to make assumptions about the data you
expect to collect. The results projected in the research design should be free from bias and
neutral. Understand opinions about the final evaluated scores and conclusion from multiple
individuals and consider those who agree with the derived results.

Reliability: With regularly conducted research, the researcher involved expects similar results
every time. Your design should indicate how to form research questions to ensure the standard of
results. You’ll only be able to reach the expected results if your design is reliable.

Validity: There are multiple measuring tools available. However, the only correct measuring
tools are those which help a researcher in gauging results according to the objective of the
research. The questionnaire developed from this design will then be valid.

Generalization: The outcome of your design should apply to a population and not just a
restricted sample. A generalized design implies that your survey can be conducted on any part of
a population with similar accuracy.

The above factors affect the way respondents answer the research questions and so all the above
characteristics should be balanced in a good design. A researcher must have a clear
understanding.

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 CHAPTER 4- TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN

There are many ways to classify research designs, but sometimes the distinction is artificial and
other times different designs are combined. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful
distinctions between possible research designs. A research design is an arrangement of
conditions or collections.

 Like research itself, the design of your study can be broadly classified into quantitative and
qualitative.

Qualitative research design: Qualitative research determines relationships between collected

data and observations based on mathematical calculations. Theories related to a naturally
existing phenomenon can be proved or disproved using statistical methods. Researchers rely on
qualitative research design methods that conclude “why” a particular theory exists along with
“what” respondents have to say about it.

Quantitative research design: Quantitative research is for cases where statistical conclusions to

collect actionable insights are essential. Numbers provide a better perspective to make critical
business decisions. Quantitative research design methods are necessary for the growth of any
organization. Insights drawn from hard numerical data and analysis prove to be highly effective
when making decisions related to the future of the business.

You can further break down the types of research design into five categories:

1. Descriptive research design: In a descriptive design, a researcher is solely interested in

describing the situation or case under their research study. It is a theory-based design method
which is created by gathering, analyzing, and presenting collected data. This allows a researcher
to provide insights into the why and how of research. Descriptive design helps others better
understand the need for the research. If the problem statement is not clear, you can conduct
exploratory research. 

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2. Experimental research design: Experimental research design establishes a relationship
between the cause and effect of a situation. It is a causal design where one observes the impact
caused by the independent variable on the dependent variable. For example, one monitors the
influence of an independent variable such as a price on a dependent variable such as customer
satisfaction or brand loyalty. It is a highly practical research design method as it contributes to
solving a problem at hand. The independent variables are manipulated to monitor the change it
has on the dependent variable. It is often used in social sciences to observe human behavior by
analyzing two groups. Researchers can have participants change their actions and study how the
people around them react to gain a better understanding of social psychology.

3. Correlational research design: Correlational research is a non-experimental research design

technique that helps researchers establish a relationship between two closely connected variables.
This type of research requires two different groups. There is no assumption while evaluating a
relationship between two different variables, and statistical analysis techniques calculate the
relationship between them.

A correlation coefficient determines the correlation between two variables, whose value ranges
between -1 and +1. If the correlation coefficient is towards +1, it indicates a positive relationship
between the variables and -1 means a negative relationship between the two variables. 

4. Diagnostic research design: In diagnostic design, the researcher is looking to evaluate the
underlying cause of a specific topic or phenomenon. This method helps one learn more about the
factors that create troublesome situations. 

This design has three parts of the research:

· Inception of the issue

· Diagnosis of the issue

· Solution for the issue

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5. Explanatory research design: Explanatory design uses a researcher’s ideas and thoughts on a
subject to further explore their theories. The research explains unexplored aspects of a subject
and details about what, how, and why of research questions.

Sometimes a distinction is made between "fixed" and "flexible" designs. In some cases, these
types coincide with quantitative and qualitative research designs respectively, though this need
not be the case. In fixed designs, the design of the study is fixed before the main stage of data
collection takes place. Fixed designs are normally theory-driven; otherwise, it is impossible to
know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often, these variables are
measured quantitatively2. Flexible designs allow for more freedom during the data collection
process. One reason for using a flexible research design can be that the variable of interest is not
quantitatively measurable, such as culture. In other cases, the theory might not be available
before one starts the research.

Need & Importance of Research design

The Importance of good Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the
various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Just as for better, economical
and attractive construction of a house, we need a blueprint (or what is commonly called the map
of the house) well thought out and prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research
design or a plan in advance of data collection and analysis for our research project. Research
design stands for advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data
and the techniques to be used in their analysis, keeping in view the objective of the research and
the availability of staff, time and money. Preparation of the research design should be done with
great care as any error in it may upset the entire project 3. Research design, in fact, has a great
bearing on the reliability of the results arrived at and as such constitutes the firm foundation of
the entire edifice of the research work.

2
At, http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/, last accessed on September 7 th, 2018
3
Dworkin, Ronald. “Legal Research.” Daedalus, vol. 102, no. 2, 1973, pp. 53–64. JSTOR, JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/20024127.

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Even then the need for a well thought out research design is at times not realised by many. The
importance which this problem deserves is not given to it. As a result, many researches do not
serve the purpose for which they are undertaken. In fact, they may even give misleading
conclusions. Thoughtlessness in designing the research project may result in rendering the
research exercise futile. It is, therefore, imperative that an efficient and appropriate design must
be prepared before starting research operations. The design helps the researcher to organize his
ideas in a form whereby it will be possible for him to look for flaws and inadequacies. Such a
design can even be given to others for their comments and critical evaluation. In the absence of
such a course of action, it will be difficult for the critic to provide a comprehensive review of the
proposed study.

Researcher needs to consider all necessary precautions when preparing the design, as any error
may upset the whole project. The reliability of result, which a researcher is looking, is
proportional with design that constitutes a firm foundation of entire body of research work.

The research design serves several purposes. First, it suggests the necessary observations you
need to make to provide answers to the research question. It outlines the ways you should make
your observations. Second, the research design identifies the analytical and statistical procedures
you will need to use when analysing the data. A major purpose of research is to establish that the
independent and dependent variables are causally related. The research design consists of four
components necessary to establish this purpose: comparison, manipulation, control, and the
ability to generalize findings (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias 2000, 88). As we discuss in
later chapters, the research design also specifies a model you can use to test the validity and
significance of the statistical relationships.

The importance of research design in research methodology is due to the following:

 It may result in the preferred kind of study with helpful conclusion.

 It cuts down on inaccuracy.
 Allows you get optimum efficiency and reliability.
 Reduce wastage of time.
 Reduce uncertainty, confusion and practical haphazard related to any research problem.
 Of great help for collection of research material and testing of hypothesis.

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  It is a guide for giving research the right path.
 Gets rid of bias and marginal errors.
 Provides an idea concerning the type of resources needed in terms of money, effort, time,
and manpower.
 Smooth & efficient sailing (sets boundaries & helps prevent blind search)
 Maximizes reliability of results.
 Provides firm foundation to the endeavour.
 Averts misleading conclusions & thoughtless useless exercise.
 Provides opportunity to anticipate flaws & inadequacies (anticipates problems).
 Incorporates by learning from other people’s critical comments & evaluations.

Efficient research is dependent first upon the considerate statements of purpose and objectives,
and associated research questions. These essential preliminary steps in turn drive important
choices regarding study type, plans for analyses and competent implementation within bounded
timeframes and budgets.4

Significance of Research design in Research Methodology

Research design is significant simply because it allows for the smooth sailing of the various
research operations, thus making research as efficient as possible producing maximum
information with nominal expenses of effort, time and money.

Just as for better, economical and attractive construction of a home, we require a blueprint (or
what is typically known as the map of the home) well planned and prepared by an expert
architect, in the same way we require a design or a plan in advance of data collection and
analysis for our research study. It means advance planning of the techniques to be implemented
for accumulating the appropriate data and the strategies to be employed in their analysis, keeping
in view the purpose of the research and the availability of staff, time and money.

4
Szmodis, Jenő. “On Multidisciplinary Legal Research.” ARSP: Archiv Für Rechts- Und Sozialphilosophie / Archives
for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, vol. 98, no. 4, 2012, pp. 483–493.

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Preparation of the design must be carried out meticulously as any error in it may upset the
complete project. Research design, actually, has a great significance and impact on the reliability
of the results achieved and as such constitutes the firm base of the entire edifice of the research
work.

Even then the necessity for a well-planned design is at times not realized by many people. The
significance which this problem warrants is not given to it. Because of this, many researches do
not serve the purpose for which they are undertaken. The truth is, they may even provide
misleading conclusions.

Thoughtlessness in developing the research project may lead to rendering the research exercise
futile. It is, for that reason, crucial that an efficient and appropriate design should be prepared
before beginning research operations.

The design assists the researcher to organize his ideas in a form whereby it will be possible for
him to watch out for flaws and inadequacies. This type of design can also be given to others for
their comments and critical evaluation. In the absence of such a strategy, it will likely be
challenging for the critic to supply a comprehensive review of the offered study.

CHAPTER 5- COMPLEXITIES IN MODERN LEGAL RESEARCH

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Although we have more tools for conducting legal research than our predecessors, the research
task has become harder rather than easier. There are more bases to cover.

 Computer research has introduced the need to be completely current, and to develop new
skill sets.
 There has been a dramatic increase in the volume of case law and statutory material.
 Secondary sources have grown exponentially.
 The law of other jurisdictions must often be researched.

The days when counsel could be reasonably sure they knew the law without having to look it up
has long passed.

In order to cover this large volume of material, you need to conduct efficient and effective legal
research. The key to this is developing a research strategy, and following good research
methodology. The more familiar you are with the resources available, the faster you can develop
your strategy, and the more effective it will be.

Standard of Legal Research

The courts have set the standards they expect of counsel appearing before them. In Lougheed
Enterprises Ltd v. Armbruster (1992), 63 B.C.L.R. (2d) 316 (C.A.) the court held that counsel
has a duty to be aware of all cases on point decided within the judicial hierarchy of British
Columbia, and to refer the court to any on which the case might turn. The court noted that “on
point” does not mean cases whose resemblance to the case at bar is in the facts. It means cases
which decide the same point of law. You may think you can justify not referring to a binding
decision because it is distinguishable on its facts. However, such a determination is for the court
to make: not counsel.

Factors effecting research design

There are various types of research designs that you can use. The one you select depends on the
following considerations.

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  First, what is the purpose of your investigation? Is it to explore and describe some
political phenomenon? Do you also want to explain what you have discovered? Or do
you want to pursue both purposes?
 Second, what resources do you have for your research? Are the necessary data readily
available? Are you impeded by time limitations such as the constraints you face when
trying to complete a term paper within a school semester? Do you have financial
limitations? Is a control group available? Frequently it is expensive to produce hundreds
of questionnaires and travel to data sources. Often you will need to find ways to
compensate for resource limitations without unduly detracting from your research
endeavour.
 Third, there are threats to the internal and external validity of your research findings.
Some of the designs we cover are stronger in internal validity, while others enhance the
external validity of your study.
 Last, you need to remember our discussion about ethics and research. The privacy of your
subjects is foremost. They place their faith in you when they agree to be a part of your
research. Do not violate their privacy or their trust.

As you can see, there are several factors that affect the type of research design you use.
Often, they limit your choices to less than the ideal. As a result, your conclusions may be
limited and somewhat imperfect.

Confirmatory versus exploratory research

Confirmatory research tests a priori hypotheses — outcome predictions that are made before the
measurement phase begins. Such a priori hypotheses are usually derived from a theory or the
results of previous studies. The advantage of confirmatory research is that the result is more
meaningful, in the sense that it is much harder to claim that a certain result is generalizable
beyond the data set. The reason for this is that in confirmatory research, one ideally strives to
reduce the probability of falsely reporting a coincidental result as meaningful. This probability is
known as α-level or the probability of a type I error.

Exploratory research, on the other hand, seeks to generate a posteriori hypothesis by examining a
data-set and looking for potential relations between variables. It is also possible to have an idea

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about a relation between variables but to lack knowledge of the direction and strength of the
relation. If the researcher does not have any specific hypotheses beforehand, the study is
exploratory with respect to the variables in question (although it might be confirmatory for
others). The advantage of exploratory research is that it is easier to make new discoveries due to
the less stringent methodological restrictions. Here, the researcher does not want to miss a
potentially interesting relation and therefore aims to minimize the probability of rejecting a real
effect or relation; this probability is sometimes referred to as β and the associated error is of type
II. In other words, if the researcher simply wants to see whether some measured variables could
be related, he would want to increase the chances of finding a significant result by lowering the
threshold of what is deemed to be significant.

State problems versus process problems

A distinction can be made between state problems and process problems. State problems aim to
answer what the state of a phenomenon is at a given time, while process problems deal with the
change of phenomena over time. Examples of state problems are the level of mathematical skills
of sixteen-year-old children or the level, computer skills of the elderly, the depression level of a
person, etc. Examples of process problems are the development of mathematical skills from
puberty to adulthood, the change in computer skills when people get older and how depression
symptoms change during therapy.

State problems are easier to measure than process problems. State problems just require one
measurement of the phenomena of interest, while process problems always require multiple
measurements. Research designs such as repeated measurements and longitudinal study are
needed to address process problems.

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 CHAPTER 6- CONCLUSION

A research design basically means the plan or technique of shaping the research, or as Hakim
(1987) puts it “design deals mainly with aim, purposes, motives and plans within the practical
constraints of location, time, money and availability of staff”. The possibilities of success of a
research study is significantly improved when the “beginning” is properly defined as a precise
statement of goals and justification.

It is obvious to elucidate that ‘Legal Research’ plays very vital role in the enactment ofnew
statutes meant for Socio-Legal development and enforcement and refining the society from all
the social evils. Legal research, in fact, paves way for the students of law, the scholars, who
involve and dedicate their part in the development of new ideas and concepts for their vital
support to the legislators to acquaint with and then to enact them as new law for the betterment
of the society and the Nation as a whole. Through the intensive study made on the subject, I am
of the firm view that the instant presentation would become a little source in enlightening the
study and frame work on legal research and the New Generation to meet the new golden era in
law.

Research design carries an important influence on the reliability of the results attained. It
therefore provides a solid base for the whole research. It is needed due to the fact that it allows
for the smooth working of the many research operations. This makes the research as effective as
possible by providing maximum information with minimum spending of effort, money and time.
For building of a car, we must have a suitable blueprint made by an expert designer. In a similar
fashion, we require a suitable design or plan just before data collection and analysis of the
research project. Planning of design must be carried out cautiously as even a small mistake might
mess up the purpose of the entire project. The design helps the investigator to organize his ideas,
which helps to recognize and fix his faults, if any.

The Importance of good Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the
various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Just as for better, economical

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and attractive construction of a house, we need a blueprint (or what is commonly called the map
of the house) well thought out and prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research
design or a plan in advance of data collection and analysis for our research project. Research
design stands for advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data
and the techniques to be used in their analysis, keeping in view the objective of the research and
the availability of staff, time and money. Preparation of the research design should be done with
great care as any error in it may upset the entire project. Research design, in fact, has a great
bearing on the reliability of the results arrived at and as such constitutes the firm foundation of
the entire edifice of the research work.

Even then the need for a well thought out research design is at times not realised by many. The
importance which this problem deserves is not given to it. As a result many researches do not
serve the purpose for which they are undertaken. In fact, they may even give misleading
conclusions. Thoughtlessness in designing the research project may result in rendering the
research exercise futile. It is, therefore, imperative that an efficient and appropriate design must
be prepared before starting research operations. The design helps the researcher to organize his
ideas in a form whereby it will be possible for him to look for flaws and inadequacies. Such a
design can even be given to others for their comments and critical evaluation. In the absence of
such a course of action, it will be difficult for the critic to provide a comprehensive review of the
proposed study.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology, 2nd Edition, New Delhi, Wishwa Prakashan.
 S. Mohan, R. Elangovan, Research Methodology In Commerce, New Delhi, Deep &
Deep Publications Private Ltd.
 http://classroom.synonym.com/importance-using-apa-format-research-papers-1010.html
 http://www.rlc.dcccd.edu/library/infolit-ol/mlasl/MLA_print.html
 https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/1/
 http://www.msvu.ca/site/media/msvu/StyleGuideChicago(1).pdf

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