Introduction

What do you mean by research?

Research: means adding something to the existing knowledge. It can be

updating, alterations, addition, separation, deletion or correction to the
previous knowledge. Legal research is that branch of knowledge which deals
with principals of law & legal institutions. It’s the study of the relationship
between the world of law & the word that law purported to govern. The
systematic investigation of problems & matters concerned with law such as
codes acts constituion etc. Is legal research. Legal researchers research into
facts of social, political & economic conditions which give rise to individual
rules acts or codes. It also studies social legal & other acts. It can be related
to legal doctrine, institutions, l. H legal philosophy or comparative study of law.

According to Dr. P. Young: It’s a scientific undertaking aiming to

 Discover new facts

 Verify old facts
 Analyses their sequence
 Interrelationship
 Casual explanation derived within an appropriate theoretical
frame of reference.
 Develops new scientific tools concepts & which would facilities
reliable balanced study of human behavior.
According to man aim – ” Research is the careful, diligent & exhaustive
investigation of a specific subject matter which has the aim to advance
mankind knowledge. According to Crawford – ” Research is the systematic
and redefined technique of thinking and employing specialized tools,
instruments and procedure in order to obtain a more adequate solution of a
problem that would be possible under ordinary meaning.

Objectives of Research

 Manipulation of thing concept of symbols.

 For the purpose of generalization.
 To extend or to verify knowledge.
 Knowledge may be used for the construction of theory in practice
of act.
 To familiarize with the phenomena or to acquire new insight into
an existing fact this is also called as expository research.
 To determine the frequency with which occurs or it’s associated
with sth else.
  To portrait accurately the characters of particular object situation
or group. It is called as description research.
 To test the hypothesis of a causal relationship between two
objects.
 To separate facts from speculation.

What do you mean by Legal Research?

Legal Research is the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to

support legal decision-making. It begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and it
concludes with the results of the investigation. Legal research skills are of great
importance for lawyers to solve any legal case, regardless of area or type of practice.
The most basic step in legal research is to find a noteworthy case governing the issues
in question. As most legal researchers know, this is far more difficult than it sounds.

Whether you are a Lawyer, a paralegal or a law student, it is essential that Legal
research is done in an effective manner. This is where the methodology comes into play.
Different cases must be approached in different ways and this is why it is important to
know which type of legal research methodology is suitable for your case and helpful for
your client.

Objectives of legal research

 The main purpose of L.H is to find out the lacunae & suggest
steps to overcome them.
 To discover new facts.
 To test & verify old facts.
 To analyze the facts in a new theoretical framework.
 To examine the consequences of new facts or new principal of
law or judicial decision.
 To develop new legal research tools or apply tools of other
disciplines in the area of law.
 To propound a new legal concept.
 To analyze the law and legal institutions from the point of view of
history.
 To examine the nature & scope of the new law or legal
institutions.
 To ascertain the merits & demerits of old law or institutions and to
given suggestions for a new law.
 To ascertain the relationship between legislature & judiciary & to
given suggestions as to how one can assist the other in discharge
of duties.
 To developed the principle of interpretation for critical
examination of statutes.
Significance of Legal Research
Law is the most important instrument of social change the significance of the
research is based on Justice equity good conscience.

 It helps the government in formulating suitable laws to pursue it’s

economic and social policies.
 It helps in solving the various operational and planning problem
related to the business industry and tax.
 It helps the courts in solving issues.
 It helps the legal practitioner in taking a decision as to how he
should tackle the problem in hand.
 It brings legal awareness in society.

Different Types of Legal Research

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 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.

2) 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.

3) 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.

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.

4) 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.

5) 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 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.

6) 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.

7) 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.

8) 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.

Other Major Methods of Legal Research.

1) Doctrinal Legal Research

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.

2) 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.

3)  Comparative Legal Research

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.

Conclusion

Legal research is a systematic understanding of the law while keeping in mind it’s
advancements. Law usually acts within the society and they both have an impact on
each other. Each kind of research methodology has its own value. However, while
undertaking research a researcher might face some hurdles but they can be avoided if
he/she properly plans the research process