AN ASSIGNMENT ON:

‘LEGAL RESEARCH REPORT’

SUBMITTED BY:
UTKARSH MISHRA
ROLL NO – 10 CLASS: 2nd SEMESTER, LLM

FACULTY OF LAW,
LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

DR. VINEETA KACHER
FACULTY
(CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND HUMAN RIGHTS)
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
FACULTY OF LAW
LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY.
What is Research?

Definition: Research is defined as careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern

or problem using scientific methods. According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie,
“research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed
phenomenon. It involves inductive and deductive methods.”

Inductive research methods analyze an observed event, while deductive methods verify the
observed event. Inductive approaches are associated with qualitative research, and deductive
methods are more commonly associated with quantitative analysis.

Research is conducted with a purpose to:

 Identify potential and new customers

 Understand existing customers
 Set pragmatic goals
 Develop productive market strategies
 Address business challenges
 Put together a business expansion plan
 Identify new business opportunities

What are the characteristics of research?

Good research follows a systematic approach to capture accurate data. Researchers need to
practice ethics and a code of conduct while making observations or drawing conclusions.

 The analysis is based on logical reasoning and involves both inductive and deductive
methods.
 Real-time data and knowledge is derived from actual observations in natural settings.
 There is an in-depth analysis of all data collected so that there are no anomalies
associated with it.
 It creates a path for generating new questions. Existing data helps create more research
opportunities.
 It is analytical and uses all the available data so that there is no ambiguity in inference.
  Accuracy is one of the most critical aspects of research. The information must be
accurate and correct. For example, laboratories provide a controlled environment to
collect data. Accuracy is measured in the instruments used, the calibrations of
instruments or tools, and the experiment’s final result.

What is the purpose of research?

There are three main purposes:

 Exploratory: As the name suggests, researchers conduct exploratory studies to explore a

group of questions. The answers and analytics may not offer a conclusion to the
perceived problem. It is undertaken to handle new problem areas that haven’t been
explored before. This exploratory process lays the foundation for more conclusive data
collection and analysis.
 Descriptive: It focuses on expanding knowledge on current issues through a process of
data collection. Descriptive studies describe the behavior of a sample population. Only
one variable is required to conduct the study. The three primary purposes of descriptive
studies are describing, explaining, and validating the findings. For example, a study
conducted to know if top-level management leaders in the 21st century possess the moral
right to receive a considerable sum of money from the company profit.
 Explanatory: Causal or explanatory research is conducted to understand the impact of
specific changes in existing standard procedures. Running experiments is the most
popular form. For example, a study that is conducted to understand the effect of
rebranding on customer loyalty.

List of Types in Research Methodology

Research methods are classified based on different criteria. They are a general category, nature
of the study, the purpose of the study, and research design. Also, there are interviews and case
studies based on research methodology. In some researches, more than two methods are
combined while in some, very few methods are taken into account for the study.
Based on General Category,

1. Quantitative Research

As the name suggests, quantitative refers to the numbers where data is collected based on
numbers, and a summary is taken from these numbers. Graphs help to quantify the results in
quantitative research.

2. Qualitative Research

Qualitative refers to the non- numerical elements in the research. When the information or data
cannot be grasped in terms of numbers, qualitative research comes for the rescue. Though not
reliable as much as quantitative, qualitative research helps to form a better summary in terms of
theories in the data.

Based on the nature of the research,

3. Descriptive Research

Facts are considered in descriptive methods and surveys and case studies are done to clarify the
facts. These help to determine and explain with examples, the facts, and they are not rejected.
Many variables can be used in descriptive research to explain the facts.

4. Analytical Research

Analytical research uses the facts that have been confirmed already to form the basis for the
research and critical evaluation of the material is carried out in this method. Analytical methods
make use of quantitative methods as well.

Based on the purpose of the study,

5. Applied Research

Applied research is action research where only one domain is considered and mostly the facts are
generalized. Variables are considered constant and forecasting is done so that the methods can be
found out easily in applied research. The technical language is used in the research and the
summary is based on technical facts.
6. Fundamental Research

Fundamental research is the basic or pure research done to find out an element or a theory that
has never been in the world yet. Several domains are connected and the aim is to find out how
traditional things can be changed or something new can be developed. The summary is purely in
common language and logical findings are applied in the research.

Based on research design,

7. Exploratory Research

Exploratory studies are based on the theories and their explanation and it does not provide any
conclusion for the research topic. The structure is not proper and the methods offer a flexible and
investigative approach for the study. The hypothesis is not tested and the result will not be of
much help to the outside world. The findings will be topic related that helps in improving the
research more.

8. Conclusive Research

Conclusive Research aims at providing an answer to the research topic and has a proper design in
the methodology. A well-designed structure helps in formulating and solving the hypotheses and
give the results. The results will be generic and help the outside world. Researchers will have an
inner pleasure to solve the problems and to help society in general.

9. Surveys

Not least considered, but Surveys play a main role in the research methodology. It helps to
collect a vast amount of real-time data and helps in the research process. It is done at a low cost
and can be done faster than any other method. Surveys can be done in both quantitative and
qualitative methods. Always, quantitative surveys must be considered above qualitative surveys
as they provide numerical outputs and the data is real. Surveys are mainly used in the business to
know the demand for a product in the market and to forecast the production based on the results
from the survey.
10. Case Studies

Case studies are another method of research methodology where different cases are considered
and the proper one for the research is selected. Case studies help to form an idea of the research
and helps in the foundation of the research. Various facts and theories can be considered from
the case studies that help to form proper reviews about the research topic. Researchers can either
make the topic general or specific according to the literature reviews from the studies. A proper
understanding of the research can be made from the case study.

Also, we have focus groups and research interviews to understand the research methods in a
well-defined manner. Structured and unstructured methods can be followed by various methods.

Definition of Legal Research

Legal research is generally the process of finding an answer to a legal question or checking for
legal precedent that can be cited in a brief or at trial. Sometimes, legal research can help
determine whether a legal issue is a "case of first impression" that is unregulated or lacks legal
precedent. Virtually every lawsuit, appeal, criminal case, and legal process in general requires
some amount of legal research.

Legal research is a process. This guide gives you a general overview of the process of
conducting your own legal research. Legal research and analysis are the process that lawyers use
to determine what laws apply to the facts of their case, which facts are relevant to their claim,
what type of remedy they can ask for in court, and what other cases might impact the judge’s
decision.

The process of applying the law to the facts of your case and arguing for a specific outcome
requires more training than any single guide can provide. So, this guide cannot replace the
expertise of an attorney, particularly when presenting the findings of legal research to a judge
in court.

How Your Attorney May Use Legal Research

Your attorney (or a paralegal under their supervision) may review statutes, caselaw, and
secondary authority before deciding how to proceed with your case. Since the law is based on
precedent, caselaw with a similar fact pattern can give your attorney an idea of how things may
play out in court.

Similarly, a corporate lawyer may conduct legal research in order to determine whether a
proposed new policy would expose the company to liability. This may include research into
building codes, employment laws, or federal environmental regulations.

Research Reports:

Research reports are recorded data prepared by researchers or statisticians after analyzing
information gathered by conducting organized research, typically in the form
of surveys or qualitative methods.

Reports usually are spread across a vast horizon of topics but are focused on communicating
information about a particular topic and a very niche target market. The primary motive of
research reports is to convey integral details about a study for marketers to consider while
designing new strategies. Certain events, facts and other information based on incidents need to
be relayed on to the people in charge and creating research reports is the most effective
communication tool. Ideal research reports are extremely accurate in the offered information
with a clear objective and conclusion. There should be a clean and structured format for these
reports to be effective in relaying information.

A research report is a reliable source to recount details about a conducted research and is most
often considered to be a true testimony of all the work done to garner specificities of research.

The various sections of a research report are:

 Summary
 Background/Introduction
 Implemented Methods
 Results based on Analysis
 Deliberation
 Conclusion

Components of Research Reports

Research is imperative for launching a new product/service or a new feature. The markets today
are extremely volatile and competitive due to new entrants every day who may or may not
provide effective products. An organization needs to make the right decisions at the right time to
be relevant in such a market with updated products that suffice customer demands.

The details of a research report may change with the purpose of research but the main
components of a report will remain constant. The research approach of the market researcher
also influences the style of writing reports. Here are seven main components of a productive
research report:

Research Report Summary: The entire objective along with the overview of research are to be
included in a summary which is a couple of paragraphs in length. All the multiple components of
the research are explained in brief under the report summary. It should be interesting enough to
capture all the key elements of the report.

Research Introduction: There always is a primary goal that the researcher is trying to achieve
through a report. In the introduction section, he/she can cover answers related to this goal and
establish a thesis which will be included to strive and answer it in detail. This section should
answer an integral question: “What is the current situation of the goal?”.  After the research was
conducted, did the organization conclude the goal successfully or they are still a work in progress
– provide such details in the introduction part of the research report.

Research Methodology: This is the most important section of the report where all the important
information lies. The readers can gain data for the topic along with analyzing the quality of
provided content and the research can also be approved by other market researchers. Thus, this
section needs to be highly informative with each aspect of research discussed in
detail. Information needs to be expressed in chronological order according to its priority and
importance. Researchers should include references in case they gained information from existing
techniques.

Research Results: A short description of the results along with calculations conducted to achieve
the goal will form this section of results. Usually, the exposition after data analysis is carried out
in the discussion part of the report.
Research Discussion: The results are discussed in extreme detail in this section along with a
comparative analysis of reports that could probably exist in the same domain. Any abnormality
uncovered during research will be deliberated in the discussion section. While writing research
reports, the researcher will have to connect the dots on how the results will be applicable in the
real world.

Research References and Conclusion: Conclude all the research findings along with mentioning
each and every author, article or any content piece from where references were taken.

CONCLUSION

We may conclude by saying that the task of defining a research problem, very often, follows a
sequential pattern—the problem is stated in a general way, the ambiguities are resolved, thinking
and rethinking process results in a more specific formulation of the problem so that it may be a
realistic one in terms of the available data and resources and is also analytically meaningful. All
this results in a well-defined research problem that is not only meaningful from an operational
point of view, but is equally capable of paving the way for the development of working
hypotheses and for means of solving the problem itself.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFRENCES

 https://texaslawhelp.org/
 https://www.questionpro.com/blog/research-reports/
 Kumar, R. (2008) “Research Methodology” APH Publishing Corporation

 Chawla, D. & Sodhi, N. (2011) “Research Methodology: Concepts and Cases” Vikas
Publishing House PVT Ltd