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following entry:
adj. 1 based or acting on observation or experiment, not on theory.
2 Philos. regarding sense-data as valid information. 3 deriving knowledge from experience alone.
In fact empirical research does involve a number of theoretical issues familiar to the lawyer, for example
whether the research methods are deductive (inferring particular instances from a general proposition) or
inductive (inferring a general proposition from particular instances). Some commentators have broadly
characterised judicial reasoning in Common Law technique as essentially inductive and Civil Law technique as
essentially deductive.
Legal scholarship is increasingly informed by the findings of empirical research studies. A number of the
teaching staff in the School of Law have developed a keen interest in pursuing this form of research alongside
monograph and textbook writing and other research efforts.
Increasingly, a number of students, particularly postgraduates, contemplate whether to undertake their own
empirical research as a part of their work. There are, potentially, some considerable advantages in this
strategy.
First, it is likely that if the research is properly conducted, the data obtained may rank as ‘original’ material.
Second, the experience of undertaking such research will introduce you to some of the skills and insights of the
social scientist. Third, a grounding in research methods is a significant transferable skill relevant to a range of
professional activities. Finally, doing such research may simply be a very enjoyable counterpoint to the librarybased
activity central to the legal scholar.
However, there is a need for caution before you decide to include an empirical element into your dissertation or
thesis. First of all, you will almost certainly need to obtain clearance through the School’s Non-Clinical
Research Ethics Committee. Ask your supervisor about this at an early stage.
University of Leicester, School of Law
Writing Guide 2: Writing a Research Paper
9
S e v e n t h e d i t i o n 2 0 0 9
The subject of ‘research methodology’ has a vast literature of its own. There is nothing worse than reading the
results of interview work conducted by students which has been badly prepared and the results used without
any regard to issues which may affect, for example, their ‘validity’ or ‘generalisability’. There are a number of
different approaches to empirical research which can be confusing to students who have no social science
background. In broad terms, empirical research takes one of three forms: quantitative research (for example,
full scale survey work using questionnaires); qualitative research (for example, focused interview work with a
small number of respondents); and a combination of quantitative and qualitative research tools.
It is likely that a reasonable piece of empirical research will be quite time consuming. It is therefore important
that you consider carefully not only what might be the appropriate research tools to use for the research
question you are posing in your research paper, but also whether your constraints of time and resources will
realistically permit you to undertake this work. Finally, there are often confidentiality, ethical and access issues
associated with empirical research. For example, if you wished to pursue a qualitative study on the
effectiveness of police domestic violence units and wanted to interview a selection of police officers and/or
victims of violence, how would you go about such a task? How might you gain access to interview police
officers? Would you need to guarantee anonymity to your respondents? How would you conduct the
interviews and evaluate the results? Would your results be reliable and what would be the limits to which your
findings could be generalised?
Students who wish to include empirical research in their research papers are encouraged to do so but there is
a special need to discuss this with your supervisor and other relevant staff in the Department at an early stage
in your planning. Modules from the LLM in Legal Research programme may be helpful if you are a
postgraduate considering including empirical work in your dissertation.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF CLEARLY
Always try to write concisely, simply and clearly. Accept that you can always improve the clarity of your
writing.
If you are not sure about the use of certain standard grammatical forms, refer to a useful set of short
information sheets produced by the Student Learning Centre.2
You will also find some useful tips on writing plain English on the website of the Plain English Campaign.
3
• Write in complete sentences.
It is vital to proof read your research paper or dissertation, and it can be helpful to ask a friend to read through
your final draft for grammar, spelling and punctuation inaccuracies.
There is considerable focus at all levels of education on what are called core transferable skills. These are those
skills which can be learned in one context and readily be transferred to another context. The ability to express
yourself clearly and succinctly in writing is a good example of such a skill. You will already have writing skills,
but they can almost certainly be improved and developed.
Here are some writing hints, which you may find obvious, but assessors frequently complain that they are not
observed:
• Do not write very long sentences; the meaning can get obscured. A good guide is not to exceed twenty
