Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM686: Approaches to Research in Law (ESRC)

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

Firstly, this module aims to make you aware of a range of possible approaches to legal research, to locate the specific socio-legal and empirical approaches in a wider methodological framework and to open up your methodological horizon. For each approach, you will be made aware of the key authorities, together with their respective merits and the possible difficulties generally associated with them. As a result, this module is meant to give you greater awareness of the methodological dimensions of research, and to guide you in choosing an appropriate approach (or combination of approaches) for your own research. Overall, it is meant to increase the scholarly rigour of your research.

Secondly, the module aims to encourage your independent research skills and participation in class discussion through student-centred interactive workshops. These workshops are further designed to give you the opportunity to put into practice a number of approaches, both separately and in combination, and to test your ideas and share experience with fellow students with the tutor’s guidance and advice.

Thirdly, the module aims to help you design your own methodological approach, by either following one of the approaches discussed in class and deepening your understanding, or choosing to combine two (possibly more) approaches in a way that makes most sense for your own research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate in writing and orally deep and critical awareness of a range of possible methodological approaches to law, including empirical and socio-legal methods 2. Demonstrate in writing and orally deep and systematic knowledge of a specific set of approaches more appropriate to your own research 3. Compare, analyse and synthesise your understanding of these approaches and apply them in formulating research questions and in designing your own methodological framework
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of a range of legal approaches and of the significance of methodological choices for legal research 5. Demonstrate flexible and innovative ability to select an appropriate approach (or a combination of approaches) for your own research 6. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive understanding and critical awareness of how your chosen approach(es) to research is (are) situated in relation to other approaches, as well as of their respective limits
Personal and Key Skills	7. Clarify, plan and undertake tasks confidently and independently, individually and with others, to reflect critically on the learning process and to make use of feedback effectively 8. Identify, retrieve and use the full range of library-based and electronic resources efficiently and autonomously 9. Interact effectively, confidently and proactively within a team/learning group, to share information and ideas, and to manage divergence of opinions in a professional manner

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics (with some possible variation in the order of delivery):
- Introduction and empirical approaches to law
- Comparative approaches to law
- Historical approaches to law
- Theoretical approaches to law
- Planning research

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
15	135	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	15	15 contact hours in 5 student-centred three-hour interactive workshops
Guided independent study	80	Locating and reading materials (80 hours)
Guided Independent Study	20	Preparing synthetic notes and short oral presentations for the specific task set in each workshop
Guided independent study	35	Assessment preparation: conducting research, producing formative work and writing up the summative work

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).