UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES
PANJAB UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH
Research Methodology Project
TOPIC: Descriptive Legal Research
Submitted to: Prof Navneet Kaur
Submitted by: Naina Mittal
Roll no 88/22
BA LLB (hons) sem-6
Section-B
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Acknowledgement
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the people who have helped;
supported me throughout my project. I am grateful to my teacher, Prof Navneet
Kaur, for her continuous support for the project, from initial advice; contacts in
the early stages of conceptual inception; through ongoing advice;
encouragement to this day.
I would like to thank my parents for their undivided support and interest who
inspired me and encouraged me to go my own way, without whom I would be
unable to complete my project.
At last, but not the least, I want to thank my friends who appreciated me for my
work and motivated me.
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INDEX
Context Pg no.
What is research? 4
Purpose of research 4-5
Legal research 5-6
Kinds of legal research 7
Descriptive legal research 8
Methods 9
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What is Research?
A term can be best understood with reference to the purpose it seeks to achieve. The purpose
of research is either to know about or to contribute something new to the existing state of
knowledge. The former can be described as the ‘disinterested search for knowledge and
understanding for its own sake’1, while the latter is an application-based approach to the
problems in the real world. The prefix ‘re’ before research signifies a continuum which
verifies or supplements existing knowledge. It involves a systematic, careful, diligent and
thorough investigation into a specific question with a primary objective of contributing to the
existing knowledge. A directionless, unspecific, unsystematic and mere surface brushing
would give us results that cannot reveal realistic outcomes.
Purpose of Research
Apart from general understanding, of knowing that is, pure, basic or fundamental research or
to find something new as in form of a solution that is applied or action research, putting in
broader terms research fulfils one or more of the following objectives:
2.1 To contribute to existing knowledge in a discipline (for example, law).
Research can give us new set of perspectives at looking at things. For example, historical
events are continuously revised and reviewed on the basis of research. Therefore, the version
of history might not be the same for two different set of generations. Given that many of us
would believe them to be unchangeable given they are facts but still it can be argued that they
can be viewed from a different lens. This had a positive impact on existing state of
knowledge in a particular discipline, in the sense that it expands its horizons.
2.2 To inform policy making (for example, crime, housing, education).
Research also informs policy questions. For example, research can be used to address socio-
economic issues say education as to how it can be given a direction as to ensure growth in a
nation, or say as to how to best avoid food wastage and can there be a space for law to tackle
these issues? These kinds of researches inform policy making which ultimately reflects in the
law and decision making.
2.3 To address a specific issue or question (for example, substance abuse in campus).
1
See David Wilkinson (ed.),The Researcher’s Toolkit, Routledge, (2000) at pg. 2
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Research findings are also used to answer a specific issue at hand. It stemmed from the
concerns that the conventional researches were not having much impact and, thereby, new
approaches that were seen as being more relevant and practical in the real-world settings were
developed. It can be action research which is both diagnose a specific issue and attempt to
solve it, thereby, to improve practice in some way. Also, it may be evaluation which assesses
the existing state of affairs in an era wherein the accountability has increased. That requires a
constant reassessment about the worth or usefulness of a particular service, policy or other
intervention.
Legal Research
Taking a cue from the discussion above legal research can be understood as a systematic
finding or ascertainment of law on an identified topic or in the given area as well as an
inquiry into law with a view of making advancement in the science of law. 2 This is not an
easy task to find the law in a vast mass of statutes which are constantly amended and
supplemented by rules regulations, orders, directives, ordinances, judgment of courts, and
bye-laws. Also, for making advancement in the science of law requires a systematic probe
into the underlying principles of and reasons for law. Thus, legal research has a broad ambit
to it. It has to be continuously done by legislators, a judge, a lawyer, a law student and a law
teacher.
Purpose of Legal research
Law does not sit in a vacuum instead it operates in a complex social context. It reflects
attitudes and behavioural norms, and also control and mould them. However, as these norms
are also temporo-spatial, that is changing with time and space, it is desirous that law has to
adapt and be dynamic in order to cope with the changes. Thereby, legal research becomes
essential for ascertainment of law, to point out ambiguities and weaknesses of law, to
critically examine the laws in order to ensure coherence, consistency and stability of law and
its underlying policy, to conduct a social audit of the law, and to suggest reforms in the law 3.
Taking them one by one:
2
S.N. Jain, Legal Research and Methodology, 14 Jr. of Ind. L. Inst. 487 (1990) at 490.
3
See P.M. Bakshi, Legal Research and Law Reforms in S. K. Verma and M. Afzal Wani, (eds.), Legal Research
and methodology (Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, 2nd Ed., 2011) at 111.
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4.1 Ascertaining the law
In a complex mass of legal statues and coupled with allied legal material it is not always easy
to find the law on a particular point. They are scattered and a single issue may involve
application of various laws. Judicial pronouncements add to the complexity. A researcher
needs to locate, analyse and understand these pronouncements. So, the process involves an
intensive analysis of legal instruments and judicial pronouncements.
4.2 Highlighting ambiguities and gaps
A law is not designed to address every contingency that might arise in future. Because it’s the
nature of law that it is reactive it answers to problems which had arisen and seldom is it that it
is proactive. Secondly even the phraseology of a provision may not fit with the legislative
intent or may not match with other provisions of the Act. Research highlights these gaps and
inbuilt ambiguities.
4.3 Determining coherence, stability and consistency
Via a process of critical evaluation of the law a researcher can exhibit the consistency,
coherence and stability in the law. This helps in future designing and development of law,
legal provision or doctrine, as the case may be.
4.4 Social auditing of law
It’s a pre-legislative step done in order to understand and appreciate the social factors that
had an impact on the making of the law. It enables one to know the stakes the law intends to
protect or change and reasons for the same. Such an audit helps to identify gap, if any
between the legal ideal and the social reality and to know the reasons responsible thereof. It
also enables us to predict the future of law.
4.5 Suggesting reforms
In the light of the research reforms can be proposed in precise terms. These outcomes can be
on the basis of an analytical, historical and comparative research.
Kinds of Legal Research
The basic types of research can be broadly classified in various subsets wherein they can be
understood in comparison with another kind of research. Those are:
6.1 Descriptive and Analytical Legal Research
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The former describes the state of affairs as it exists. It describes the phenomenon, reporting
what has happened or what is happening, without going into the reason or cause for the same.
The tools used are surveys, comparative and co-relational methods and fact-finding enquiries.
But it does not establish any relationship between the variables. The analytical research
however uses the facts and information available to make a critical evaluation.
6.2 Applied and Pure Legal Research
The aim of the former is to find a solution to a pressing practical problem at hand. Research
is putted in a practical context. The latter focuses on generalization and formulation of a
theory. Its aim is to broaden the understanding of a particular field of investigation. The
researcher does not focus upon the practical utility of the results
6.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Legal Research
As mentioned, the former is about quantity or amount, that is, what can be expressed in
numerical form of results. The latter however aims at garnishing views and opinions to give
outcomes. It relies on reasons behind a particular behavioural aspect.
6.4 Conceptual and Empirical Legal Research
The conceptual research is related with an abstract notion or an idea. Generally resorted to by
the philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or re interpret the existing concepts.
The latter however relies upon experience and observation alone. It is data based, coming up
with results that can be verified by observations or experiments.4
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[Link]
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DESCRIPTIVE LEGAL RESEARCH
Meaning
Descriptive research is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of the
population or phenomenon studied. This methodology focuses more on the “what” of the
research subject than the “why” of the research subject. The descriptive research method
primarily focuses on describing the nature of a demographic segment, without focusing on
“why” a particular phenomenon occurs. In other words, it “describes” the subject of the
research, without covering “why” it happens.
A major aim of descriptive studies is to describe and document a phenomenon of interest.
They can define the scope and nature of a research problem by describing the characteristics
of persons, organisations, settings, phenomena and events. Typical research questions of
descriptive research designs are: What is happening? How is something happening? What has
happened?
Descriptive studies can be either cross-sectional or longitudinal. The former provides a
snapshot of the variables included in the study and collects these data at a given time whereas
the latter measures each of the variables with the same sample or different sample population
over two or more time periods. The reason for repeated measurement of the same variables
from the same people or subjects in a descriptive longitudinal study is to measure any change
in variables over time. For instance, in order to measure the changing attitudes and
confidence levels of the public towards the criminal justice system, opinion or community
surveys may be conducted once every five years.
For example, if a researcher wants to understand the illiteracy rate among poor people in
particular area like Chandigarh, he 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 literacy rate among poor people in
Chandigarh?”, but not cover any investigative details on “why” illiteracy exists. Because for
the researcher trying to understand the illiteracy rates, for them, understanding the nature of
their illiteracy is the objective of the study.
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Descriptive Research Methods
Descriptive research is categorized in different research methods that have different purposes
in the research process. These methods can be used when you are conducting descriptive
research according to your goals and objectives.
Survey Method
Surveys are one of the methods that can be applied in descriptive research to collect
information. The descriptive survey majorly deals with investigating the degree at which a
condition can be on the subjects. For example, if a research problem wants to find out the rate
of the turnover in the organization due to the Coronavirus, the researcher can come up with
surveys that are going to be answered by the employees of the organization. The survey
questions could use the open-ended or closed mode of questionnaires that are going to be
filled by the employees. Data that has been collected is to be analyzed by the use of
quantitative or qualitative research methods to come up with the findings. This method allows
the accessible collection of information from the specified target sample; in turn, different
solutions can be applied after the analysis.
Observation Method
Observation is a significant part of the descriptive research. In most cases, this method can
use both qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyse the data. The observation method
involves the collection of data that is to be interpreted to give a correlation between the two
variables in the descriptive research. Additionally, the observation method can use the
qualitative through the collection of data in the form of observing the behaviors and
characteristics of the target sample. As we said earlier, the descriptive research aims at
identifying the real issue in the research problem, hence the research question allows them to
have a deep insight into the real issue. This will make them have enough data to analyse and
come up with the right findings.
Case Study Method
The case study method entails the use of a target sample or subgroup that information will be
collected from. Frequently, there is the integration of different data collection methods such
as surveys or questionnaires that are filled by the participants to collect the data needed. The
use of a small group allows you to understand the dynamics of the whole group hence will
enable you to discover something new about the research problem.
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Advantages of Descriptive research
➔Descriptive research allows easy analysis of non-quantified research problem by
implementing the qualitative methods
➔It uses easy research methods such as observation, where the researcher may or may not
participate in the activities that are ongoing in a particular target group.
➔Descriptive research is multifaceted as it incorporates different research designs like
quantitative research and qualitative research designs.
➔It is time conscious as it saves you more time compared to other research designs like
quantitative methods.
Disadvantages of Descriptive research
➔Descriptive research may not confirm the research problem statistically.
➔Non-responsiveness and biases could be there when coming up with the result based on the
researcher’s observation and inadequate statistical methods used.
➔The studies cannot be repeated due to the methods used like observation.
➔It is inadequate in helping the researcher in the identification of the cause of the
phenomenon.
➔It covers a limited scope of study where it focuses on what rather than why in the research
problem.
➔The use of methods such as case study might not be the representation of the whole target
sample hence affecting the results produced.
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MAJOR PROBLEMS IN LEGAL RESEARCH
The major problems while undertaking legal research are as following:
1. Cultural problems
2. Structural and procedural problems (for example, unsympathetic attitude of authorities.)
3. Lack of resources, (for example, Access, money etc.)
4. Incompetence (For example inadequate planning etc.)
5. Lack of networking and forums
CONCLUSION
Legal research is a systematic understanding of the law with a view of its advancement. The
purposes of the same are very important to the people and society because law acts within the
society and they both had an impact on each other. Every kind of research method had its
own value. However, while undertaking research a researcher might face some hurdles but
they can be avoiding by proper planning of the research process.
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