Students Companion LW 305

FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL
RESEARCH:
A LAW STUDENT’S COMPANION
HAMUDI ISMAIL MAJAMBA
[DRAFT: Issued For Restricted Circulation

For USE BY students of the school of law
(formerly faculty of law]
© H.I. Majamba, December 2009

Fundamentals of Legal Research …© H.I. Majamba Dec 2009 – (Draft: For student use only)
INTRODUCTION
This companion seeks to explore the topic of research from the point of view of the
dilemma faced by law students in comprehending the legal research course. 1 The
companion is therefore limited in its scope in the sense that it does not address research
in its holistic sense. It is confined to research that is undertaken by students in the
discipline of law at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. This specific focus should,
however, not be used for putting up a case that requirements of research that is
undertaken in the field of law are radically different from those in other disciplines. The
specific focus has been dictated by a very specific mission and objective to which this
companion is confined. It is primarily intended to provide some basic guide to a law
student embarking on undertaking research and thereafter writing the LL.B. dissertation,
which is compulsory at the University and in most other Universities that offer law
degrees in Tanzania.
In most Universities teaching law as a first degree in Tanzania, legal research has been
made a compulsory course. 2 Legal research as used in this companion does not refer to
the course that is structured to assist law students find the law in statute books or cases in
the law library. The phrase is used here to refer to the course that prepares law students
to embark on research with the view of writing their dissertations at the undergraduate
level. In most law faculties this course is taught towards the completion of the LL.B.
degree.
Although primarily intended for undergraduate law students, the companion would also
provide useful insights to the postgraduate students, especially those who did not have
the opportunity to study the subject at undergraduate level.
1
This publication is still being developed and therefore, its flow and design will radically change upon
completion of the final draft. It also still needs further editing. It has been released in this form mainly to
provide some guidance to students who have had to grapple with limited literature on the subject.
2
These include those at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Mzumbe University, Open University of
Tanzania and Tumaini University.
2
Despite the teaching of the legal research course, most existing material on the subject is
difficult to come by. The little that exists lacks a specific and comprehensive coverage
and focus on law.
The companion is therefore purposefully designed with a view to equipping law students
with the basic research methodology skills and tools to enable them conduct legal
research in an interdisciplinary context. It intends to impart to law students some
knowledge on the methodology, skills and tools to enable them comprehend the basic
requirements of conducting research on pertinent matters and issues relating to the
operation of legal processes and the social, cultural, historical and economic context in
which law operates and is perceived in society.
On the one hand, it is hoped that the companion will attempt to fill the vacuum felt by
both undergraduate and postgraduate students who, while embarking on research find it
difficult to come by basic texts on the subject. On the other, it is projected that the
companion will provoke more thoughts leading to more publications. This would result in
the availability of more reference material on the subject.
UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH
In order to understand legal research, it is important to have an idea of what research
generally entails. A number of authorities have provided different definitions of research.
There are minor and relatively insignificant differences in the definitions provided. It
would be of more assistance to zero into the similarities, rather than ponder on the
differences in the definitions provided by most authorities on the subject.
Some notable authorities on the subject seem to have little difficulty in agreeing that
research is a process for scientific search for pertinent information on a specific topic.
That it consists of defining and re-defining problems, formulating hypotheses or
suggested solutions to collecting, organizing and evaluating data. 3
3
See Kothari – Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, (2nd Ed) pp.1-15 and Pons V. (Ed)
Introduction to Social Research DUP, p. XV-X-XXVII
3
THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH IN LAW

Generally most people who decide to conduct research seek to inform society of the
various developments in the fields that the research is undertaken. In law, research is
usually undertaken to find out the truth which may be hidden or obscured in legal
jurisprudence or that which has not been discovered yet.
The other purposes of legal research are to acquire and impart knowledge for purposes of
proving or disapproving a legal issue/s and extend ideas or develop new ones in the legal
scholarly literature or a dispute. One may also undertake legal research to justify the
existing status quo. A good illustration of a research that seeks to justify the status quo is
where a person who is not content with some criticisms leveled against an institution
he/she heads or is affiliated (whether it is a State agency, a public corporation or a private
company) with decides to undertake (or facilitate the undertaking of) legal research with
the sole purpose of proving the critics wrong. Such a person would concoct the research
problem and sometimes findings that would ensure that the institution maintains its face.
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF CONDUCTING LEGAL RESEARCH

One of the objectives of conducting legal research is to change or influence perceptions,
attitudes or behaviors of society members with regard to their perception of law and how
legal issues affect their day to day lives generally. Since policies usually set the basis for
legal reform, it follows therefore that the other main objective of conducting legal
research is to influence policy with a view to achieving legislative reform. A person
conducting legal research should also aim at drawing the attention of lawmakers on the
problem identified and solutions that have been recommended for them to commence
action to bring change.
The need to conduct research is, albeit not expressly, also referred to by the Constitution
of the United Republic of Tanzania. Article 18 (1) clearly provides that every person has
the right to seek and impart information. Article 18 (2) provides that every person has a
4
right to information on events and developments in and outside Tanzania that is relevant
to his or her being and also to be informed on the general matters relevant to society. One
of the ways of imparting or seeking information is by way of undertaking research. Also,
in order to fully enjoy the right guaranteed under Article 18 (2), research in a variety of
disciplines must be undertaken. We should also state here that the importance of research
has been given prominence by the Constitution as a factor that can cement relations
within the Union structure. This partly explains why research and statistics (an important
component of research) have been included in the list of Union matters provided for
under the First Schedule to the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. 4 In
addition to the Constitutional guarantees, it should also be borne in mind that Tanzania is
a party to a number of international human rights instruments and conventions which
require Parties to provide its citizens with avenues to access information.
Courts in Tanzania, like elsewhere, have often applied social and economic data to justify
their findings. Although the courts have not expressly stated that research is important,
the examples and phraseologies used in some judgments indicate the usefulness of
research. In the case of Mbushuu and Another vs. Republic, for example, the Court
acknowledged, albeit indirectly, the importance of thorough research in writing
judgments when he stated:
“Before we finish, we commend the trial judge for his excelled industry in his exploration
of the human rights literature. However, we would also like to point out that the style he
has used in writing the judgment, dividing it into parts and sections, with headings and
sub-headings is unusual. That style is more suited for a thesis than a judgment.” 5
Earlier, in Mbushuu’s case, the court had observed the need for research in assisting the
court reach a decision, although again indirectly. The court noted the absence of research
on whether the death penalty is the most effective punishment when it stated:
4
See Items 18 and 20 of the Schedule. The inclusion of item 19, which places research on weather forecast
in the list of Union matters further goes to show the importance of research. See also the case of Shaban
Khamis Mloo et al vs. The Superintendent of Zanzibar Prisons et al [1991] TLR 21 at p. 33
5
[1995] 1 LRC 216 at p. 232
5
“No research on this has been conducted in Tanzania…” 6
A relatively more direct reference to the relationship between research and judgments and
the need for Counsel to conduct research when making submission was provided by
Judge Barnabas Albert Samatta (as he then was) in the Zimbabwean case of Barker
McCormac (Pvt) Ltd vs. Government of Kenya. 7 In this case, the former Chief Justice of
Tanzania addressing an issue not well researched upon by Counsel observed:
“No authority from our jurisdiction or from South African jurisdiction directly in point
was cited to me and I have been no more successful in my own researches.”
Papers presented at conferences or seminars by academics are usually products of in-

depth research. The reference to research studie s and papers by courts is very common. In
the case of Bihawa Mohamed vs. Ally Sefu, the late Chief Justice Nyalali made reference
to a paper published in a Medico-Legal Journal to show that researchers had indicated
developments that support the argument that a wife’s contribution to the division of
matrimonial assets ought to be considered. 8 The court also referred to the proposals made
by a Commission that was charged to undertake research on the law of marriage and
divorce in Kenya. In the case of John Mwombeki Byombaliwa vs. the Regional
Commissioner and Regional Police Commander, Bukoba, the late Justice Mwalusanya
quoted, with approval, papers presented by law academicians of the University of Dar-es-
Salaam during the Silver Jubilee of the Faculty of Law. 9
In the Indian case of Rabin Mukherjee vs. State of West Bengal10 the court heavily relied
on research findings to prohibit indiscriminate noise pollution. It took judicial notice of
the research findings which revealed that persons who were staying in the vicinity of an
airport were often victims of various ailments including mental disabilities. 11
6
Ibid.,
7
High Court, Harare, Civil Trial 15, 16 October 1984 and 16 January 1985
8
[1983] T.L.R. 32 at p.37.
9
[1986] T.L.R 73. The Justice cited Prof. Shivji and Mr. Wambali’s papers. (See pp. 79 and 88-89,
respectively).
10
AIR 1985 Cal. 222
11
Ibid., see also Hussain, M.S in “The Law Relating to Noise Pollution in India,” Orient Journal of Law
and Social Sciences, (A Monthly Journal) September 2005 pp. 40 – 41
6
Another important objective of undertaking legal research is to reach out to the

institutions involved in influencing legislative reform and the legislative processes, with a
view of influencing their decision making mechanisms. The institutions we have in mind
here include courts of law, law reform commissions and legislators on the perception and
trends of society members’ on controversial legal issues. It is expected that these would
consult and be influenced by the research reports that are a product of legal research.
Legal research is also useful in filling gaps on existing knowledge on legal literature.
Sometimes, for a diverse number of reasons, studies or researches are not completed. The
reasons may range from lack of funds and limitation of time. Sometimes the researchers
may discover something that they had not initially contemplated but can not take it up in
their study. In such a case, in such studies the researchers usually state that there is need
to undertake further studies and in fact sometimes provide the areas that need to be
probed into further.
Sometimes legal research may be focused at provoking ideas, thoughts and challenge
new paradigms on long held tenets to bring change through lobbyists and other civil
society organizations/associations. Indeed the testing of established legal doctrines and
theories is a justifiable reason in undertaking legal research. For example, one may
conduct legal research to challenge the application of Montesquieu theory (doctrine) of
separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary in Tanzania.
Of course, it is a long held tenet and indeed, that is what the new law student has been
made to believe; that the se three pillars of the State must be separated for there to be
proper, meaningful and transparent democratic process and the rule of law. One may, for
example, undertake research to test the extent to which Tanzania has progressed
democratically, in disregard of Montesquieu’s.
Further references:
1. Glanville Williams, Learning the Law, Chapter 12
2. Moris Cohan et al, Legal Research in a Nutshell, St. Paul Minnesota, West Publishing Con.
1992
7
3. Pollack’s Fundamentals of Legal Research, (4th Edition) Jacobstein and Mersky, 1973
4. Price and Bitner, Effective Legal Research, (1968)
IDENTIFYING THE LEGAL PROBLEM

Law students preparing to write their LL.B dissertations have on some occasions found it
increasingly difficult to identify researchable legal problems. The tendency among
students has been that most of them try to identify legal problems by perusing existing
texts and past research papers on a pre-determined area that a student is determined to
undertake. I have always told my students that this is one the most dangerous things to do
while setting a foundation for undertaking legal research. A legal problem is not located
in past papers, research reports or textbooks on some self-proclaimed notion of the
manifestation of the problem in society.
Most students seek to identify legal problems from studies that have already been
undertaken. In my view, this is not proper and maybe misleading, especially for a young
researcher. The starting point for identifying a legal problem is to look at the society
around you and focus on the problems that members of society are constantly
deliberating. One should make sure that the problem identified is manifested in society
itself.
The problem with most students is that they want to identify the problem themselves and
then move into society to address it by asking respondents to answer some questions that
have already been pre-determined by the student. It must be borne in mind that in order to
have a researchable legal problem, then the problem should be seen from the lens and
perspective of members of society who are affected within a given locality. The problem
should not be envisaged by the prospective researcher without first integrating with
society members. In short the problems must be identified by society, not the student
preparing to go out into the field. That is to say, the student should look at the kind of
problems that society is constantly confronted with.
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The problem should be one of law. It should have ramifications that are not only related
to the social aspects of society but should be linked to the law. The following
hypothetical facts may be used by researches from different disciplines to formulate
different sets of researchable problems:
People in town X have been experiencing an increase in soil erosion along the slopes
surrounding the town. Most of the inhabitants of this town are predominantly carpenters.
Also, those who do not practice carpentry are engaged in the export of charcoal to
neigbouring towns. This charcoal is mainly used as fuel wood in neigbouring towns. The
local government authorities and environmental lobby groups have been complaining.
(a) A researcher in the field of economics would have to identify an economic

problem from the above facts. He/she may deal with the economic value of wood,
factors that may explain the trade in wood between inhabitants of town X and
those of neigbouring towns. He/she may also opt to research on the opportunity
costs of using alternative source of energy and its effects on reducing the
environment harm.
(b) A political scientist researcher, on the other hand, would most likely research on
the governance structure by looking at the extent to which authorities used their
political influence in an attempt to address the environmental gradation.
(c) A geologist would most likely come up with a different perspective of the above
facts and may conduct research on the type or rocks and their ability to contain
and retain water in order to determine whether the felling of trees to support the
carpentry industry is the sole cause for soil erosion in the slopes.
(d) A legal researcher may focus on exploring whether principal environmental laws
are enforced and whether there are any by- laws made by the community members
to address the problem. He/she may go further by analyzing the extent of
implementation and enforcement of the laws or whether the punishment provided
for by the laws are deterrent.
9
As can be seen from the above (a-d) a researcher from any discipline may undertake
research in town X, but with different perspectives. The difference between a legal
researcher and the researchers in the fields of economics, political science and geology is
that in analyzing and addressing the problem identified, the legal researcher must make
every effort to provide an in-depth and critical analysis of legislation, legal systems and
institutions and case law related to the problem at either the national or international
levels or both. It is not expected of the economist, political scientist and the geologist
researchers to undertake such an in-depth analysis of legal issues, whatever the bearing
the legal issues may have in their area of expertise.
There are a number of indicators that can assist a researcher in law to extract/identify a
legal problem from society. Before we embark on a discussion of these, it would be
important to point out here that there are some factors that a researcher has to take into
account at the outset. The researcher must attempt to address some of the following
questions:
(a) Is the legal problem/ identified area in law researchable given the time available?
(b) Do I have sufficient resources (financial (grants, loans) and human (research
assistants) to undertake the study?
(c) Do I have enough contacts to be able to reach out to the important stakeholders in
the legal circles and integrate with them, get accepted and be able to collect
information?
(d) Is there sufficient legal baseline data to provide guidance prior to undertaking the
research /study?
(e) To what extent are the legal issues to be addressed been covered by existing
literature?
(f) Will the result and recommendations of the research be of interests to others in the
legal fraternity?
(g) Has the identified legal problem been a recurring subject in the media coverage
and of particular interest to either the local, regional and international
community?
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(h) Has the problem provoked debate among legal scholars, lawyers, civil society
organizations dealing with legal issues?
(i) Whether controversy or divergence of opinion among members of society
surrounds the legality or illegality of the issue /problem intended to be addressed
by the research.
(j) Has the problem been addressed by the court in a manner that has raised/provoked
concerns, criticisms or general disapproval?
Both in the case of research discussion papers and in the case of the dissertation however,
the choice will fundamentally be your own responsibility. You should seek suggestions
from your instructor only after you have made an honest attempt to settle on a topic
yourself. Your own respons ibility in this respect increases with your academic progress
and with the amount of training you have had in a particular field –if you develop several
possible subjects your instructor will be glad to discuss with you their relative merits and
to help yo u to choose the one which seems the most promising.
A recent case or article in a law review, a footnote suggesting a further line of research, a
questionable statement in a treatise, or a remark in a class – any of these may be the spark
for a topic on a legal issue. The subject should above all be one which you yourself find
interesting and about which you genuinely desire to research upon.
The questions posed above are not easily answered, and careful attention to them may
result in your enjoying and profiting from the experience of conducting legal research
much more than if you were to plunge into work in a topic without thoughtful
investigation and appraisal of its potentialities. To do this entails research. Your
selection of a topic or area of research should also be based on a preliminary survey of
the published materials bearing on the topic and a close analysis of the alternative lines
along which your inquiry and discussion might be directed.
If you are to have adequate time for research and writing, the choice of subject should be
made as early as you became able to find your way about in the particular field which
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you have chosen. Much research actually consists of stumbling across information, and
the more time you can provide for this process, the better. You must also provide ample
time for the thinking through of your problem.
The preliminary study you devote to the selection of your topic will ordinarily enable you
to stay with the subject you have chosen. However, this is not always the case. If you
find a line of research unproductive or if you find it has already been covered more
completely than you had first supposed, you should not be afraid to drop it at the earliest
available opportunity. But you cannot do this too many times, or you will be hopelessly
behind. The selection of a suitable topic is actually a large segment of your total work in
the course of undertaking research and writing the dissertation.
CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC/TITLE

When it comes to deciding on a fitting title for a research, law students and indeed even
Professors have difficulties. It should be borne in mind that drafting a working title,
though tedious, helps the researcher to focus on the direction of the research. The title
makes the legal researcher to keep reflecting on the topical issues rather than venturing
into the wilderness covering areas not initially envisaged by the identified problem.
Coming up with a good title should not really bother the researcher in the initial stages of
preparing for the research. In law schools, due to the need to allocate research
supervisors, among other administrative issues that need to be sorted out, students have
often been compelled to come up with a topic/title even before they have settled on the
problems they would like to research on. In practice, however, titles/topics have
constantly been revised, radically changed and sometimes abandoned, even after the first
draft report has been prepared. In fact, for those who have an experience in publishing,
the final words in titles to papers and articles are sometimes put in last.
There are a number of tips than could be useful when constructing a good title for legal
research. First and foremost, the title should focus the topic by describing it succinctly. It
should, on the face of it, be capable of being identified in the legal discourse. That is say,
12
when one looks at the wording of the title, he/she should, with little difficulty, identify it
with law. The best test is this: When another person comes across the title on the final
research report, would he or she place the report bearing the title on a shelf marked “law”
or fumble not knowing where to place it? However, the title should not be too leading. It
should only provide some indication of the area being researched upon. It should be
framed in a way that will enable the reader to easily grasp its scope and meaning.
The title must be concise and try to describe the focus of the research area in a sentence.
Every attempt should be made to eliminate unnecessary words such as “An Approach
to….” A good title should not exceed twelve words. It would be better if one can come
down to ten words. When drafting the title, every effort must be made to reduce
unnecessary words but retaining the focus.
Reference for Further Reading: Wilkinson, The Scientist’s Handbook for Writing Papers
and Dissertations, (1991)
COLLECTION OF DATA IN THE FIELD 12

Field research or field work in legal research is essentially both a data gathering strategy
and theory generating activity. It is an “outdoor” (meaning outside the confines of a law
library or a legal documentation center) activity that is useful for studying legal related
topics, phenomena or people within natural settings and for investigating social legal
processes over time.
A number of legal related problems may be investigated in the field. For example, one
may embark on investigating an identified community’s culture, norms and traits and
their effect on the legal process, or how the legal process has transformed them. Field
work may also entail the investigation of law related practices involving behavior such as
whether the imposition of stiffer punishment in criminal law does actually serve as a
12
The data collection discussion and analysis in this part has purposefully focused on qualitative as
opposed to quantitative studies as it is this type of studies that most law students pursuing the LL.B.
programme undertake.
13
deterrent and whether it reforms offenders. Legal relationships inherent in family ties and
corporations may also be a subject of field work.
Main Types of Data

There are basically two main types of data that can be collected from the field. These are
secondary and primary data. Primary data is that data that is obtained by a researcher
through personal observation. It is the raw information obtained in the field and examined
by the researcher. Secondary data, on the other hand, is the data that is obtained from a
second source. It is not the researchers own observations/findings in the field. It is the
data that is obtained by other researchers/scholars but is used by the researcher.
Secondary data is usually obtained through library research. An important point to
underscore at this juncture is that it is extremely useful for the researcher or his informant
to keep a journal or note-book during the entire duration of the research study. The
keeping of a journal or notebook should not be compromised, whether the collection for
data for the study is based in the library or in the field.
Disadvantages and Advantages of Primary and Secondary Data
Primary Data
It is usually stated that one of the main advantages of primary data is that it provides first
hand information from the personal observation of researcher. This characteristic makes
it guarantee the correctness and accuracy of the information and data that is obtained in
the field.
The other advantage of primary data is that there is flexibility in getting information from
respondents while in the field. An answer provided by a respondent while in the field
may influence further probing by the researcher. That is to say, the answer to one
question may influence the ne xt question.
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It has been argued that primary data does not have any element of tainted biases that may
result from an observation oversight of another researcher. Also the copy rights on data
obtained by this method vests in the researcher. This kind of data also conforms to the
well known principle of the law of evidence – primary evidence is the best evidence.
Finally, the process of getting primary data enhances the relationship between researcher
and subject/respondent and provides avenues for further research by other researchers.
Despite its advantages, primary data also has its set-backs. The process is often costly as
it entails travel, accommodation and paying informants, among other things. Secondly, in
order to get primary data, a researcher has to integrate with the respondents. However
well experienced a researcher may be, integrating with subjects becomes difficult. This is
mainly because different societies have diverse cultures and taboos. For example it would
be hard for a male researcher to be accepted in a culture where males (especially
strangers) interacting with women is prohibited. Members in other societies cannot easily
open up to “strangers” and discuss “culturally sensitive” issues. In some communities,
counting people is considered disrespectful. The other problem with primary data is that
in the course of getting it there is a likelihood of the researcher integrating too much and
then becoming too attached. This may lead to biasness in the type of conclusion drawn
and or in the analysis of data obtained.
While getting primary data, there is some likelihood of the researcher becoming
subjective. This is especially true because the observations of a selected group of
respondents by the researcher are not necessarily representative of all. This implies that
the conclusions drawn from the use of primary data may sometimes be flawed.
In some cases primary data may entail the intrusion of the privacy of community
members’ lifestyles. It is common for example, in some studies, to request a particular
group of people to leave so that the researcher can proceed with interviewing others.
Even in the use of focus group discussions, as we will discuss later, it may be difficult for
some people to be open and freely discuss certain issues they consider may intrude upon
their lifestyles.
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Most researchers know too well how awkward it could get when community members or
respondents generally get the feeling that a “stranger” or an “invitee” is probing into and
asking them details about their community lifestyles, customs and in some cases issues
that are usually never disclosed to “outsiders.” As a result of such suspicion community
members may not divulge the right information, but rather than make the researcher feel
“un-welcomed” they may provide information that is totally skewed or that which does
not wholly reflect the cultural practices or beliefs of the community members.
Sometimes subjects may resort to this not with the intention of misleading the researcher,
but to conceal their rituals and cultural practices.
In cases where the researcher does not understand the language spoken by the
respondents, it becomes necessary to use interpreters. This not only entails costs, but it
may sometimes be difficult to rely heavily on the translation. People may have different
ways of comprehending messages unless they know the community members well. This
is equally true for interpreters. The translation they provide should therefore sometimes
be taken with some pinch of salt - with caution. Some communities may have a different
(negative) perception of the interpretation process. Their effectiveness in providing the
required information and their participation may be questionable. This would certainly
have implications for the data generating process and may affect the validity of the
conclusions and analysis drawn by the researcher.
Secondary Data
A researcher who opts to use secondary data would not have to worry about incurring
expenses in terms of travel, payment to informants and interpreters and accommodation,
to mention but a few of the costs that are likely to be incurred when one opts for primary
data.
The increase in modern technology, which has totally transformed the information
highway, has made it possible to obtain reliable secondary data at the click of the mouse.
The growth of information technology has also not only made it easier to verify the
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authenticity of the secondary data but removes the element of subjectivity and allows for
a broader coverage of a relatively wider range of issues.
The other benefit of secondary data is that its collection saves time and leaves room for a
more comparative analysis of issues on the research being undertaken. Secondary data
also overcomes the problem associated with integrating with respondents.
The other advantage of secondary data is that it subjects research that has been conducted
to critical analysis by a wider range of people.
Secondary data, however, also has its share of disadvantages. First and foremost, it
encourages plagiarism. This is especially true with new researchers who have not
mastered the ethical aspects of research. A researcher is easily tempted to copy works of
other reports or studies without acknowledging them.
Basically secondary data is data that has been obtained by an author other than the
researcher under circumstances not fully known to the researcher. The loose recollection
of the author while compiling data may be misleading to the person relying solely on the
work.
Also in the course of reviewing secondary data, the likelihood of encountering differing
accounts of the same event by different autho rs is very apparent. This scenario is very
confusing, even to an experienced researcher. Side by side with this set-back is the fact
that the interpretation given by one author may be different from another.
Reliance on secondary data presumes that the subjects studied, interviewed or observed
in one setting are representative of others. In most cases, this fails to take into account the
social, political, cultural and economic situations that the subjects are in. In this respect, a
researcher who solely depends on secondary data fails to appreciate the reality that the
subjects studied by the authors he/she is depending on do not necessarily represent the
remaining groups.
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Prejudice is yet another problem associated with the use of secondary data. If not used
with caution, secondary data may lead to prejudice. A researcher is likely to be easily
influenced by the views of the authors of the reports he or she is relying on.
It is common knowledge that words used in texts sometimes depend on the context and
cultural surroundings. Law students will appreciate this point where they recall their
lectures on the topic of statutory interpretation in the Legal Method course. This means
that the language in which most reports are written is capable of being misunderstood,
especially where the context in which the words have been used is not known. Also
language barriers can seriously inhibit the understanding of texts.
The law student will realize that at a more professional level, research is usually funded.
This means that some research reports are a product of funding by an agency, institution
or organization. Research that is fund driven is sometimes usually crafted (especially the
final report that may not be accessed by the original researcher) to suit the funding
agency, institution or organization. In most cases, the researcher that is contracted by the
agency, institution or organization is required to conform to the terms of reference that
may sometimes have limited a thorough coverage of a subject matter. Under certain
circumstances it may be difficult to change the terms of reference and in some cases the
agency, institution or organization may edit the final report, to suit its interests, before
they publish it. A researcher therefore has to be on guard when using such reports which
form part of secondary data.
RESEARCH ETHICS
Any discipline, profession or line of work has values, principles or moral codes that must
be complied with. When conducting research, whether the researcher is bound to go into
the field or is confined to documentary analysis in the library, there are certain morals or
codes of behavior that are expected of him/her.
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Every research that is conducted in Tanzania and the research output is generally
regulated by an institution or authority that is vested with the regulatory mandate by the
law. Legislation may also vest rights to regulate research that is undertaken in the area the
law has vested the institution with overall oversight. For example, the Tanzania Wildlife
Research Institute Act, vest such power with regard to research in wildlife issues and the
Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology which is vested with power to oversee
and clear research that involves foreign researchers.
One of the main objectives of a tertiary (higher) learning institution is to conduct

research, the others being essentially reaching and consultancy. Students in universities
need the research clearance letters. These are usually obtained from their respective
institutions. The letters usually identifies the researcher to the respondent s and informs
them of the nature and purpose of the research. The letter must state clearly that the
research has been approved and would be used by the institution for education purposes.
One of the ethical norms of research relates to disclosure of the research area or subject to
respondents. In some cases it may be difficult to get data from respondents/subjects on
certain issues if the researcher discloses the topic or subject of his research. This applies
to both primary data and secondary data. The ethical question then is whether the
researcher is bound to disclose the research subject or topic to respondents. On the face of
it, this does not seem to be a problem. However, one when thinks of this scenario in the
light of the delicate balance between the right of the public to be informed and the right
of the subjects to be informed of the truth relating to the research, then one can easily
appreciate the dilemma a researcher can find himself in.
Another ethical issue that has been discussed by researchers with diverging views relates
to revealing the researcher’s identify to the respondents. Some have contended that not
revealing the identity of a researcher causes ethical problems. On the others hand, there
are those who have argued that concealing the researcher’s identify may sometimes have
positive effects. For example, it may lead to completeness and accuracy of data collected.
However, the majority agree that the bottom line is that not telling the truth is essentially
19
deceiving and is generally considered unethical. How then can a young up-coming
researcher go around these problems? The best advice I can give is to make sure that you
debrief subjects after the study to minimize effects of deception.
Plagiarism is not simply copying but us ing of another person’s research finding, idea,
phrase or sentence without acknowledging the source, or acknowledging it inadequately
in the research report. It is common for students (and researchers generally) to transfer
data and information from other peoples work and present it as their own, with the hope
and sometimes strong belief that the supervisor will never get to know of the source. In
the world of information communication technology a lot of information and data can be
obtained by the click of the “mouse.” This may make it more inviting for the reckless
student researcher to plagiarize even where the intention to do so had not built in.
There is a fine distinction between acceptable plagiarism and unacceptable plagiarism.

Acceptable plagiarism is where the writer records the information in the original
paragraph accurately, gives credit for the ideas in the paragraph or indicates which part is
taken directly from a source by putting the paragraph in quotation marks and citing the
page number. Where a writer uses sentences from a paragraph that he read in a report in
his own report without putting quotation marks around them, then this would amount to
plagiarizing – unacceptable plagiarism. It does not matter whether the writer cites in his
own text the source of the phrases or sentences he has quoted.
The World Wide Web has become a more popular source of information for researchers
and students. The same rules apply with regard to sources used in the web. When one
makes reference to ideas or refers to a quotation from a web site, he must cite that source.
A number of strategies have been advocated for with a view to avoiding plagiarism.
Firstly, the writer is advised to put in quotations information that is directly extracted
from the text especially when taking notes. Secondly, in order to avoid chances of
plagiarizing, the writer ought to paraphrase. However, care must be taken to ensure that
the paraphrasing does not amount to mere rearranging a few words, or just replacing
certain selected words for other similar words. The writer is advised to read over what he
20
wants to paraphrase very carefully and get make every effort to get his focus away from
the text and then proceed to write his ideas in his own words without peeping. When
paraphrasing, the writer of course uses his own words, but he must still acknowledge the
source of information.
The delicate balance between ensuring that the rights of respondents are not violated vis-
à-vis the rights of society members to be informed also has a bearing on ethics. It is trite
that research subjects (respondents) have rights that the researcher has to respect. For
example, respondents have a right to provide or withhold their consent to be involved in
the research after being informed of the nature, purpose, objective and consequences of
the research and how it will affect them. They also need to know the use to which the
research findings will be put to, the people who it will be exposed to, whether foreign or
local or whether the research will generate income, to mention but a few.
The issue of confidentiality is very crucial to any research. Under normal circumstances,
the identify and information of the subjects must not be disclosed, of course unless where
the subjects have consented after being fully informed of the consequences if any and the
use to which the information they have provided will be put to. There could be
provisions in the law which may circumvent this right. But ordinarily, the researcher is
usually trusted by the respondent and this relationship must be reciprocated by the
researcher. He must be honest to his subjects.
The researcher is also, under normal circumstances, required to protect the anonymity of
the respondents. In order to achieve this it is recommended that while in the field, the
researcher should make an effort not to connect a given response with a particular
subject/respondent. This is sometimes difficult because, it does not help when the
memory fades and the researcher would like to make a follow-up on the person so that he
can get the proper information. Where a researcher is able to identify a given subject’s
response but had promised not to reveal his or her name or title, every effort must be
made to ensure confident iality/privacy of the subject and that the subjects identify is not
revealed. In this case, there is some kind of fiduciary relationship between the subject and
21
the researcher. The case of Nocton vs. Lord Ashbarton (1914) A.C. 562) expounds this
kind of relationship further and students are called upon to read it again.
It is normal for researchers to provide some payment either in monetary terms or in the
form of goods and service, to respondents before and after the research. It is
recommended that respondents be given a token of appreciation, where possible, for the
cooperation shown. However, this should never be made to entice the subjects to provide
information or data to the research team. Providing incentives to respondents in the form
of presents or money with the aim of getting information can sometimes lead to
problems. It is recommended that voluntary participation be encouraged. For example,
when one is conducting research on the rights of female prisoners in Tanzania, it will not
be difficult to convince the prisoners to participate voluntarily because the prisoners
would, under normal circumstance, believe that the research is likely to benefit them
personally. In this case, their decision to take part in the research is purely voluntary.
Researchers are usually reminded to ensure that they avoid causing psychological harm to
respondents. For example, asking respondents to reveal unpopular and demeaning habits
or personal characteristics that would despise them. Asking subjects to address issues that
they would not normally/ordinarily consider would also cause psychological damage.
Once they feel treated in a demeaning manner, most respondents would be unwilling to
cooperate with future researchers who seek to undertake research in their locality.
Ethics in research may also translate in the manner in which the researcher dresses. Of
course there is certainly no official dress code, but respondents may react negatively to a
researcher simply because they do not approve of the manner in which the researcher
presents himself to them, by way of dressing. A negative reaction from respondents is
likely to have implications on the authenticity and validity of the data obtained. It is
important, therefore, for a researcher to conduct some background check on, among other
things, the culture and perceptions of the respondents he intends to integrate with regard
to dressing. For example, in some cultures of Tanzania, women are required to dress in a
certain manner. If a female researcher wants to integrate and get authentic information
22
from community members who have this perception, she is better off ensuring that her
manner of dress would not inhibit her “approval” into the community to conduct
research.
Ensuring the accuracy of data when writing the research report is also important. It is
unethical to manufacture information where a researcher has no recollection of the source
of information that he had jotted down while in the field. Of course, in the case of
documentary research, it is much easier to locate the document. However, things may still
be complicated where the document proves difficult to find. If the data or information
was obtained by way of field work, it is recommended that the researcher goes back to
the field, where this is possible, or try and contact the source, if he has the contact. A
researcher should not try to recollect memory of data that has been misplaced or that
which cannot be remember. It is better to omit from the research report information
which cannot be remembered rather than concoct information based on poor recollection.
Some research entails staying or even living with respondents. Even where there are
periodic visitations, when it comes to leaving the respondents, some ethical issues arise.
Depending on the period stayed with the respondents, detaching from subjects after
completion may have negative effects on subjects and researcher. A researcher must
remember that research is a continuous process that entails the generation of new ideas
and knowledge in different disciplines over time. This implies that once the researcher
leaves the community, the likelihood of other researchers coming to the same community
is great. Goodbyes could be very emotional. The researcher usually makes close friends
in the community and sometimes detaching could be hard. The researcher sometimes
shares things like food, soap and sugar for example, with community members. It is
usually difficult to accept the fact these niceties will no longer be available upon
completion of the research. It is important to prepare the subjects by informing them of
plans to leave as the research nears completion.
It is useful if the researcher says farewell to respondents instead of leaving abruptly and
without a word in a community or amongst people he had been with while collecting
23
data. In the event of a community, a visit to each household, where possible is

recommended and it would be helpful is the researcher told respondents that if possible,
they would visit, if time permits or when the researcher is in the neighborhood he/she
would pay a courtesy call to them. It is may also be useful to comfort the respondents that
their input will be useful and when their ideas are implemented, they may bring change
for the better.
Respondents would also feel appreciated if the researcher makes an effort to send them
the research findings or a summary of the findings, if possible translated in a language
they understand. It is common for researchers who have lived with community members
in an amicable way during the research period to take photographs with them either for
memory or report writing. If this is done, it would comfort the respondents to assure them
that the photographs will be mailed to them. The researcher should ensure to keep
promises made. Do not take all your belongings, leave something for the children where
possible, writing pads for school, pens and pencils and bags to carry books.
A debate has ensued among some authorities in research on situations where it would be
considered “appropria te” to “break” the ethical code. The gist of the debate has been
focused on the extent to which the subjects’ rights, in the course of applying the ethics
code, could compromise the rights of the public to be informed through the research
process. It is common, especially in developing countries, to meet bureaucratic
procedures in the course of seeking for information. It is also common for employees,
especially in government, to claim that certain documents can not be accessed for
research purposes (even where it is purely academic). They often hide behind the veil of
“confidentiality” and deny access to researchers. The issue then is whether in such cases
it would be un-ethical to find ways of accessing the information by going around such
employees, or put it differently, paying a clerk to access the file containing the
information a researcher needs.
It would be difficult to draw a fine line between making a justification for the need of the
public/society to be informed through research and strictly adhering to the ethical code of
24
research by not accessing information or not protecting the subject. Students may wish to
engage in a discussion or debate on when it would be considered appropriate to adhere to
the strict code of ethics and when it would be inappropriate. This way, students will be
better placed to understand and appreciate the difficulties involved.
Researchers are called up to ensure that they conduct their studies by treating respondents
with the respect and dignity. It is also important for the researcher to bear in mind that
when dealing with vulnerable groups of persons, such as orphans, refugees, children and
women, these must be accorded respect and their vulnerability must be recognized.
Researchers should always make sure that they do not exploit the privileged relationship
they have towards this category of respondents.
One of the cardinal rules that a researcher must abide to is to ensure that respondents give
their consent to being interviewed or participate in the research by their own volition.
That is to say, the researcher must respect the respondents’ freedom to participate in the
study freely and after understanding and being fully informed of the nature, purpose and
objective of the research.
Some types of research can cause physical or psychological harm to communities where
it is being conducted. Researchers have to ensure that they do not cause such harm to
respondents. For example, where a community has undergone some traumatic event, it
would not be appropriate for a researcher to request respondents in such a community to
recollect such events, whose memories may bring untold pain and suffering and which
are still vivid in their memories. In such a situation, a prudent researcher would have to
conduct investigations earlier, to establish those likely to be harmed, know what type of
questions to ask and which to avoid. Of course, it is not argued that such communities
may not be approached for purposes of research even where recollections may cause
harm, the point we are advancing is that in the course of undertaking research in such
circumstances, the researcher must always strive to minimize harm and maximize
benefits.
25
In some jurisdictions, laws have been enacted that attempt to provide some leeway in
drawing a line between what is permissible and what is not in complying with the ethical
code for research. 13
Selected references for further reading on ethics and research

Boruch R and Cecil J (Eds)- Solutions to Ethical and Legal Problems in Social Research,
Academic press, London, 1983
Ethical Behaviour Policy 33 University of Waterloo
http://www/research.uwaterloo.ca.ethics/misconduct/guidelines /policy 33.html
Policy and Procedures on Ethics in Research, the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, August 1994
Ethics Policy, St. Edwards University, Course Polices
http://www.stewards.edu/educ/minus/read1323/gethicteach.html
Goren R.L Interviewing Strategy, Techniques and Tactics (Rev. Edition), Dorsey Press,
Homewood, 1975
Hricik D and Ellis “Disparities in Legal Ethical Standards between State and Federal
Judicial Systems: An Analysis and Critique,” Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol.
XIII No. 4 Summer 2001 pp. 577-605
Kalish S.E “How to encourage Lawyers to Be Ethical: Do Not Use the Ethics Code As a
Basis for Regular Law Decisions,” The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. XIII
No. Summer 2000 pp. 607-648
Sieber, J.E (Ed) The Ethics of Social Research, Fieldwork, Regulations and Publication,
Berlin, Springer Vellag, 1982
The Research Report: A Guide for Beginners, Ronald Press, New York, 1951
Wax, R.H Doing Field Work: Warnings and Ad vice, University of Chicago Press,
Chicago 1971
13
See for example, Rosemary Jay Masons, “THE IMPACT OF THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998
ON SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH New Ethical Challenges in Socio-legal Research SLSA (Social Legal
Studies Association) Conference 9 September 2004 University of Westminster London. This paper has
been appended (Annexture E) to this manual for ease of reference by students. This has been done due to
the importance that the author of this manual attaches to this topic.
26
RESEARCH TOOLS
Research tool as used in this context basically refers to the instruments that are used by
the researcher to collect data or information. Depending on the kind of methodology
employed, a researcher would use either primary or secondary tools in the course of
collecting data from for the research.
Primary Tools
Primary tools are those that the researcher would employ while conducting field research.
There are a number of tools that a researcher could employ, depending on the nature and
enormity of the research.
Interviews
One of the most common tools that a researcher would employ in the field with a view of
collecting information is the use of interviews. An interview is basically an interaction,
where questions are posed or a discussion takes place, between two or more people with a
specific purpose in mind. The interview may be conducted face to face, by telephone or
by the use of any such other electronic media.
The use of interviews is one of the earliest forms of collecting data for research. This tool
is still the most commonly used for collecting information from subjects/respondents
today. There are basically two main types of interviews. They could be either structured
or unstructured. In some cases a researcher may opt for a combination of both.
An unstructured interview consists of a person to person interaction that is conducted by

the use of a guide – an interview guide, basically a list of reference questions, with a
logical flow. In preparing for an unstructured interview, the researcher organizes a guide
that has basic questions that he/she would ask respondents spontaneously during the
interview.
It is important to emphasize here that although the questions posed to the respondent in
an unstructured interview are usually pre-determined by the researcher, they are not
27
asked in a chronological order. The respondent is usually given enough leeway to

respond to even issues that may only be remotely related to the question that has been
posed by the researcher. The main idea is to ensure that the respondent feels free with the
issues being discussed but the researcher also has to make sure that at the end of the
interview, the data or information needed from the identified respondent is obtained.
One of the advantages of using an unstructured interview is that it is useful where in

depth information is required. An unstructured interview is also flexible in the sense that
it allows an interviewee to seek clarification on the kind of questions that the researcher
asks.
Despite its pros, some authorities have identified problems with the unstructured
interviews. One of the main disadvantages of this tool, it has been noted, is that the
interview guide that is usually prepared by the researcher does not list specific questions
to be asked to the respondent. Therefore it is difficult for the researcher to compare the
questions asked and responses obtained when making an analysis of the data/information
obtained in the field.
With the use of unstructured interviews, the researcher usually gains experience during
interviews. This implies that the questions asked to the various respondents are bound to
change hence the type of questions asked from those who were interviewed at the
beginning may be markedly different from that obtained from those interviewed towards
the end.
The other problem with the use of unstructured interviews as a viable tool for collecting
data is that the researchers’ freedom to ask different questions to different respondents
may introduce an element of bias into the study. Some questions may be repeated while
others are omitted.
A structured interview, as the name suggests, is the kind of interview where the
researcher asks a pre-determined set of questions, using the same wording and order of
28
questions as specified in the interview schedule. 14 The researcher formulates questions

and when interviewing, he/she does not deviate from the questions set.
The main advantage of using a structured interview is the fact that it provides uniform
information to the researcher, making it easier to compare data obtained from different
sources. The primary disadvantage with this type of research tool is that it is generally not
flexible as the researcher’s ability to ask follow-up questions is often limited.
Nominal/Focused Group Discussions

Some populations for a number of reasons may not feel either at ease with a particular
method of data collection, such as being interviewed or comfortable to express opinions
in a questionna ire. Also, subjects with little or no education may respond differently to
certain methods of data collection compared to people with education.
In such circumstances, group discussions may be of help in collecting information/data

needed. In order to avo id the problems above, researchers usually carefully select a small
number of people (6 – 12) and gather them at prearranged places and invite the members
to openly discuss issues related to the research. The members engage in group discussion
while the researcher plays a minimum role of just teasing out issues and taking notes.
Focus group discussions are intended to reveal some of the complex, subtle aspects of the
relationship between say people and the legal machinery. They help bring onto the fore
key themes on the issue and may form the basis for future studies (surveys, etc.) It is also
useful to use a focus group discussion guide in the course of leading discussion or
probing issues so that the group does not loose direction. 15
Questionnaires
A questionnaire is a written list of questions prepared in a series form by the researcher
on a given legal problem that are sent to respondents. It may be used to either extract,
14
An interview schedule is a written list of questions, open or closed ended that is prepared for use by the
researcher, in a person to person interaction. This may be face to face, by telephone or such other electronic
media
29
record or collect data. It is a gadget that has often been used in research to commence the
process of discovery from the perspective of the respondent. The respondents are
normally required to record the answers and return the list to the researcher. In answering
the questions, respondents read the questions, interpret what they understand from the
questions and then write down the answers. Where questionnaires on a legal issue are
carefully crafted and administered, they could prove to be a very useful tool for getting
data from specific groups or people or entire populations on the identified legal problem.
Questionnaires could either be close-ended or open-ended. The former leaves no room

for the respondents to provide comments on the research problem. The views of the
respondent on the problem under study are limited to the set of pre-set responses for each
question. In the open-ended questionnaires on the other hand, respondents are often
permitted a leeway in the sense that they may use their own words when responding to
the questions.
As pointed out above, the choice of when to use a research tool, for example whether to
use a questionnaire or to interview respondents essentially depends on the nature of the
legal problem to be investigated and the social economic characteristics of the study
sample/population.
Designing Questionnaires
Although the format and standards of questionnaires may differ depending on the legal
problem being addressed, there are important tips for designing a good questionnaire. A
good questionnaire must have an introduction part that is brief. The introductory part of
the questionnaire should be brief and provide for the name and address of the researcher
institution to which the researcher is affiliated. For the law student it will be the
University. This part should also provide a brief on the purpose and objective/of the
research – that is what the research seeks to achieve. It should also contain a line or two
explaining why it is important that the respondent fill in the questionnaire. In case the
15
See sample of a Focus Group Discussion Guide on the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in a
university community. Annexture D
30
questionnaire is being administered elsewhere, it would be a good idea to state so.

Students may also use the clearance certificate issued by their Universities as part of the
introduction - by appending it to the questionnaire. 16
A good questionnaire should also provide specific instructions to the respondent on how
to answer the questions. The researcher must always remember that when the respondent
is filling in the questionnaire, the researcher will not always be there. It is therefore
important that the researcher provides clear instructions on how to answer the questions.
For example, it is important to state whether the respondent should put a tick or circle
(where there are multiple choice questions). It is also important for the researcher to
remember to provide an option for the respondent that is to refuse/skip a question, or to
provide for an explanation where the respondent feels like doing so.
The most common mistakes made by young inexperienced researchers generally is,
among other things, using complicated formats with bad ordering, posing unsuitable
questions.
It is common for students to ask how long the questionnaire should be. There is no
straight forward answer to this. That is to say, there is no standard length, but a
questionnaire that it too long will generally put off respondents. Some assistance on the
general format that a questionnaire ought to take may be got from testing the
questionnaire on a piloting basis. Such tests are not common for students doing the
compulsory research paper mainly because of expenses in terms of finance and time.
However, testing questionnaires on a pilot basis is recommended as it helps the
researcher to find out if there are any problem areas prior to embarking on the field. The
researcher may use any sample group from a randomly selected type of respondents.
Students may use their fellow students for the purposes of piloting and get feedback from
them before embarking on the field. This may take care of the problem of costs.
16
See Appendix “A.”
31
The language used in a questionnaire must be appropriate to the targeted respondents and
simple and clear. Again, the researcher must always keep in mind that the respondents
may be by themselves at the time of filling in the questionnaire and an opportunity for
them to seek clarification may not arise. In designing the questionnaire, every effort must
also be made to avoid long and winding sentences.
The questions posed must have a bearing to the objectives of the research and reflect the
hypotheses. The wording of the questions should be simple (as opposed to being
technical or specialized) and unambiguous. Also a good questionnaire is that which
request respondents to address one question at a time. The flow of questions in a
questionnaire should follow a logical sequence. For example, it would be awkward to ask
someone’s name in the middle of the questionnaire and their age at the end of the
questionnaire!
Generally, a questionnaire that guarantees anonymity of the respondent is preferable. In

this regard the researcher should state in very clear terms that the respondents are free not
to divulge their identity. However, in certain cases, some respondents may wish to be
identified with the research and may want their identities known. For example, in cases
where the results or findings of the study are of a national interest and where citizens
would like to know the position of popular political leaders, the respondents (leaders)
may prefer their opinions on the subject under research put on record to reflect the
principles they stand for.
A questionnaire that has provision for subjects to state whether they would require
feedback on the progress of study or results after conclusion would be appreciated by
most of the respondents. Again, it may be difficult for students to guarantee providing
feedback, but where this is possible some effort should be made to inquire whether the
respondents need feedback on the progress or result of the study. Similarly, the researcher
must also make concerted efforts to translate the undertaking into action by getting the
feedback to the respondents.
32
After a researcher has designed the questionnaire and administered it, the questionnaire
has to be retrieved in order to study and analyze the responses. The researcher will learn,
with time, that retrieving questionnaires from respondents could sometimes prove to be a
difficult task, depending on the relationship between the respondents and the researcher.
Even where the respondents are well known to the researcher, difficulties in retrieving
questionnaire from them are bound to be experienced. In order to avoid problems of
getting the questionnaires back, a prudent researcher is required to provide a self
addressed stamped envelope to the respondents. Alternatively, the researcher may
designate and inform the respondents of a drop off point where the researcher would pick
the questionnaire.
More often than not, students forget to append questionnaire samples (templates) to the
final research report. This must be done since the person reading the report would want to
know the kind of questions that were asked and determine whether or not the questions
are relevant to the hypotheses and the general theme of the study. The use of
questionnaires in a study has its advantages and disadvantages.
One of the advantages of the use of questionnaires in conducting a study is that the
researcher is able to reach out to those whom he/she would not otherwise have reached. A
researcher who opts for the use of questionnaires is more likely to save costs that would
otherwise be incurred in terms of travel time. A questionnaire also permits the researcher
to do other things related to the research while the data collection exercise is going on
simultaneously.
To some extent, the use of a questionnaire in collecting information from respondents

provides room for the privacy of respondents. Respondents are usually left alone and feel
free to provide their views with no intimidation often knowing that they will remain
anonymous. Questionnaires are more likely to ensure uniformity of data collected as the
respondents ans wers the same questions. The questionnaires are a dependable tool for
data collection to the extent that they usually have the ability to provide the same results
when filled out by like- minded respondents in comparable conditions.
33
Despite the advantages, the use of questionnaires may also create problems, especially for
a beginner. One of the disadvantages of questionnaires is that they have an inherent class
bias. They assume a literate sample of respondents. This implies that the other sample is
omitted and the results of the study are therefore not evenly balanced.
The other set-back likely to be encountered by a researcher who opts to use

questionnaires as tools for collecting data is that sometime respondents do not work on
them. Also, sometimes respondents may not understand a question. They may need some
guidance or clarification on a question as words are capable of different meanings. The
researcher would not always be available to assist. As a result, the respondents may end
up speculating on what the question requires leading to non- uniformity in data collected
as different respondents would interpret the questions in their own way. Seen from this
angle, questionnaires may therefore not always bring out the data needed to test a
hypothesis.
Especially where the questionnaires are not pilot tested, it is easy for the researcher to
overlook or exclude some important question that is central to the theme of the study. Or
the researcher may assume that the questions are clear and understood. This may lead to
crucial information being omitted.
The use of questionnaires places the researcher in a position that does not provide an
opportunity to integrate with respondents. As a result, some of the information or data
that may be obtained by merely looking/observing the demeanour of respondents/subjects
is not obtained. It is apparent from some of the disadvantages that it may be necessary for
a researcher to re-consider the sole reliance and use of questionnaires as tools for data
collection. It is advisable to have a back-up strategy to the use of questionnaires.
Selected references for further reading:

Heather and Stone "Questionnaires" CRUS Guide No. 5 University of Sheffield, 1984
34
Sudman et al, Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire Design, New York,
1982
Goren, Interviewing Strategy, Techniques and Tactics, 1975
Observation
One of the most common, although not always fully appreciated tool for collecting
information from the field is where the researcher merely makes a close follow- up of or
watches activities and events and draws a conclusion. Observation may be by a person or
the use of an electronic gadget. Usually the researcher would make prior arrangements
and maybe draw up a list of the events or things that are to be observed before embarking
on the research.
Observation would ordinarily involve surveillance and scrutiny and recording by the
researcher in the field, observing events and synchronizing them within the context of the
theme of the study. Electronic observation may entail the use of devices such as audio or
video taping where data is directly recorded on tape.
Observation helps the researcher to discover issues that may not come out from
interviews and those that may be concealed, either knowingly or unknowingly by
respondents. In some types of research, the use of observation as a data collecting tool
may have problems. This is because respondents are usually best observed where they are
not aware of the person observing them. Otherwise, when aware that they are being
observed, the respondents normally behave in a manner that does not reflect the reality.
In other words, they would act, knowing that someone is observing them.
The alternative to avoid the subjects knowing they are being observed is likely to bring
up the problem of ethics. As noted above on the item on ethics, a researcher ordinarily
needs to disclose his identity and get the respondents consent to their taking part in the
study. Also observing respondents with a view to collecting data from the field in some
cases may, justifiably, view the whole exercise as an attempt to study them without their
knowledge especially where the researcher does not want to disclose his identity. To
35
some of them this may be tantamount to invasion of their privacy secretly and
compromises the ethical rule that requires subjects to be informed of a study on or about
them.
However, this would certainly not be the case where the subjects being studied are not
humans. For example, in a study where the researcher is ana lyzing the implementation of
the urban transportation rules and its effect on the plight of school going children, the
researcher may get a lot of information by merely plying different routes using public
transportation and observing whether or no t the rules are being followed.
Observation may be used as a data collection tool independent of other tools. However, in
order to avoid some of the pitfalls identified above, it is recommended that the researcher
combines observation with interviews together wit h other data collection tools while in
the field.
Participation
In some cases, researchers have been known to take part and often opt to basically live
with respondents in the same environment with them with the sole objective of collecting
information for their research. For example, a researcher conducting a study on the rights
of female prisoners may, with permission of prison authorities, be “imprisoned” with the
prisoners and pose as an inmate. The only motive of the researcher here is to collect data
to prove or disapprove the hypothesis that the researcher advances. In such a case, it may
not be prudent for the researcher to disclose his identity. This may, as noted above,
compromise the ethical principle of disclosure of identify and informed consent of the
respondents. However, a counter argument could be advanced by arguing that this is a
classical case that ought to be accepted as balancing interests of the respondent and that
of the public while circumventing the ethical rule, especially where the inmates stand to
gain as a result of the findings of the study.
36
Key Informant Interviews (KII’s)

Key informants as the name suggests are those people who know an institution or
community very well. Usually these are persons who have worked or lived in a
community for long periods of time and have plenty of experiences. They know the
organization very well and have seen changes, proposed and implemented developments
and witnessed and in some cases approved some of the main transformations in an
institution. Such people have very important information which could supplement that
got from documents or other secondary sources. For example, when conducting research
on adherence and enforcement of University by- laws, key informers would be the Dean
of Students (or Director of Student Services for the case of some Universities), the Chief
Academic Officer and Leaders of Student Organization bodies at the Universities who
charged with overseeing social and legal affairs.
Since key informers are usually very busy people it may prove difficult for them to keep
appointments for interviews with researchers. When available for interviews, there is
usually the limitation of time as many other people may want to see them. Consequently,
it is advisable to prepare questionnaires in advance and leave it with them in the even
time works against the researcher. It is also recommended to keep a good rapport with the
key informants personal secretaries or assistants since they could provide useful
opportunities that may lead to accessing the informants and providing avenues for other
information. They could also serve as good collecting points for the questionnaires that
are returned by the informants.
Where the researcher is accorded an interview, every effort must be made to arrive at the
designated interview venue on time. Also, the questions by the researcher during the
interview process should be kept focused to the central theme and kept to the point in
order to maximize the time allocated and with time permitting, the possibility to ask
follow-up or supplementary questions. Where possible, the researcher should be
accompanied by an assistant who would take notes to enable the researcher to concentrate
on the interview process. The use of an interview guide for key informants is helpful. 17
17
See sample in Annexture C
37
It may also be useful to request the key informer for other personnel who may respond to
questions that may need follow-up. The researcher should also use the opportunity to
request to access important documents, since in most cases it is the key informants who
may have the final say on documents that other personnel may have deemed “secret” or
“confidential” and denied the researcher access to them.
The researcher should ensure that dangers on the use of recording or taping, taking notes,
such as leading questions, bias and problems related with integrating with subjects are
avoided.
Emancipatory Research
Traditionally, researchers usually consider research subjects as people to be researched

and provide information. Emancipatory research is different. In this type of data
collection research the researcher initiatives a research agenda together with the
respondents who take part in the research. The researcher would first meet the
respondents (the target population or community) and set an agenda with them. The
researcher would plan with the subjects the kind of issues that the research should
address. After agreeing on the issues, the researcher then takes the part of a facilitator in
the research. The researcher and the subjects actually agree what kind of issues should be
addressed by the research and the research findings would also be interpreted together
with the respondents. Upon completion, all parties would take part in disseminating the
research findings. This type of research is usually not common with law students taking
legal research as it entails huge amounts of resources in terms of time and finances for
organizing the respondents. All the same, it is useful to know of this approach as well.
Story Telling
In some cases, depending on the nature of respondents, the researcher can start by telling
a story which leads to some discussion amongst the respondents. In the course of
discussing the lessons learnt from the story, respondents are likely to interpret these in the
38
light of the environment in which they live. In the process of doing so, the researcher
would extract useful data or information for his or her research.
Story telling as a data collection method may also take the form of a researcher joining
respondents while they are listening to a story. In some communities, story telling is
conducted by the elders to a certain group of members of a community, usually divided
along the basis of age. A researcher may join in and hear the storie s. 18 Stories transmit
knowledge, experiences and facts. In built in the stories are records or accounts of events
that were regulated by customs, rules and taboos. The rules often reflect the foundation of
legal systems of community members. Law students should be able to discern these and
relate them to the themes of their studies.
Secondary Tools
Literature Search
The search for and analysis of texts, journal articles, publications in the print media,
public documents, archival material, legislation, policies and official records available on
the research topic is one of the secondary tools used in the collection of data. A
researcher is advised to identify and make a list of the literary works that are most closely
associated with the topical issue under study. It is also important to identify the law
libraries and legal documentary centers where the identified literature is located.
The law library at the Universities would, expectedly, be the first place where the law
student undertaking research is likely to turn to for the literature search. Most law
students often stop their search for literature in law sections of the University libraries.
Other law libraries for example the High Court library, the national library, the national
archives and libraries and documentatio n centers at law firms should be also consulted.
Government departments’ documentation centers and libraries are also a useful resource
for literature search.
18
For examples and a more detailed discussion on story telling as a tool for data collection, see Mello, R.
“The Power of Story Telling: How Oral Narrative Influences Children’s Relationship in Classrooms,”
Vol. 2 No. 1, International Journal of Education, February 2001 (available on http://ijea.asu.edu/v2n1/)
39
It must be emphasized here that the researcher must always bear in mind that it is not just
in law libraries where legal materials can be located. Since law, like others, is a multi-
disciplinary field, literature on law related issues could also be located in libraries and
documentation centers of other fields or subjects. For example, the section of the library
which harbors documentation on political science would most likely have legal material
on constitutional, administrative and local government law. Similarly, the geography
section may have material that has a legal bearing on one doing research in
environmental law. The researcher is therefore strongly advised to visit such libraries and
centers when identifying potential sources of information.
Media
Broadly construed, the media includes film, radio and television and newspaper (print)
media. 19 Both the print and electronic media are useful secondary tools for data collection
and it is advisable to check them. It is common knowledge that the media not only has
up-to date information that may be very useful in stating the research problem, but it also
usually provides useful background information to the problem being researched.
Documentaries usually contain useful information that can be used by the researchers
conducting studies on the history of legal phenomena. Newspapers, both international
and national are found in most libraries in the newspaper sections. Some libraries, for
example that of the University of Dar-es-Salaam, have an archives section for
newspapers. These sections are very resourceful and students should make an effort of
visiting them as they embark on deciding what to research upon, during the stages where
they are grappling with identifying and stating the problem.
Websites and Computer Assisted Searches

It is obvious that with the increase and growth of computer based sources, the processes
of accessing information and data have broadened. In order to master the art of computer
19
For the history of print media and research see Irene Piechota “Means of Communication Through
Time,” visit http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/paievoli/finals/505Sp_03/Prj1/irene_piechota.htm
40
generated sources law students embarking on legal research ought to have some basic
foundation by being introduced to the major IT sources by way of a lecture. At the
University of Dar-es-Salaam, there is IS 131 (Introduction to Computers) which is a
compulsory course for all first year law students. It is hoped that most higher learning
institutions teaching law will also follow the steps of the Faculty of Law, UDSM.
As noted in our discussion on ethics, (plagiarism) students must avoid the temptation of
downloading from the website without properly acknowledging the sources of data or
information obtained.
Since information on the World Wide Web changes very frequently, it is important for
the researcher who is accessing data from a site to take note of (and record) the date and
time. One should also make sure that the site where the information or data is obtained is
properly cited. An omission of a full stop for example would be very costly and a reader
would never get to locate the source where the data was obtained, thereby leaving the
research report susceptible to criticism on ground of authenticity, for example.
Today, practically most institutions (private and government), civil society organizations
and non-governmental organizations have websites and important and up-to date
information is usually posted on these sites. However, in some cases, institutions or
organizations may take long before they up-date the information contained in their sites.
This implies that it would be important to cross-check with the authorities concerned on
the status of the information posted on the sites.
When conducting web-related searches, students should be innovative and creative. The
computer could be a very useful and friendly tool for conducting research. However, it
must be directed. Students may search a number of engines such as Westlaw and Lexis
Nexis or even Google by entering key words (those closely related to their themes or
topics) and narrowing the scope of their searches to particular jurisdictions. 20
20
For more information on this subject read Solum, L.B “Download it while it’s Hot: Open Access and
Legal Scholarship,” Lewis and Clark Law Review, 2006 Vol. 10:4 electronic copy available at
http://ssm.com/abstract=957237 (14th December 2009)
41
Selected search engines that students may wish to visit include the following:
(a) www.bungetz.org – This site contains legislative updates (Tanzania) and
Parliamentary news- Newsletter for the Tanzania Parliament with important
articles also available on this site. Students can access, download and even print
legislative enactments, Bill and Hansard reports from this site;
(b) http://start.co.tz - Most information on practically any legal issue in Tanzania can
be accessed at this site;
(c) www.balilii.com – Students are encouraged to visit this site as it contains some
important legal data base;
(d) www.austlii.edu.au – This site contains legal information found at the Australian
legal Information Institute. Important international law cases and la w journal
available);
(e) http://lii.zamnet.zm – This site contains materials available on the Zambian legal
information institute. Materials on other jurisdictions in Africa would also be
available;
(f) www.law.luleuven.ac.be/lib/ - Essentially a Belgian Law Search Data base, but
has important international law material;
(g) http://ials.sas.ac.uk – This site is strongly recommended. It contains information
available from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, at the University of
London. The site contains volumes of All ER from 1935 to 1995, CD-Rom and
other legal data bases;
(h) http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/tanzania/tanzanews.html – The site
contains information on selected daily newspapers from Tanzania. It also have an
archival section where students can access past newspapers;
(i) www.africaonline.com – Students can access most the daily newspapers from
different counties in Africa. The site also has an archival section where students
may access past copies of the newspapers. Some legal journal can also be
accessed at this site;
(j) www.unep.org - Environmental law materials can be obtained upon request on
this site;
(k) www.conservation.org Materials on the el gal aspects of conservation of nature
and natural resources are available on this site;
(l) www.ilo.org - International labor law, trade relations – All other UN sites can be
accessed from this site;
(m) www.bing.com - Search engine leads to encyclopedias, and information on a
number of legal data bases;
(n) www.yahoo.com - Students can use the search engines on this site to locate any
topic on law – material on legal encyclopedias could be accessed on this site;
(o) www.goggle.co.uk – students are strongly encouraged to visit this site.
42
References for further reading:

1. Hyman, H et al, Interviewing in Social Research, University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, 1975
2. Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques, (2nd
Edition) Wiley Eastern Ltd, New Delhi 1980
3. Sudman S and Bradburn N.M Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to
Questionnaire Design, New York Jossey Bass, 1982
DATA ANALYSIS
Data that is collected in the field is usually analyzed by sampling and comparison. The
process also involves noting down the number of people who have the same views and
those with differing ones.
Data analysis basically entails transforming the field work notes in chronological order
for purposes of informing the public (targeted audience) of the findings of the research. It
involves interpretation and constant writing and re-writing of the researcher’s field notes.
The analytical procedure to be adopted when compiling data mainly depends on the kind
of research that has been conducted. Where data has been obtained through a qualitative
method, the information would be voluminous. It becomes difficult for the researcher to
make sense of information from questionnaires or field notes. Therefore the researcher
needs to develop categories and make comparisons and contrasts. In the course of doing
this, it is important that the researcher becomes open to the possibilities and alternative
explanations for the findings. Where the research method applied is qualitative, it is
recommended that the researcher makes the analysis while collecting data. That is the
interpretation should be done simultaneously with the data collection process. This
essentially means narrative reporting.
On the other hand, where the method employed is quantitative, the analysis would entail
coding, tabulation and entry of data by using the computer. There are special programs
that are used in coding and entering data and transcribing the data. The Statistics Package
43
for Social Sciences (SPSS) is one of these programmes contained in software which can
be downloaded from the internet. 21 The distinction between qualitative and quantitative
research needs to be made, albeit very briefly at this juncture. Whereas qualitative
research deals mainly with data that is directly received from respondents from their
experiences, quantitative research, on the other hand basically deals with quantities or
numbers. 22
DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Proposal Defined
Simply stated, a proposal refers to the document that provides an outline, usually in a
skeletal framework that sets out to probe into an identified research problem and lays out
the strategies to be employed in undertaking the research. It essentially sets the
foundation of the research and provides an indicator that shows that the journey being
undertaken is bound to fill a knowledge gap.
Outline of the Main Contents/Body of Proposal

There may be different requirements on the components of a proposal but generally a
standard proposal usually contains an introduction, a statement of the problem, the
methodology that the researcher intends to embark on in addressing the identified
problem and hypothesis or hypotheses. The standard proposal also usually contains a part
on literature review and a statement on the significance or objective of the research that is
being embarked upon. A part providing for the theoretical framework that the research
proceeds from is also usually provided. Also to be included is the preliminary
bibliography on literature and documents on the theme containing titles, names of authors
and the publishers and year of publications. The preliminary bibliography must contain
books, journal articles, statutes (principal and subsidiary legislation), case law,
dissertations, research reports, commission reports, Bills, international legal instruments,
21
Downloads can be obtained free of charge at www.spss.com/downloads/spss-student.html (27th
November 2009)
22
Kakooza, T., (2002) Research , An Introduction to Research Methodology, (2nd Edition) National Adult
Education , Kampala
44
newspapers and magazines. Pamphlets and monographs should also be included. All
these should focus on and be relevant to the theme of the research.
The Introduction
The introduction part of a standard proposal usually contains a statement that describes
the research or investigation to be undertaken explicitly. This part must provide for a
description of the problem to be studied or investigated showing that there are important
issues to be covered and a knowledge gap to be filled. A researcher is also advised to
define the basic concepts and provide some guide on the way in which the work is
structured. It may be also useful to briefly describe the area where the study is being
done. 23 One should not assume that the reader would always be conversant with the
locality where the legal problem is being investigated. Where possible a map could be
provided.
The research proposal is often later transformed into the first chapter of the research
report, the dissertation. In this regard, it is normal for the introductory part in the proposal
to provide for an outline of the chapter contents and recommendations and conclusio ns.
Most students will find it difficult to comprehend how one can come up with contents of
a chapter and recommendations and conclusions while the research itself has not
commenced and no report has been written. The point being emphasized here is that the
researcher just needs to provide for an outline of the contents and a statement on the
expected recommendations. Indeed, for most seasoned report writers, the introductory
part of the report is usually revised and fine-tuned as one writes. In fact the best
introductions are those that are written after the whole report is completed. Students are
therefore strongly encouraged to revisit this part as they write the report to ensure that it
reflects what is stated in the text itself.
23
See the example of the description of Lindi, where a researcher has chosen this place as a case study in
Annexure B.
45
Statement of the Problem

In the part that deals with the statement of the problem, the researcher is expected to
provide a precise definition or description of the problem to be investigated showing the
important issues to be covered. The statement must show how the problem that the
researcher seeks to research on is manifested in society. This part of the proposal must be
supported by statistics or data available from the most recent sources of information, for
example from newspapers cuttings or the electronic media. Some students tend to rush
this part and eventually come up with statistics that are stale or outdated. Being the heart
of the research proposal, the statement of the problem must be stated explicitly, should be
focused and powerful, revealing a legal situation that has consistently and persistently
plagued an identifiable segment of society (a community or an institution) and whose
members have constantly called putting things right.
A mere statement of what is perceived to be a problem without providing concrete data

(statistics) to support the manifestation of the problem in society and evidence that it is a
recurring problem that needs immediate redress will not be useful. A good statement of
the problem is one which will leave the reader with no iota of doubt that there is indeed a
need to immediately conduct a research in order to explain certain conduct/behavior or
provide an avenue for seeking legal solutions to the problem stated. For example, where
the statement of problem reveals that in every two days, there is a recurring event in the
media, for example in the print media, for a period of three consecutive months, and there
is a call to reform the law to address the problem from a diverse section of the
community, but each providing different prescriptions.
The statement of the problem must relate to other parts of the proposal, for example the
parts that provide for the methodology, hypotheses and the literature review. Where the
statement of the problem does not have a bearing to the methodology, for example, then
the research is bound to fail where the methods of collecting data do not appear to be
capable of taking on board the problem. It becomes disjointed. An example of a
disjointed statement of the problem is where the researcher seeks to investigate the
increase in traffic offences and does not make reference to employing methods to collect
46
information from the Traffic Police headquarters or fails to make a review of a single
literature on traffic law or any traffic law.
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework
In ordinary life, it is common to find people of the same profession, ‘ordinary people,’
seeing things from different perspectives, sometimes totally opposed. This may depend
on ones orientation which may be influenced by, inter alia, the environment where one is
brought up, influence from role models and religious beliefs. In some cases,
philosophical orientations may also have a bearing on the differences in perceptions of
persons of the same profession.
It is in the light of the above that lawyers also have different views on a number of legal
principles , whether from a human rights perspective or from a constitutional law point of
view. For example, within the human rights discourse, there are those who support the
death penalty and those who are totally opposed to it. But these schools qualify to be
human rights activists, of course championing different and fundamentally opposed
views within the discourse.
It is basically because of this kind of orientation, or biases if one may call them, that it is
usually advisable for the researcher to state his or her philosophical outlook on the
problem being investigated, so that the reader does not have prejudice in the course of
reading the research report. This is equally true for the research student undertaking legal
research and whose supervisor may simply fail to understand the outlook from which the
problem is being investigated.
In jurisprudence, law students usually discuss the various philosophers who tried to
challenge, justify or exp lain law and legal systems within different historical epochs. It
would be doing injustice to any of the philosophers, if one simply criticized their theories
without contextualizing the factors and relations of production during the time they
advanced and advocated for the various theories. Along the same vein, it is better for a
researcher to state their ‘beliefs’ at the outset, in some manner akin to a caveat, so that he
47
or she is judged by one who understands their ‘background’ – their conceptual

frameworks, or their theoretical operational plane.
A researcher is advised to make reference to authorities who have similar inclination to

his or her outlook of the research problem being investigated. For example, there are a
number of theories on the definition of law. One theory, the Marxist school of thought,
suggests that law is an instrument of the ruling class and is targeted at subjects who are
controlled by the state, the citizenry. The Natural school of thought, on the other hand
defines law as God given rules which all must adhere to. The Social engineering camp on
the other advocates that law is a contract between the State and the Citizen where the
citizens direct the State, which has to oblige. It is important for a legal researcher who
embarks on a research that necessitates an investigation on the role of law in society, for
example, to state at the outset his or her inclination on the above definitions of the law.
Methodology
The part of the proposal that sets out the methodology should focus on the methods of
data collection to be applied by the researcher in conducting the research. The
fundamental question that needs to be addressed in this part of the proposal is: What
methods would be employed and how do these methods guarantee that the data collected
is authentic or contains true facts. In the few years of teaching the course on legal
research, I have observed that many students, including postgraduate students usually
provide very vague methods. They often simply state the various methods that are
ordinarily used in data collection without relating the methods to their themes. It is
important to remember that it is not enough to state that questionnaires would be used.
One must state why questionnaires, what kind of questions would be used, to address
which hypothesis or hypotheses. It is also important for the researcher to state very
clearly how he or she will get access to the respondents.
Similarly, it is not sufficient to simply state that the researcher will conduct library and
filed research and leave it at that. An effort must be made to state exactly which library or
documentation center will be visited, how access will be obtained and what documents
48
will be sought. In some cases students have often failed to be particular here, leaving the
reader guessing on issues of access and whether the material or literature would really be
available in the library or documentation center stated. Where field work is to be resorted
to, the researcher must state the kinds of tools that would be employed to collect data and
also relate the data expected to be collected to the theme of the study. The kinds of
questions to be asked and their relevance to the problem stated must also be included.
Details on how the researchers will get access to respondents in an environment that is
new should also not be left. The mechanism put in place to avoid the pitfalls of the
various methods to be used, where applicable, must also be stated. For example, where
the researcher is to employ an assistant who would serve as an interpreter, the dangers of
relying solely on the interpretation of a paid assistant must be avoided. These must be
stated in the proposal.
Researchers must make every effort to be as detailed as possible in this part, because the
reader would use this part as one of the main measures of determining whether or not the
data for the problem stated can actually be obtained with the methodology the researcher
has stated.
The Hypothesis24
A hypothesis is a general proposition, supposition or assumption that the researcher sets
out to test against the data or findings to be collected or made. It is an uncertain
proposition that the legal researcher makes in an attempt to explain legal phenomena
without having had an opportunity to find out the casual explanations in the field.
A real life example of a hypothesis is where a mother sees her child in an uncomfortable
state. The child is sick but the mother has no idea what the child is suffering from. The
mother realizes that the child’s temperature has risen. The child is also complaining of
aches in the joints and loss of appetite. What comes into the mind of the mother, on the
basis of the above facts and her brief “diagnosis” is that the child must be suffering from
malaria. After all, the neighbour’s child also had malaria a week ago and the two children
24
The plural for hypothesis is hypotheses. Some students often fail to take note this difference.
49
sometimes play together in a mosquito infected neighborhood. The mother guesses

(makes a hypothesis) that her child is suffering from malaria. She does not know exactly
what her child is suffering from, but makes a guess. The guess made is influenced by
factors around her and her experience of malaria, its trends and peculiarities. When she
eventually takes the child to hospital, the doctor informs her that the child in fact has
typhoid, a totally different ailment. In this example, the mother’s hypothesis is nullified,
that is to say, proved wrong.
The drafting of a hypothesis in legal research is not very different from the example
provided above. The legal researcher would be trying to explain the existence of certain
legal traits, behavior or the operation of a legal system. The researcher, prior to
embarking on the field would have to “guess” the casual factor leading to the behavior of
persons or phenomena being investigated. For example, a researcher investigating why
traffic rules are being violated could come up with a set of two hypotheses. One, that the
personnel charged with the enforcement of the rules are poorly paid and two, that the
susceptibility to bribes among the law enforcement officers lead to violation of the rules.
Students are strongly encouraged to make as many hypotheses as possible on the topics
of their choices and engage in discussions among their groups prior to meeting their
research supervisors for further guidance.
The hypothesis is usually stated as a statement. A hypothesis from the above example of
the traffic accidents may be stated thus: That the personnel charged with the enforcement
of the rules are poorly paid. The hypothesis must have a bearing to the statement of the
problem and be reflected in the part that deals with the literature review. When the
researcher embarks upon the task of making conclusions and recommendations on the
way forward upon completion of the research, he or she must reflect back on the
hypotheses stated and verify whether they were correct or not. There is nothing wrong if
the hypotheses stated at the commencement of the investigation are nullified at the end of
the research. The researcher must, however, provide reasons to explain why the stated
hypotheses, especially if it is all of them, were proved wrong. There could be a number of
50
reasons for this, such as limitations encountered in the course of conducting the research
or oversimplification in stating the hypothesis at the outset.
Significance/Objectives/Justification of the Research

In ordinary and general research parlance, the part of the proposal that states why the
research is being conducted is referred to as the significance, objectives or justification of
the research proposal. This part addresses the reasons why the research is conducted. Put
in other words, this part must state what the research wants to achieve.
The researcher must state the audience or target group of his or her research output. For
research on law, the targeted group must be one that has a bearing on legal phenomena.
The phenomena could be persons, (individual or corporations) a government department
or non-governmental organization or a civil society institution. The target groups that this
part sho uld focus on are those that have the mandate or potential to revise, influence or
provide in put or changes in the law-making process. In Tanzania, such groups may
include Parliament, the judiciary, human rights organizations and the law reform
commission. Financial Institutions, Insurance Companies, the Police and Prisons
departments, to mention but a few, could also be targeted, depending on the nature of the
research. At the international and regional plane s, target groups could be international
NGO’s, the United Nations and agencies created under it such as the UNHCR, UNEP,
FAO, regional bodies such as Secretariats of the EAC, SADC, ECOWAS or the African
Union and agencies created under it.
Where the research is targeted at changing behaviors or individuals so that they can
conform to the law, the researcher must state categorically what sort of behavior needs to
be changed and to accord to which law or set of law. For example, where the researcher
is investigating the increase in cases of mob justice, the objective could be to change
peoples’ perceptions by educating them on their roles and dangers of taking the law into
their own hands. Another objective that could be derived from this example could be to
show that in some cases there could be mistaken identify and people loose lives without
having committed any offence.
51
The general objective for most legal research topics would be to call for an enactment of
a law, the filling in of an identified lacuna in the law, reform of law or repeal of a law. In
some cases, researchers may undertake an investigation with the objective of provoking
or initiating a debate which would provide indicators on the explanation or justification
of a law or legal system.
Literature Review25
The literature review part of a proposal in legal research is very important and must be
given the utmost attention. It provides the basis for validation of the research by
providing a benchmark for comparing what has been covered on the theme proposed to
be undertaken. As we noted earlier, research entails creating knowledge. The main aim
of undertaking a literature review is to identify different perspectives and ideas from
texts, journals, documents and studies (the literature) on themes closely related to the
theme that the researcher seeks to investigate.
In the literature review, the researcher identifies all current literature available on the
subject that can be accessed. The researcher then goes through each of them making a
summary of each with a view of analyzing the ir results based on studies that have been
undertaken that are closely related to that of the researcher. In the course of the analysis,
the researcher relates the study to the larger on-going legal discourse or dialogue in the
literature about the topic being undertaken. The researcher must relate the topical issue of
his or her research with each and every work being reviewed. One should not make a
blanket and general statement of how the works reviewed relate to the theme under study.
The relationship must be explicitly stated.
A literature review entails a critical analysis of what other authorities on the subject under
study have stated. It is not a mere restatement in the form of paraphrasing or a simple
account of what has already been written on the topic being researched. In writing the
literature review, the researcher must provide a brief outline of what authorities have
25
Also referred to as literature survey.
52
stated on the subject, discuss their theoretical foundation, if any, and state clearly areas
where there is convergence and divergence between the work being reviewed and the
researcher’s theme. It is important for the reviewer to state categorically how the work
being reviewed will assist in the research to be embarked up. Above all, the researcher
must also identify the knowledge gaps in each work being reviewed. It is these gaps that
validate the researcher’s area.
We have noted above that the phrase “literature” includes textbooks, journal articles,
commission reports and studies. The list certainly does not end with these. Other
materials could also be reviewed under this component of the proposal. However, it
should be borne in mind that the kind of literature to be reviewed must be the one where
an authority identifies a problem, sets out a methodology for investigating it and
advances some solution to address the problem. This implies that some material may
have to be omitted in the category of literature for the purpose of review, because it is not
all literature which identifies a problem and makes a case for a solution.
There are no hard and fast rules in the order in which literature is reviewed. But usually a
review commences with texts, followed by journal articles, reports and studies, in that
order. Writing the literature review part of the proposal needs some order and flow. In
this regard, it is advisable not to combine journal articles and texts, for example. It is
better to deal with each separately, although as pointed out some reference may be made
to either in the course of the review, but with caution to ensure a smooth and logical flow
in the writing.
Ordinarily, legislation, policies and case law are not included in the literature review part.
This is because it is usually difficult to pinpoint the ideas/reasoning of the authority
(person) whose views are needed for purposes of review in such cases. However,
depending on the identified problem, legislation, policies and case law (precedents) could
also be reviewed under this part. Prior to any legislative enactment, there is usually a Bill
that is tabled for debate in Parliament. In the course of deliberating the Bill, Members of
Parliament provide useful data which is recorded in the Hansards. In the course of
53
reviewing legislation, it would be proper to make reference to the debates in the Bill. A
good review of the Bill is that which also makes reference to the Hansard reports, as it is
the reasoning by the Members of Parliament, as reported in the Hansard reports, which
should be the focus of the review. On the same vein, international legal instruments could
form part of the literature review.
The researcher must state the forum and critically discuss the deliberations that went into
the process of promulgating the legislation and how they relate to his or her theme of
study. It is not sufficient to reproduce the provisions of a legislative enactment or an
international legal instrument and leave it at that. Some students usually fall prey to this
trap. They simply state the provisions of the relevant statute or international legal
instrument and often stop at that. One must provide an understanding of the reasoning
that led to the enactment of the legislative instrument.
Policies are documents that set out long and short term-strategies for achieving
development goals. In most jurisdictions that have a common-law tradition, on their own,
Policies are not self-executing. That is to say, they cannot be enforced in a court of law.
In this regard, policy directives must be translated into legislative enactments in order to
be effectively implemented. Policy documents are usually cited in Parliamentary
deliberations in the course of deliberating Bills in Parliament. In this respect, where a
researcher comes across a Policy document that was discussed in Parliament in the course
of deliberating a law under investigation, it would be proper to make a review of the
Policy document on the basis of the deliberations to justify or reject a policy document.
Policies also provide the government’s position on an issue and reviewing the policy
would imply analyzing the government’s position on the theme under study.
The former Chief Justice of Tanzania, Hon. Mr. Justice Barnabas Albert Samatta, had
indicated the importance of cases (precedent) as a research tool when he observed that:
54
“Law reports and journals are very essential tools in the legal profession. A lawyer
(legal researcher) usually cannot perform his (her) functions satisfactorily without those
tools.”26
It follows therefore, that case law (found in law reports and analyzed in journal articles)
may also form part of the literature review. Also, in the process of delivering judgments,
judges usually provide reasons for their decisions, the ratio decidendi. In the course of
doing so, they often refer to precedents or writing of authoritative legal scholars to justify
their points. Sometimes they refer to Commission Reports, Bills, Policies or Hansards. To
the extent that a judgment provides the ratio decidendi that has a bearing on the
researcher’s theme, then it would be appropriate to review it in the part of the literature
review.
Preliminary Bibliography
In the course of identifying the general area of interest for conducting legal research, the
researcher would invariably collect a wide range of literature to get some idea of what
has been written on the area. At this point, the researcher will be perusing through
catalogues of libraries for texts, journal articles, newspaper clips, data from other media
channels, legislation and case law. The main objective at the initial stage is to find out the
basic and generally materials in terms of literature that exists on the topic identified.
The process of identifying scholarly works on the topic under investigation is not static. It
may proceed even after commencement and indeed near completion of the research, as
new laws, books, review articles, to mention but a few, that have a bearing on the theme
of the researcher may emerge before the research is completed. This partly explains why
the bibliography at the proposal writing stage is often referred to as preliminary. At this
stage, the bibliography is needed to assist the researcher to get a wide range of literature
on the identified topic. It also assists the researcher to sieve out which literature should be
reviewed in the part of the proposal that deals with literature review.
26
Speech delivered during the launch of Publication of the Faculty of Law, University of Dar-es-Salaam at
the Council Chamber on 31st July 2002
55
In writing the part of the proposal that provides for the literature review, the researcher
lists down all literature that has been used in providing guidance on the subject.
Depending on the topic or research area, the list of preliminary bibliography would
include textbooks, journal articles, legislation, case law, newspapers, documentaries,
research reports and studies, international and legal materials. The elements of and the
format for writing the bibliography are very important and students are advised to adhere
to them.
Compiling the Bibliography

A bibliography (also referred to as sources/references in some cases) consists of a list of
all authorities, for example, books, articles, newspapers and cases that have been referred
to or consulted (directly or indirectly) in a piece of legal academic writing. The list must
be written in an alphabetical order, according to the names of the authors of the sources
referred to. 27 This list is usually written at the end of the report. Class notes should not be
included in a bibliography list.
It is important to provide for a bibliography because it shows that the researcher is

acknowledging sources that have been referred to. As noted earlier, it is considered a
crime (referred to as plagiarism) in academic circles to make use of a source without
acknowledging it, or to cite a source that was not actually consulted. A researcher who
fails to provide for a bibliography is likely to be accused of plagiarism.
The other use of a bibliography is that it gives the readers information to enable them to
identify and consult the sources that the researcher has used where they embark on a
27
Microsoft Word has a command that automatically arranges words alphabetically. Follow the following
instructions. Highlight the text containing bibliography. Place the cursor of the “Table” icon on the tool bar.
Select “Sort,” then select “Paragraphs.” Press “OK.”
56
related matter. It also provides an avenue for the reader to authenticate the information
relied on by the researcher. In this regard, the bibliography provides the reader with
references on the subject being investigated and gives other potential researchers an
opportunity of having a quick glance, a reference point, of literature on the area.
Since the proposal is usually refined and fine-tuned at various stages in the course of
writing, the part of the bibliography is also likely to undergo constant revision and
modification. As noted, it is essentially because of this that the part is referred to as a
preliminary bib liography. The final bibliography is usually crafted at the end of research
report.
There are a number of items or entries that usually form the bibliography list. Although
generally the list of sources would differ, of course depending on the nature of the legal
research problem identified, there are some entries that must be included. The citations
and manner of writing the bibliography would differ depending on the jurisdiction and
directives of supervisors. However, for legal research generally, the Harvard System of
citation has been applied with approval from a cross-section of law schools and this
should suffice. 28 Where an alternative citation system is applied, then the researcher
/student is advised to be consistent throughout.
Books
Text books ought to be referred to and these must be included in the list. A list of the
names of the authors of the texts used must be arranged alphabetically. The year of
publication, in brackets, should follow immediately after the name of the author. This
should be followed by the title of the text, which should be underlined. The name of the
publisher and the place of publication, in that order, should then be inserted. For
example, Fimbo, G.M. (1970) Customary Land Law in Tanzania: A Source Book, Dar-
es-Salaam, DUP. Alternatively, one may change the order, as follows: G.M. Fimbo,
Customary Land Tenure in Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam University Press, Dar-es-Salaam,
28
For an example of the Harvard System, see: www.dickson.act.edu.au/Library/bibliog.html (10th
December 2009)
57
1970. It should be pointed out here that there is no standard format on whether initials
come before the surname of the author or vice-versa. Again here, one should just
maintain consistency. However, the Microsoft Word options for automatically creating
the bibliography list in an alphabetical order, is more user friendly when one uses
surnames first, followed by initials.
Where the text is a product of more than two authors e.g. Baraka, L.K, Abdallah, Ruben
B.X, George N, Susan K, Margaret M and Robert B, it would suffice to refer to the first
author and use et al to represent the rest. For example, in the above case, it would suffice
just to write: Baraka, L.K et al 29 . Where there are only two authors for a text, it would be
appropriate to write both names in the list of bibliography. A distinction between an
author (the writer of the work) and an editor (who has complied works of a number of
different authors) should be made in the bibliography part. One should use the acronyms
“Ed” or “Eds” and place them in brackets after the name of the editor or editors,
respectively. For example, Alex, D (Ed.), The Role of Primary Courts in the
Administration of Justice in Songea, Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam University Press, 2009
Journals/Articles
The consistency underscored in citing texts discussed above should also be maintained in
the course of citing with journal articles. The name of the authors should be listed in
alphabetical order, title of works usually italicized or bolded; the name of journal where
the article is found should also be indicated distinctly, for example, by underlining. For
example, Fimbo, G.M. (1999) “The Foundations of Land Law in Tanzania,” East
African Law Journal, Vol. 2 pp. 57-80. In this example, it is the name of the journal that
has been underlined and the title italicized and placed in inverted commas. It is important
to point out here that the citation of articles may change depending on the requirements
of citation required by editorial boards of respective journals.
29
See discussion below on the use of Latin phrases in legal citations.
58
Legislation
In most jurisdictions, the citation of statutes, both principal and legislation, is usually
provided for by an enactment of Parliament. In Tanzania, the citation of laws is provided
for by the Interpretation of Laws Act, Cap.1. Section 20 of this Act provides for the
citation of principal legislation. It states:
20 – (1) Where a written law is referred to, it shall be sufficient for all purposes to cite or
refer to that written law by –
(a) the short title or the citation (if any) by which it was made citable;
(b) in the case of an Act, the year in which it was passed and its number among the
Acts of that year; or
(c) in case of an Act, the Chapter number given to the Act in any revised edition of
the laws.
(2) A provision of a written law may be cited by reference to the Part, section,
regulation, rule, clause of other division of the written law in which the provision is
contained.
Examples of citation of principal legislation under (a) above would be:
For example, section 1 of the Laws Revision Act, Chapter 4 R.E. 2002, provides:
1. This Act may be cited as the Law Revision Act, Laws of Tanzania.
An example under (b), above, would be Act. No. 2 of 2004 to refer to the Environmental
Management Act, 2004, Laws of Tanzania, (now Cap. 181). With regard to (c) above, an
example could be: Chapter 4 R.E. 2002 while making reference to making reference to
the Laws Revision Act.
Section 40 of the Interpretation of Laws Act provides for the manner of citing subsidiary
legislation. It states as follows:
40. Subsidiary legislation may be cited by reference to the short title if any, or by
reference to the number of notices under which it appeared in the Gazette.
59
For example, The Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit Regulations - G.N. No.
349 of 2005. (The acronyms “G.N. No” here means Government Notice Number).
When reference is made to legislation from other jurisdictio n, every effort should be
taken to ensure that the legislation is cited in accordance with the directions provided for
under the relevant laws of that jurisdiction.
International Legal Instruments

International legal instruments, for example, Treaties, Conventions and United Nations
resolutions are ordinarily supposed to be cited in the manner provided for by a uniform
code of citation. 30 Some Conventions provide for specific ways of citing them and
resolutions made by the Contracting Parties. For others, one may need to refer to the
instruments that created the organ and what it provides for with regard to citations. UN
Resolutions for example are often cited by referring to the Document, its number, the
forum which passed it and the date. Resolutions of Conference of Parties to a Convention
also normally have a way of citing them. Usually this is done by citing the number of the
resolution, the date and the place where the meeting was convened. It is not correct to
simply cite the name and year that the international legal instruments came into force.
The international legal materials, a publication of the United Nations has a list of most
important international legal instruments. Also, some publications provide for specific
formats for citation of international legal instruments and documents. Such sources must
be looked into while citing international legal instruments. Normally where there is
general variation or discrepancy on the manner of citing international legal instruments,
some publications ha ve sought to provide for a format to be abided to. For example, the
Minnesota Journal of International Law provides for the citation of international trade
agreements under the auspices of GATT/WTO, which are sometimes confusing and
inconsistent. 31
30
Refer to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed., Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review
Association, 2005)
31
See: http://www.law.umn.edu/library/tools/pathfinders/GATT-WTOcites.html (22nd October 2009)
60
The citation of regional legal instruments, for example those made under the auspices of
the East African Community, European Community, SADC or ECOWAS, is also not
very different from the international legal instruments discussed above. However,
recourse should be made to the enabling instruments and periodicals in case there is a
specific format for citing these.
Case Law
Judicial pronouncements by authoritative courts have an accepted format of citation. By
authoritative courts, we are hereby referring to the courts of record. In Tanzania these are
High Court and the Court of Appeal of Tanzania, whose pronouncements form part of the
doctrine of precedent.
Where the cases are reported, most law reports usually provide for the manner in which
cases reported therein are to be cited. For example, the 1974 volume one of the All
England Law Reports states very clearly that it is to be cited as: [1974] 1 All. ER. Also,
the 1991 Tanzania Law Reports provide that: “These reports are cited thus: [1991]
T.L.R”32 When citing a case reported in Volume 1 of the All England Law Reports, for
example, one would have to provide for the name of the parties, followed by the citation
of the reports and the page number where the case is to found within the report, in that
order. The name of the parties must be underline (or italicized). For example: Madden vs.
Madden [1974] 1 All ER 673. In the case of the 1991 Tanzania Law Reports, the citation
would take the following format: R. vs. Subira Said Abdalla [1991] T.L.R 121
Most students have often found it difficult to provide the correct citations for cases that
are not reported in law reports. In Tanzania, unreported cases are cited by providing the
names of the parties, the case number as entered by the filing clerks at the cour t registry,
the year, the court and the place and inserting the words “unreported,” at the end,
preferably in brackets, in that order. For example, R. vs. Ali Miscellaneous Criminal Case
No. 30 of 2002, High Court of Tanzania at Dar-es-Salaam (Unreported). It is common for
students to omit stating that the case is unreported. Some students also fail to provide for
32
See page iv.
61
the registry where the judgment or ruling was delivered. Where these facts are missing, it
is difficult for one to locate the case. As noted above, it should be borne in mind that the
importance of citation, among other things, is to assist the reader locate the authorities
cited. If a case is not properly and fully cited, it would be difficult to locate.
In other jurisdictions, for example the UK, there are no formal rules providing for the
citation of cases. The general guidelines could be accessed on the website. 33 Cases
decided by international or regional courts or tribunals also have their format for citation
and the researcher should be on the look for these.
It should be remembered that in citing a case, indeed like any other reference, the
researcher must make sure that the reader can trace the case with relative ease. This
implies that all details of the case must be given as accurately as possible, in the right
format, to enable the reader to locate the case at the relevant court registry, for the case of
Tanzania or that of the international court or tribunal for cases emanating from
international courts or regional tribunals.
Some student researchers often rely and indeed cite international cases from sources in
the exact manner in which the sources have cited the case without having verified
whether the citation provided is correct. Where the researcher must cite a case as it
appears in a source that was used, it is useful to state clearly that the citation of the case
has been adopted from the source. This should be done only after efforts to locate the
case and its proper citation have proved futile.
Unpublished Works
Sources that have not been published may provide a researcher with very important
information and data on a legal subject being investigated. These may include
dissertations and thesis, pamphlets, mimeographs, autobiographies, commission reports
and government publications.
33
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nuls/lectures/legwrit/cite4.htm (6th December 2009)
62
There are essentially no hard and fast rules regarding the manner in which unpublished
references may be cited as long as one is consistent. In some cases, however, some
journals provide for rules which may require contributors of articles to conform to
prescribed formats in citing unpublished works.
Dissertations and Theses

Dissertations and thesis are usually cited by providing the name of the author or authors
if more than one, the title (in italics), the degree for which it was written, the name of the
University and its location, where it was submitted and the year of submission. For
example Bakili, S.K. “The Right to Child Custody and the Law in Gondwanaland”
LL.M. Dissertation, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Dar-es-Salaam, 2005.
Mimeographs
A mimeograph is a copy ordinarily made by the use of stenciled duplication. An author
may reduce his or her ideas on paper and then deposit the material in the library or
documentation center for readers to make reference to. Mimeographs are usually cited by
providing for the authors names, title of the publication, year and the documentation
center or library where the mimeograph could be found. For example, Kanyanwyi, J.L.
" The Struggle Against Imperialism: A Popular Out line". Mimeo (over pp.300), UDSM
(1976)
Pamphlets
Pamphlets often contain treatises on a subject of interest and are usually intended to
contribute to debate on contentious public issues. They are addressed to an intended
audience, published in the form of a booklet usually with less than 50 pages. These are
usually cited by providing for the name of the author, the title and name of publisher and
place and date of publication.
Papers Retrievable from Conference/Workshop Proceedings

In the course of stating or identifying a legal problem, reference may be made to a paper
that was presented and discussed at various forums, for example, workshops, seminars or
63
conferences. In certain such papers could be easily be retrieved from the reports on the
proceedings of such forums. In some cases, the papers could be obtained from the authors
themselves or in documentary centers or libraries. These publications, usually in the form
of papers, have their modes of citation. They could, for example, be cited as follows:
Kanyanwyi, J.L “The Protection of the Interests and Rights of Women and Children in the
Penal & Procedure Codes", (pp.27) Paper presented at the UNAFRI Workshop on Reform
of Penal Laws and Procedures, International Conference Centre, Kampala, 15-19 March
1993.
Government Reports
The government has a number of sectors and units. Most of these usually produce reports
to guide them in the course of implementing government directives issued by policies.
For example, United Republic of Tanzania, Second Five Year Plan for Economic and
Social Development, Vol. 1, Government Publisher, Dar-es-Salaam, 1969
Commission Reports
Commissions of Inquiry are often provided for in Constitutions of commonwealth
countries and are usually created by governments to probe into matters of public concern.
Commissions could be defined briefly as government authorities set up to investigate an
issue and report to the government, for the government to make a decision. Commissions
could be set to investigate a matter of legal concern. At the end of the investigation, the
Commissions usually write reports on their findings. These reports could be used in the
course of identifying or stating a problem, as noted earlier. They could also be used in the
part of the proposal that sets out the literature review.
Commission reports should be cited in full. Usually the report would have a title. It could
sometimes state the authority that established it, for example, the Commission to Inquire
into Matters Relating to Land in Tanzania established by the Ministry of Land and
Human Settlement of the United Republic of Tanzania. In this respect, the citation would
have to reflect the title. The year the report was published should also be included in the
citation. Since some reports are produced in volumes, it is important to cite the specific
64
volume that was referred to. The above mentioned report could be cited as: United
Republic of Tanzania, Ministry of Lands and Human Settlement, Commission Report on
Land Matters in Tanzania, March 2008. Here the author is the Government of the United
Republic of Tanzania, the depository of the report is the Ministry of Lands and Human
Settlements.
Government Publications
Governments usually provide publications by way of policies, directives and guidelines,
for example. The author for such publications, in Tanzania, would be the United Republic
of Tanzania. In the case of citation of policy documents which are usually promulgated
by line Ministries or government departments, the appropriate mode of citation would
thus: United Republic of Ta nzania, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Wildlife
Policy of Tanzania, 2009
Documents in the Custody of Researcher

It is possible for a researcher to come across documents in the course of conducting
research which cannot be traced to a specific source. In other words, a document may
have come to the hands of the researcher not through some library or other documentary
research, but from the researcher’s own initiative. For example, someone may have made
some notes of an event but did not publish the document. He or she may have just
scribbled notes that are made available and used by the author. Since a reader cannot
access such documents, the author usually states that the documents are in his/her
custody. The most common phrase used when citing such documents is to state in a
footnote or endnote that the document is “on file with author or in the author’s custody.”
Any person who wishes to consult or cross-check the information on the document would
therefore have to consult the author. The author would have provided his/her contact
details in the report.
65
Web-sites
As noted above, with the advent in the use of information technology, research in law is
increasingly being conducted via the website. There are a number of law portals or search
engines where topical issues are discussed in legal periodicals and electronic journals.
Law students are encouraged to search for data and information from these sources.
However, most students have not comprehended the appropriate ways of citing sources
used from web-related searches. Some students even purposefully omit making reference
to data obtained from such sources, believing that those reading their reports would not
discover where the data was extracted. As noted earlier, this practice amounts to
plagiarism, a serious offence in academic circles.
Where information or data has been obtained from a web-related search, the researcher
must acknowledge it by citing the author, if any, the URL (www.http//....) correctly and
the date when the site was visited. It is important to provide for the date when the website
was visited (perused) as usually information on the internet is often updated. In this
respect, where a reader, in process of cross-checking the informatio n say on statistics on
crimes committed in a certain City, finds contrasting data from the one that you (the
researcher) presented, it is very likely that the disparity could be a result of the reader
having checked the website much later, after the researcher has submitted his/her report.
Where a date on when the researcher visited the site is provided, a strong defense on the
data used by the researcher, where one is challenging it, could be made. References to
wed-sites could thus be cited as: www.http//tanzaniaparliament (visited 20th January
2009).
Footnotes and Endnotes

A footnote is a raised number that is placed at the end of a sentence in which the
reference is made- it refers the reader to the bottom of the page where there is a list of
references. Endnotes, on the other hand, play the same role as footnotes. However, these
appear immediately at the end of the paper or chapter. Footnotes and endnotes are
basically devices used for giving additional information without disrupting the flow of a
written text. They ordinarily provide specific reference to the page of a source used.
66
Bibliographies do not refer the reader to the specific page. It should be clearly stated here
that footnotes and endnotes are not a part of the bibliography. However, there is
symbiotic relationship between them and the list of sources provided for in a
bibliography.
As noted above, the bibliography provides a list the sources referred to by the researcher.
This means that the sources cited in footnotes or endnotes must all be provided for in the
bibliography part. The main uses of a footnote or an endnote is to provide a source of a
citation; make cross-reference to another part of the report, define terms or provide extra
or more recent information. Information given in footnotes or endnotes is usually brief –
only the author, title of publication and page number is provided. The other information
would appear in the bibliography where there is full information such as the publisher,
date, place of publication.
Footnotes usually detract the attention of the reader and in the process sometimes slow
down the reading pace. The reader would have to keep referring to the bottom of the
page to make sense of the message being put across by the writer. Where endnotes are
used, the situation is even more complex as the reader is forced to go to the end of the
chapter to get the gist of the meaning of the message being sent across. It is mainly
because of these inconveniences that some authorities have cautioned on the use of
footnotes and endnotes. Judge Mark Painter from the Ohio Court of Appeals in the
USA, for example, argues that:
If something is important enough to be in a footnote, it is important enough to be in the

text. Footnotes detract from readability. Encountering a footnote is like going
downstairs to answer the door while making love. Don't let footnotes swallow the page
from the bottom, as in a law review article.
Your goal is to communicate, not build a resume. If you make your document look like
a law review article, it will be just as unreadable!
Many years ago, courts used no footnotes. The only proper use for footnotes is to give
citations, rather than having citations in the middle of a sentence. Proper use of footnotes
67
is for reference only. If something is truly parenthetical, but you believe it needs to be
mentioned, use parentheses.34
The above observations by Judge Painter would equally apply to endnotes, along the
same arguments.
Common Latin Phrases and Foot/end noting

The use of Latin in law emerged during the early period of the Norman Conquest era. 35
Today, despite challenges in certain quarters, the of Latin phrases has been an common in
footnoting. When writing footnotes one may need to refer to something more than once.
In order to avoid repeating the information in the bibliography, certain Latin words have
been used since time- immemorial and have since become the norm.
In legal writing, foreign words or phrases ought to be distinguished. Initially this was
done by underlining the phrases or words. Today, the practice has been to write such
words or phrases in italics. The following common Latin phrases are usually used in
footnoting.
Ibid.
On of the most common Latin phrases used in footnoting or in the end notes is the phrase,
“Ibidem”, which means “at the same place.” The term is often used where the writer
makes uninterrupted reference to the same publication. That is to say, instead of repeating
to cite the same publication, as it is, immediately after having cited it, including the page
number, the writer would instead use the phrase ibid.,
E.g. A passage in a text may be footnoted as follows:
1. Fimbo, G.M, and James, R.W Customary Land Law in
Tanzania: A Source Book, (1970). Chapter 4
2. Ibid., p. 34
3. Fimbo, infra, p. 30
4. Fimbo, supra, note 1 at p. 39
34
Judge Mark Painter, 31 Montana Lawyer, April 2006, “How to Write for Judges, Not Like Judges”
35
See generally Tiersma, Peter, Legal Language, Chicago Press, 1999
68
In the example above, the numbers 1- 4 are footnotes, which would appear at the bottom
of the page or endnotes at the end of a chapter. In footnote number 2, where there is the
use of the phrase “ibid.,” the author is making reference to the same book by Fimbo and
James which is already cited in footnote number 1. However, in footnote number 2, the
author wants to be specific and therefore directs the reader to the exact page (page 34).
Op cit
Op.cit is another popular abbreviation of the Latin phrase “Öpere citate.” The word
means “in the work/s already cited” and is used where an author makes reference to a
particular publication more than once but where the references are not consecutive.
Loc.cit
Loc.cit, is the acronym for “loco citato,” a Latin word which translates to: “the place
cited.” The use of this phrase in not common, in legal writing today but is sometimes
used to refer to the same author, title and page of an earlier footnote or endnote.
Supra
This is yet another Latin phrase which is not in common use today. The phrase means
“above ”. It is used where a secondary authority has been cited previously and where the
use of ibid is inappropriate.
Et al
Meaning “and another” or “and others” is a phrase that is commonly used where there
are more than two authors to a single publication. In order to avoid the awkwardness that
usually results due to writing all names, the use of et al immediately after the name of the
first author, is recommended.
REPORT WRITING: THE DRAFTING STAGE

The earliest stages of writing the research report could prove to be a very difficult task.
One of the best techniques of circumventing the problem of commencing the writing
process is for the writer to start by preparing a zero draft. This draft would ordinarily
69
comprise of scribbled pieces of writing on the legal issues under investigation that may
not make sense in the beginning. There will be a lot of information that the researcher
comes across in the course of reviewing literature and trying to comprehend the
manifestation of the legal problem being investigated. Therefore, students should not
panic when they seemingly take longer than anticipated to come up with some tangible
draft during the very initial stages. The most important thing to remember is to ensure
that all the data/material that is obtained from the field during research or literature
obtained in the course of conducting library or documentary research is kept in good
custody. Initially it is best to write everything that is obtained. The trimming down
process would come with time, when editing.
Students should also keep record of all the draft notes taken in a file or binder. Drafts
should not be written in loose papers. However rough the notes may appear, you never
know when you would need them. The other tip for preparing the draft at this stage is to
ensure that you el ave sufficient gaps/room between paragraphs as you write. That is
space out the margins. It would be easier to insert additional information or data that is
obtained later as the research progresses. You will be better placed to insert additional
data/points where they belong, rather than placing the information three pages from the
main points.
TIPS ON ORGANIZING THE REPORT

It may appear difficult at the outset to provide for the titles or subtitles (names) of
chapters for the final product – the dissertation. This also comes with experience and time
and should therefore not discourage students. One should remember that Chapter one
usually comprises of the proposal. The title of the chapter would accordingly change to
say, Introduction or Background. The researcher would transform the proposal into the
past tense as he/she would be reporting, for example, how the field work was conducted
and the data obtained. Initially, while at the proposal writing stage, the researcher was
stating the he /she would do something. At the report writing stage, the researcher would
be stating what was done and how it was done.
70
The names of chapters could be concocted after determining the content of the chapter
itself. Sometimes, the title or subtitle would be written after the substance of the chapter
has been laid out in the drafting process. The techniques discussed above, in the part
outlining the drafting of a working title, would prove very useful in coming up with the
title or subtitles of chapters.
BASIC PITFALLS TO AVOID
After commencement of the writing process, the researcher must make every effort to
avoid losing the entire or part of the work in the course of word processing. For students
who use public computers chances of their work being infested by computer viruses
increase. It is common for students to use secretarial services for which they part with
some money. These services are used by many people and thereby increase the chances
of losing work through viruses. In some cases the secretaries who move to other places of
employment with the work. It is recommended to enter into a contract with the bureau,
where possible, rather than an individual who would type the work.
Students who use personal computers are also prone to the danger of their work being
infested with computer viruses. Personal computers may also be infested due to multiple
users and exchange of data by way of flash disks. Of course, there are a number of anti-
virus soft wares that could be used to overcome this problem. However, in some cases,
these soft wares are also capable of being hacked, leading to loss of data/information that
had been built for over lo ng periods of time. Students are advised to keep copies of back
up files for their work in different and safe places. The back ups should be made every
time in the report writing stages.
Keeping hard copies of print outs of the work is also useful, as a way of ensuring that the
information is stored in a safe and proper way. Of course, the risk here is that one may
have to re-type the whole text in the event of problems, but it is better to have somewhere
rather than to start a fresh. Also, with developments in technology, albeit relatively
71
expensive, it is possible to scan the documents and in the process reduce the re-typing
process, if not avoid it all together.
SELF EVALUATION
The prudent researcher would ensure that the final report is intact and coordinated in
every aspect in the course of proof-reading his or her final report, before submission for
examination. There is no general guide to ensure that the final report is comprehensive in
scope and the chapters flow well. However, the following basic guide could provide a
useful checkpoint for students, before they hand in their final copies.
Statement of the Legal Problem and Significance

The main issues that one needs to critically consider before submission are whether the
statement and significance (objectives) of the legal problem identified are clearly stated.
The main guide in determining that this has been achieved is to inquire into the
contribution to legal jurisprudence that the research embarked upon has been achieved.
This must be clearly stated and should be apparent in the report.
Style of Presentation
As noted above, the methodology that the researchers chooses to undertake the study
must be clearly stated. In the self evaluation exercise, the student needs to cross-check
whether the research methods have been clearly described. The data collection and
compilation processes should also be easily identified in the report. Also, one must
satisfy themselves that the data collection techniques used are appropriate for the legal
problem stated. There must be evidence of field work. Data obtained from respondents
and their views on the legal issue/s being analyzed must be clearly stated.
The hypotheses that have been stated or research questions posed must be reflected and
be comprehensively addressed. Again, these must relate to the research methods applied.
Finally, the analysis in the literature review is comprehensive, squarely addresses the
identified legal problem and the literature selected is closely related to the problem. The
knowledge gap or gaps for each literature that has been reviewed comes out clearly and
72
the areas of commonality and differences in the literature reviewed and that of the legal
problem being investigated have been stated.
Students must also satisfy themselves that the findings of the study are reliable, consistent
and have a bearing to the hypotheses that had been stated. Where disparities exist, there
must be some plausible explanation.
REPORT WRITING36
In writing the report, care must be taken to ensure that there is a logical and coherent
presentation of the report and that it flows well. The chapters, headings and sub- heading
or sub-titles are to be arranged in some organized manner. There must be clarity of
expression, the grammar (language) and in the presentation of thoughts advanced in the
course of analysis. There must be a systematic organization and presentation of ideas and
thoughts on legal issues addressed and analyzed. Above all, the student must satisfy
himself that the arguments advanced are original. The citation and references ought to be
proper and consistent. There must also be an organized and systematic compilation of the
bibliography, tables and appendices (where used) must make reference to the source
where they were obtained. One must also satisfy themselves that the citation of texts,
journals and other authorities is proper and consistent.
There must also be a symbiotic relationship between the ideas advanced and those
advanced in the analysis of the literature review part of the report. The contribution legal
knowledge of the study must also come out very clearly and areas for future research, if
any, should be stated with clarity.
It is also important to point out that the report/dissertation must comply with the accepted
format, where one is provided and must conform to specifications set out in the relevant
and applicable regulations.
36
It is recommended that students make reference to Oliver, P. Writing Your Thesis , Sage Publications,
New Delhi, 2004 before commencing writing their dissertations. A copy of this book is available in the
Staff Library of the Faculty of Law.
73
When it comes to conclusions and recommendations, students ought to ensure that the
conclusions are drawn from the analysis of data obtained from the field. The issue of
practicability of the recommendations advanced is also fundamental.
Another important issue that should not be lost sight of in the self analysis process is the
need for coherent presentation of the ideas being advanced for legal reform in the
presentation of recommendations. Finally one should ask whether the objective of the
research has will be attained, that is to say, whether the research findings are capable of
reaching out to the targeted groups, such as law reformists, legislators and policy makers.
74
SELECTED TEXTS FOR FURTHER REFERENCES
Books
Allen, George Richard, The Graduate Students’ Guide to Theses and Dissertations: A
Practical Manual for Writing Research, San Francisco, Jossey Bass, 1973
Bailey, K.D, Methods of Social Research, Free Press, London, 1987
Barzum Graff, The Modern Researcher (Revised Edition) Harcourt Brace and World Inc.
New York, 1970
Beasley, David How to Use the Research Library, Oxford University Press, 1988
Blackstrom, C.H. and Hursh Survey Research Northwestern University Press,
Minneapolis, 1962
Block, G. Effective Legal Writing - A Style Book for Law Students and Lawyers, The
Foundation Press, New York, 1988
Boruch R and Cecil J. (Eds) Solutions to Ethical and Legal Problems in Social Research,
Academic Press, London, 1983
Brislin R.W et al Cross Cultural Research Methods, London, John Wiley and Sons, 1973
Bulmer (ed) Social Research Ethics: An Examination of the Merits of Covert Participant
Observation, London, Macmillan 1982
Burgess, R.G (Ed) Field Research: A Source Book and Field Manual, London, Allen and
Unwin, 1982
Byner J and Stribley (Eds), Social Research: Principles and Practice, London, Longman,
1979
Charrow, V.R and Myra Eihardt, Clear and Effective Writing, Little Brown and Co,
Boston, 1986
Denzim N.K and Lincoln T, (Eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd Edition) Sage
Publications, London 2000
Dominowski, Roger, Research Methods, Prentice-Hall Publishers, Englewood Cliff, 1980
Gatnen E and Corasco, Research and Report Writing, Bass and Nobble Inc. New York,
1956
75
Gerald Holton and Robert Morrison (Eds) Limits of Scientific Inquiry, Norton, New
York, 1979
Gold N, Mackie K and Twinning W, (Eds) Learning Lawyer Skills, Butterworths,
London, 1989
Gopal M.H, Research Reporting in Social Sciences, Karnatak University Dharwar
Goren R.L, Interviewing Strategy, Techniques and Tactics (Revised Edition), Dorsey
Press Homewood, 1975
Hellen Shapo (Ed), Writing and Analysis in Law, Westbury, The Foundation Press, New
York, 1989
Hilway T, Introduction to Research, (2nd Edition) Houghton Miffin, Boston, 1964
Hook, Lucycle, The Research Paper: Gathering Library Material, Organizing and
Preparing the Manuscript, 4th Edition, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1969
Hubbuch Susan, Writing Research Papers Across the Curriculum (2nd Edition) Rinehart
and Winston Publishers, New York 1989
Hughes J.A The Philosophy of Social Research, London, Longman, 1980
Hyman H. et al, Interviewing in Social Research, University of Chicago Press, Chicago,
1975
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Manual for Legal Citation: Part I, University of
London, London, 1959
Johnson E, The Research Report: A Guide for the Beginner, Ronald Press New York,
1951
Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques, (2nd Edition) Wiley,
Eastern Ltd, New Delhi 1980 (Chapters 1-4 and 14)
Leedy Paul, Practical Research, Planning and Design, (2nd Edition) Macmillan, New
York, 1980/1993
Leonard and Anselm L.S, Field Research, Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey, 1975
Luckman, R. (Ed) Land Law and Social Enquiry: Case Studies in Research, Scandinavian
Institute of African Studies Uppsala, 1981
Oliver, P. Writing Your Thesis, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2004
Olle, James Gordon, How to Use Information Sources in Libraries, Gower Publication,
1984
76
Peil M Social Science Research Methods: An African Handbook, London, Hodder and
Stoughton 1982
Pons V (ed) Introduction to Social Research, Department of Sociology, University of
Dar-es-Salaam, 1988 (DUP, Dar-es-Salaam, 1992)
Prewitt, K. Social Science Research Methodology, East African Applications, University
of Nairobi, Institute of Development Studies, 1975 – reprint 1980
Rudestani K.E, and Newton, R. Surviving Your Dissertation, Newbury Park, CA, Sage,
1992
Sadhu, A.N and Singh Amarjit, Research Methodology in Social Science, Sterling
Publishers PVT, LTD New Delhi, 1983
Sharma B.A.V et al, Research Methods in Social Sciences, Sterling Publishers PVT Ltd,
New Delhi 1983
Shipman M.D, The Limitations of Social Research, Macmillan, London,1972
Shulamit Reinhartz, On Becoming a Social Scientist, Transition Publishers, London 1995
Shumbusho G.N Research Report Writing Skills, IDM-Mzumbe, 2000
Sieber, J.E (Ed) The Ethics of Social Research, Fieldwork, Regulations and Publication,
Berlin, Springer Vellag, 1982
Sudman S and Bradburn N.M Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire
Design, New York, Jossey Bass 1982
Turabian Kate, L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Thesis and Dissertations,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1967
Wagenaar T, and Babbie E, Practicing Social Research – Guided Activities to accompany
The Practice of Social Research (6th Edition), Wadsworth, California, 1992
Watson George, Writing a Thesis: A Guide to Long Essays and Dissertations, Longman,
New York, 1987
Wax, R. H Doing Field Work, Warnings and Advice, Chicago, University of Chicago
Press, 1971
Wilkinson A.M, The Scientists Handbook for Writing Proposals and Dissertations,
Englewood Cliff, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1991
Winkler, A.C, Writing the Research Paper: A Handbook, HBJ, New York, 1985
Zinser W. Writing with a Word Processor, Colophon, New York, 1983
77
Articles/Manuals
Communications Skills Unit: (CL 105) Communications Skills for Law, Student’s Source
Book, Communications Skills Unit, University of Dar-es-Salaam
Albert Weale, “The Case of Documentary Evidence and Official Sources,” in Pons, V
(Ed) Introduction to Social Research
Barnes, J.A “Some Problems in Modern Field Work,” British Journal of Sociology,
1963, 14 118-134
HeatherP and Stone S, “Questionnaires” CRUS Guide No 5 University of Sheffield,
Sheffield 1984
Pausewang, S “Participation in Development Research: A Discussion Arising from
Experiences in Ethiopia,” in Pons, V (Ed) Introduction to Social Research, DUP, 1988
Philips, H.P “Problems of Translation and Meaning in Field Work” Human Organization
Vol. 18, No. 14, 1959-1960
Tessler, M “Interviewer Biasing Effects in a Tunisian Survey,” Journal of Social
Psychology, Vol. 84, 1971
Vidich, A.J. “Participant Observation and the Collection and Interpretation of Data,”
American Journal of Sociology, 1955; 60 (354-360)
Whyte W. Z “Interviewing in Field Research,” in Adams R and Preiss J.J (Eds) Human
Organizations Research: Field Relations and Techniques, 1960
Wolf K.H “The Collection and Organization of Field Materials: A Research Report,” in
Adams R.M and Preiss J.J (Eds) Human Organizations Research: Field Relations and
Techniques, Homewood, The Dorsey Press, Illinois, 1960
Wydick, Richard, C. “Plain English for Lawyers,” 66 Cal. L. Rev. 727 (1978)
Punch M, “Politics and Ethics in Research,” in Denzim et al (Eds) Handbook of
Qualitative Research
Lazerfield P.F “Evidence and Interference in Social Research,” in David Lerher
Evidence and Interference, the Free Press Glencoe, 1980
Hricik D and Ellis “Disparities in Legal Ethical Standards Between State and Federal
Judicial Systems: An Analysis and Critique,” The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics,
Vol. XIII No. 4 Summer 2000
78
Kalish S.E “How to Encourage Lawyers to be Ethical: Do Not Use the Ethics Code As A
Basis for Regular Law Decisions,” The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. XIII
No. 4 Summer, 2000
Laura Hershey, “Researcher Explores Lives of Disabled Women and Girls” The
Guardian Newspaper, (Tanzania) Tuesday November 20th 2001.
79
ANNEXTURE “A” – SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

______________________________________________________________________
QUESTIONNAIRE ON ILLEGAL LOGGING IN DISTRICT D: AN ANALYSIS
OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK
______________________________________________________________________
Introduction
A. My name is XYX; I am a third year law student at the University of Dar-es-Salaam,

School of Law (Formerly Faculty of Law). In the third year of my studies at the
University, I am required to conduct research. I am conducting research on the causes of
forest depletion in District D. I am trying to see whether there is a relationship between
illegal logging, knowledge of the law among the various stakeholders and whether the
penal provisions in the forest legislation are deterrent. This questionnaire is purely for
academic purposes but it will provide insights on solving illegal logging of timber in
District D and also in most parts to the country where the practice is causing problems.
B. Kindly fill in the questionnaire. Feel free to omit any question that you may find
offensive. Please feel also free to make additional comments that may assist me in my
research. Let me take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your cooperation.
______________________________________________________
1. What is the rate of conviction of the offenders? (ü Mark the appropriate box.)
? Very high (>70%) ? High (>50%) ? Moderate (>30%)
? Low (<30%) ? Don't know
2. In case your answer is 'moderate' or 'low', list reasons for not being able to secure a
conviction of the offenders from the court.
a)
b)
c)
d)
80
3. What is the level of recovery of offences compounded? (ü Mark the appropriate box.)
? Very high ? High ? Moderate ? Low ? Not at all
4. In case your answer is 'moderate' or 'low', suggest measures that should be taken to
improve the recovery.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
5. Do you think that punishment provided for in the legislation governing the harvesting
of forest products is enough to deter offenders?
? Yes ? Partly Yes ? No
? You have a mixed reaction.
? Can't say anything.
6. If your answer is not 'yes' then please suggest which laws should be amended? Also
briefly mention the amendments to be made.
a)
b)
c)
d)
7. If you find existing forest laws not useful or have a mixed feeling then give your
suggestion for the changes you would like to be made in them (Name the law first and
then suggest changes in each of them) Add additional pages as necessary.
Name of the Law Changes suggested

Number Suggested change Reasoning for suggestion
81
“ANNEXTURE B” 37 (Sample of Descri ption of Selected Study Area)
TOPIC: INCREASE IN JUVENILE CRIME RATES IN LINDI, TANZANIA
Lindi is a coastal town located at the far end of the beautiful Lindi Bay, on the Indian
Ocean in southeastern Tanzania. The town is 450 kilometers south of Dar es Salaam &
105 kilometers north of Mtwara, the southernmost coastal town in Tanzania, and gives its
name to the surrounding Lindi Region, one of the most sparsely populated areas of the
country. The town population was 41,549 as of the 2002 national census.
Lindi is located at the mouth of the Lukuledi River. Its port facilities are still
rudimentary, allowing one or two small cargo and passenger boats at a time, and cannot
accommodate ocean- going ships. The region was once an important sisal-producing
plantation area, especially in Kikwetu, surrounding the Lindi airstrip, 25 kilometers north
of town. During the rainy season Lindi is presently accessible only by air and sea, with
roads open during the dry season. At present there is a huge road building project going
on, which aims to upgrade the whole road north to Dar es Salaam to bitumen standards.
Many parts of the project have already been finished, but the project is yet to b
completed. An old tarmac road connects Lindi town to Mtwara, passing through
Mikindani, an important Arab business settlement for explorers sailing along the east
coast from Muscat, Oman, Malindi or Mombasa to Sofala.
Lindi is a fairly cosmopolitan town with Arab and Indian merchants owning the bulk of
businesses, and Islam is the predominant religion. The town has a market, a bus station, a
post office, an airstrip, primary and secondary schools, several banks (some with ATM's),
an internet cafe and many guesthouses. The locals are mainly engaged in fishing in Lindi
Bay and some farming on the outskirts of the town. Employment opportunities are
unfortunately very limited, as Lindi lacks any kind of major industry. From the coast the
land rises sharply to the escarpment hills of Mtanda, once a residential area for colonial
civil servants, with striking views of Lindi Bay. During the colonial era, a transfer to
Lindi amounted to a re-appraisal or demotion. This has not changed today.
37
Adopted (with slight modifications) from http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania
82
ANNEXTURE C
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF HIV/AIDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF …
(SAMPLE OF KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW GUIDE)
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE
OBJECTIVES
1. To involve the key stakeholders in the research process from the very beginning;
2. To get an insight about what is happening in the law (rules) and policy making
circles;
3. To get an insight into how Leaders and key stakeholders perceive the problem of
legal rights of people with HIV/AIDS at the institution
Introduction:
I/we are members of a research team commissioned to do the study on ‘Legal

Implications of HIV/AIDS at the University.
The main objective of this study is to investigate how the University community
perceives the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS at the University and what they
identify to be the role of the University community in providing these groups of people
with opportunities to ensure their rights are not compromised.
Leading question:
Do you consider HIV/AIDS a problem in your college/Faculty/department?
Checklist of issues:
A
1. Do you perceive HIV/AIDS a big problem in organization?
2. How is the problem affecting the day to day rights of workers in your Institute?
(Probe for reasons and explanation for both YES and NO)
3. Do you think it interferes with the process of attaining organizational goal –How?
83
4. What do you think is the main reason behind the lack of recognition of the rights
of people living with HIV/AIDS in your institution?
5. Being in your position do you think that the rights of people living with
HIV/AIDS are taken on board in your work? (Probe for reasons)
6. Do you think you have any role to play in addressing the problem in your
organization? (Probe for reasons, strategies and whether the mandate to do that is
there, if not to propose how things could be made easier for people in different
position to participate in the interventions)
7. Are there any specific programmes/interventions on HIV/AIDS that are being
taken/implemented by your institution to accommodate the rights of those living
with HIV/AIDS?
8. What is your opinion on the relevance and effectiveness of the steps/strategies
(rules and regulations) adopted by your institution to ensure rights of people living
with HIV/AIDS?
9. Do you think that the measures adopted are enough? Do you have any suggestion
as to how more effective measures could be adopted?
1. You must be aware of the legislation which seeks to address rights of people
living with HIV/AIDS – in your opinion is the legislation relevant in addressing
your Institutional needs?
2. In your opinion what do you consider to be the most appropriate way to deal with
the problem?
84
C
1. Being one of the leaders in Institution of higher learning what do you think will be
the best way to deal with the problem of enforcing rights of people living with
HIV/AIDS at your Institution?
2. There are several intervention programmes adopted nation wide (VCT, IEC,
support and care) what do you think of these approaches in terms of assisting
people living with HIV/AIDS at your institution?
85
ANNEXTURE D
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF...
(SAMPLE OF A FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE)
INTRODUCTION:
We are members of the research team commissioned to carry out the study on the legal
implications of people living with HIV/AIDS at the University of … The objective of this
discussion is to get your perception on the magnitude of the rights of persons living with
HIV/AIDS and related problems at the University. A second objective is to discuss your
perception on the limitations on attaining rights by people living with HIV/AIDS at the
University as well as strategies for managing the situation from a legal point of view.
ISSUE
Are the rights of people living with HIV/ AIDS a problem in our community (Campus,
Halls of residents)?
Checklist
• What are the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS generally?
• How could these rights be enforced?
• Interactions that cause vulnerability among community members (rights issues to
be brought up)
• Is the University community knowledgeable of the rights of persons living with
HIV/AIDS?
• So far is the University community implementing the rights of those affected?
(Probe how)
• Comparing to the general population what are the chances of members of the
University being knowledgeable of the rights of those infected with HIV/AIDS?
• Are they aware of any National program, policy or legislative framework on
HIV/AIDS?
86
• What are their views concerning the legislation – Is the law useful or just a
wastage of time. (try to probe for reasons)
• Do they think that the laws have any relevance to the University community?
• Are they aware of any initiative at the University level that reflects the law to
ensure the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS? (Probe for examples).
• Do they think that the laws have any influence on the behavioral change to the
University community? (Probe on the reasons and specificity)
• Do they think the University community has any contribution towards the
implementation of the law that seeks to ensure the rights of people living with
HIV/AIDS? (Probe for different contributions)
87
Annexture E
(RECOMMENDED READING FOR ETHICS ON LEGAL RESEARCH)
THE IMPACT OF THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998 ON SOCIO-LEGAL

RESEARCH
New Ethical Challenges in Socio-legal Research
SLSA (Social Legal Studies Association) Conference 9 September 2004 University of

Westminster London38
Rosemary Jay, Masons
Introduction
The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) ("the Act") has not always enjoyed the best press.
It has been referred to in the Court of Appeal as a "cumbersome and inelegant piece of
legislation" and variously blamed (although subsequently exonerated) by British Gas for
their failure to alert Social Services when the gas supply was cut off from some elderly
consumers and by a senior police officer for the decision to erase records in the Soham
murder case. I recall the words of a judge under the predecessor Act, on realising that
this new legislation curtailed the freedom of a commercial organisation to decide what it
could do with personal information, "Are you seriously telling me that this law will mean
that [X] building society can't do whatever it wants with its information about its own
customers?" which illustrates an assumption that information about the customers
"belonged" to the organisation.
When the ODPR (as it was then) issued guidance under the DPA that those collecting
information on individuals had to tell the individuals who they (the collectors) were and
what they were going to do with the information. The Office was threatened with judicial
review, became the subject of complaints to MPs, received lawyers letters explaining
38
This paper is available at:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/nslsa/images/slsadownloads/onedayconferences/rosemary%20jay%20slsa
nd
%20paper.doc (22 December 2009)
88
why we were wrong and generally given the impression that civilisation as we knew it
was about to be brought to its knees.
This is not simply reminiscence for the sake of it – I want to illustrate that the UK has not
found the concepts embodied in the DPA immediately sympathetic. As people have
accepted that it is not going to go away there has been a tendency to regard it as a
technical set of rules and a reluctance to accept its principled basis.
Gradually that is changing and the introduction of the Human Rights Act has made the
concept of fundamental rights more familiar
It is therefore refreshing to consider the DPA in the context of ethical review. The
starting point of the DPA is fundamentally an ethical position. The Act is based on the
fundamental assumption that to hold and use personal information about another living
individual is to invade, in however slight a way, that individual's autonomy and privacy
and must thus be justified in the first instance and conducted with due regard for fairness
and the rights of that individual. It is based on principles and values – centrally the
concept of informational self-determination – the individual has the basic right to control
information about him or herself. Clearly this is not an unfettered right; I cannot stop the
tax man holding information about me or the police if I have a brush with the law, but it
is not consumer legislation – it does not protect us in our economic dealings (save by a
side wind). It is human rights legislation based on principles of individual worth and
autonomy.
Nevertheless the Act raises some serious issues for researchers – for example how do you
square the right of informational self determination with covert research? Before drilling
down into some of those questions I want to set the Act into its broader context.
Human Rights Act 1998
My task is to examine the application of the DPA but it is not the only relevant legal
influence. We should also consider the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Convention right
to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence. The State must respect
89
these rights and may only interfere with them where certain conditions are satisfied.
These are:-
• The interference has a basis in law – this means that the State cannot arbitrarily
interfere with home or privacy
• The interference must be in support of one of a specified list of matters of public

interest bearing in mind that there is no general "public interest" category. The
list covers national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the
country, the prevention of crime or disorder, the protection of health and morals
and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others
• The interference must be proportionate in the specific instance, so you cannot

"use a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
If a person gives free, full and explicit consent based on full understanding then
appropriate respect will usually have been shown but there are some things to which the
individual cannot consent such as bodily harm or an invasion of the privacy of others.
Although the HRA only applies directly to the State Article 8 has been applied indirectly
to those in the private sector in that the courts have supported the view that the law
should protect the vulnerable against the more powerful in this regard and Campbell and
Jones have succeeded against newspapers based partly on arguments brought under
Article 8.
Confidentiality
Individuals may also have rights based on obligations of confidence. This gives rise to an
important intersection with the DPA as the DPA requires that all processing of personal
data must be "lawful". Thus a breach of an obligation of confidence will also involve a
breach of the DPA.
90
Council of Europe Recommendations
Before examining the DPA specifically we should also mention the existence of some
specific guidance on research and personal data. Although not binding in law the
Recommendations of the expert committee of the Council of Europe carry much weight
in data protection. There are two Recommendations dealing with research.
Recommendations (R 83 (10)) and R 97(18) set out a general approach to the use of
personal data for research which generally accepts the need to use personal data and
accepts that it may not always be possible to meet the usual standards of notice to the
data subject but emphasises that this is only acceptable as long as there is "functional
separation". In other words exemptions from the standards required by the data
protection are acceptable as long as the data are not used to make decisions about or take
actions that may affect the data subject.
The European instrument on which the DPA is based, Directive 95/46/EC, contains
derogations for the use of personal data for "historical, statistical or scientific purposes".
These provide that the use of data for those purposes shall not be regarded as
incompatible with the original reason for the collection of the data and that data can be
retained for research purposes as long as the Member State provides sufficient
safeguards. It also allows for exemptions from the right of subject access and some
notice requirements. The UK has taken advantage of all of these derogations but there
remain some difficulties for researchers.
Outline Data Protection Act 1998
The Act applies to the use of all personal data for research. It includes a specific
exemption for research uses of personal data but it is only a partial exemption and only
covers some aspects of the Act in some circumstances.
Personal data
This is information relating to a living individual. The information has to be held on a

computer or in a structured filing system, so unstructured files are not caught but
91
unstructured information is not likely to be of much assistance with research. Data will
not be personal data within the meaning of the DPA if it is successfully anonymised.
Anonymisation
This is a topic all on its own but some general comments should be made. You cannot
collect anonymous data in most research. You have to know who the subject is. So it
does not help in the collection. However sometimes it is possible to use information
which has been collected for another purpose and have it on an anonymised basis. Clearly
information may be anonymised and if completely and properly anonymised then there
should be no breach of Article 8 but genuine anonymisation may be difficult and care
should be taken to ensure that there can be no re- identification.
Responsibility
The responsibility for compliance with the DPA lies with the "data controller". It is
important to establish who the data controller is for any piece of research. The data
controller is the one who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons)
determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are
to be, processed. This may be the academic establishment or the funder or the research
leader but agreement depending on the circumstances of the case.
Data Principles
The data principles apply to personal data held or used for research and the controller is
responsible for ensuring that they are complied with. They require that:
• there must be justifiable grounds for carrying out any processing of personal
data and where data which fall into a list of "sensitive" categories are concerned
that justification can be quite onerous;
• in order to establish that the processing is justified the controller has to review
the lists of reason for processing given in the Act and be satisfied that he can
92
bring himself within one or more of the grounds. The general grounds are very
wide, including,
"that the processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued
by the data controller ..except where the processing is unwarranted in any
particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate
interests of the data subject"
This is wholly consistent with the Principles in the re-statement particularly principle 5.
Further to this in order to process any data the following conditions need to be fulfilled:
• there must be notice and knowledge of the processing by the data subject unless
an exemption can be claimed. The Act does not require consent to the use of all
data however it always requires notice and of course, that means that the person
can chose not to take part in the research. Notice should be provided when the
data are first collected or obtained. There is little amplification of the term
"consent" although it is made clear that consent for the purposes of the use of
sensitive data must be full, free, explicit consent. There is nothing in the Act to
prevent the use of agents who are able to consent on behalf of the data subject,
assuming that the data subject has capacity or the agent has an appropriate
authority;
• subsequent uses of the data must be limited to ones which are compatible with
the original notice;
• the Act further imposes requirements in relation to data quality and security as
well as special rules on transfer outside the EEA;
• individuals have specific rights in relation to any data held about them. These
are the right to know what the data are (subject access), rights to object to
processing of the data in limited circumstances, although when the processing is
for direct marketing that right becomes absolute, rights to object to automated
93
decision making and right s to compensation where they are victims of damage
caused by unlawful processing.
Where sensitive personal data are concerned there is a general ground that will validate
research (there is also a special provision which can be used for some medical research)
and as with all personal data justification can also be found if the researcher has the
consent of the data subject to the processing of sensitive data.
The categories of sensitive data are wide covering: - racial or ethnic origin, political
opinions, religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, trade union membership,
physical or mental health or condition, sexual life, the commission of an offence or
alleged offence and any criminal proceedings.
How much social- legal research involves at least one of those categories of information?
Wherever it does the consent of the subjects is crucial to ensure compliance with the
DPA, unless it can be justified under paragraph 9 of the Data Protection (Processing of
Sensitive Personal Data) Order S.I. 2000 No 417.
This S.I. (Statutory Instrument) covers the processing of sensitive personal data for
research purposes. It adopts the definition in section 33 DPA in which "research
purposes" includes statistical or historical purposes. This is a wide definition, however,
the conditions imposed on the processing are restrictive in so far as paragraph 9 requires
that the processing of the sensitive personal data must be in the substantial public interest.
Sensitive personal data may therefore only be held on this ground where there is some
public interest in the research itself. The processing must also be necessary for the
research purpose.
The S.I. also imposes the following safe guard conditions:
• the processing does not support measures or decisions with respect to any
particular data subject otherwise than with the explicit consent of the data
subject; and
94
• the processing does not cause, not is likely to cause, substantial damage or
substantial distress to the subject or any other person.
The wording has been subtly altered from the employed in section 33. In section 33 the
processing must not support measures or decisions with respect to "particular
individuals" and the processing must not cause damage or distress to "any data subject".
If processing of sensitive data cannot be justified under paragraph 9 of the S.I. then the
consent of the subjects is crucial to ensure compliance with the DPA.
Exemptions
There is some leeway for research in the Act and several exemptions which mirror the
derogations allowed for by the Directive. They only apply where the safeguard
conditions are met.
Safeguard conditions
• The data must not be processed to support measures or decisions with respect to
particular individuals nor
• processed in such a way that substantial damage or substantial distress is or is

likely to be caused to any data subject
Where the safeguard conditions apply data used in the research is exempt from three
requirements of the Act
• the use for research need not be compatible with the purpose for which the data
were originally obtained
• the data may be retained for longer than would have been acceptable for the
original purpose; and
• subject access does not have to be given to the data as long as the results of the
research do not identify individual data subjects.
95
It can be seen that the research exemptions do not allow the covert use or collection,
particularly where the data are sensitive data.
Are there any other circumstances when the full rigours of the DPA an cease to be
applicable to research? Yes there are. There are a number of specific exemptions but
they apply in a minority of circumstances and the researcher would have to be satisfied
that the conditions are fulfilled and would have to convince any ethical scrutiny that they
apply. For these reasons they may not be of much practical assistance. Nevertheless it is
useful to have an awareness of them.
Historical research
A specific provision applies to "historical research". This is not defined so we have to

assess what it may cover from the general principles of the Act. In my view the term
must refer to research involving the use of pre-1998 personal data i.e. data collected or
generated before the DPA was passed. Such research does not have to be justified under
the Act – thus it enables the use of sensitive personal data without consent. There is
however a further sub-division in that where the use of information which uniquely
identifies individuals is either in manual form or is incidental to the research i.e. the
research is not about those individuals, then the exemption is very wide and in fact little
of the DPA applies. However where the individuals are the focus of the research then,
although the justification requirement no longer applies the other provisions, for example
relating to notice, do.
Prevention or detection of crime
The DPA allows the data controller to escape from requirements in relation to notice to
the individual in cases where, in a particular case, there would be a prejudice to the
purposes of the prevention or detection of crime or apprehension or prosecution of
offenders. However this is not of benefit to research.
Impact on research standards
96
It is a given that research must comply with all the relevant legal and ethical standards.
Where research involves personal data then the researcher must have regard to the DPA.
The extent of what amounts to personal data is a topical issue. Earlier in the year there
was a case in the Court of Appeal which has been cited as authority for the proposition
that the boundaries of personal data should not be too tightly drawn and that information
which only incidentally appears in a file such as the names of individuals who attended a
meeting or such is not personal data within the Act. I would suggest that this be treated
with some caution, particularly if the research is to be long lasting, as the European
Commission has taken issue with the UK and is threatening legal action on the basis that
we are not incompliance with the Directive. The better view, and one gradually
becoming the consensus, is that the Court of Appeal (and indeed the subsequent guidance
produced by the OIC) went too far and data controllers should take a cautious view of the
case. Nevertheless if the research is relatively short lived and is current you may find it
of assistance.
DPA in action
The areas which pose specific problems are proxy consent and covert research.
Proxy consent assumes that the person giving the consent has the authority to do so on
behalf of the individual. Generally the guidance given to those faced with requests to
access information about a data subject who lacks capacity is to refuse to provide the
information unless the person acting can show either an instrument executed when the
subject was competent, such as an enduring power of attorney which has now been
activated, or has the authority of the Court of Protection. I would suggest that the
equivalent safeguards should apply to the proxy. As we have noted above in relation to
anonymised information there may be a different view where the data collected are
wholly anonymised but it seems to me unlikely that the researcher will not have access to
the nominative data.
Covert research could be justified where the exemption relating to the investigation of
crime would apply but the cases where this will apply seem unlikely to be properly
characterised as research. As explained earlier the starting point of the DPA is that
97
individuals must be told of the processing of data about them, generally when the
controller first processes the data which in research terms will mean when the data are
collected. Nevertheless there are a number of rather technical provisions which allow the
data controller to escape giving notice "up front", such as an argument that the notice
would involve "disproportionate effort" and or where the information collected is to be
disclosed to a third party the notice may be deferred until the disclosure is made.
Remember however that where sensitive data are concerned there is no substitute for
consent in order to use data for the research purposes and therefore the consent has to be
obtained before the processing takes place in any event.
Clearly this becomes quite complex as there may be cases where the primary purpose of
collection is the prevention of crime and therefore the collection is legitimately covert but
the researcher makes a later use of the data – in such a case he or she may avoid the
notice/consent dilemma at least initially. As ever the devil is in the detail.
How can the researcher ensure that the research proposed will accord with the DPA? The
best advice I can give is don’t try and rely on the exemptions. Try to comply. An outline
checklist is attached to this paper. It may also be helpful to have a statement of privacy
or data protection principles attached to the research brief or project plan.
Rosemary Jay
Masons Copyright
September 2004
98
Data Protection Checklist for researchers
This checklist is intended to help those carrying out research to check compliance with
the Act and assess whether the exemptions apply to the particular research project being
carried out. The list should be adapted or modified for the particular circumstances as
necessary. It will also be necessary to consider Ethics Committee or other
guidance/requirements.
• Is there a description of the research project?
• Does the project come within the research definition in S.33 (1) that is it being
carried out for a research, historical or statistical purpose?
• Does the research involve personal data within the meaning of s.1 of the DPA,
that is data which relate to a living individual who can be identified from that
data or other information in the possession of or likely to come into the
possession of the controller?
• Does the research have to involve personal data or could the data be
anonymised?
• Who is to be the data controller for the personal data that is the person who
controls the purposes and manner of the processing?
• Has a notification been made to the Commissioner if necessary?
• Has the controller checked the grounds in Sch. 2 and decided upon which
grounds he can rely?
• Are any of the data sensitive data?
• If so has the controller checked the grounds in Sch. 3 and the Order and decided
upon which grounds he can rely in respect of the sensitive data?
99
• Does the research project involve any overseas transfers? For example is it a
joint project with an overseas body?
• If this is the case will personal data be transferred overseas as part of the
research project?
• If so has the controller checked that the receiving country has adequate
protection or that one of the grounds in Sch. 4 applies to the transfer?
• Was the data obtained by the data controller? If it was obtained by another
person does the controller know who obtained the data and in what
circumstances? Were individuals told that the data would be used or disclosed
for research?
• Has the controller checked that the individuals were told of the proposed use for
research either at the time the data were obtained or subsequently? If they have
not been told the controller must either arrange to have them informed of the
proposed use or ensure that the provisions relating to disproportionate effort in
Sch. 1, Pt II apply.
• Are the data confidential? If so consent will usually be required and not mere
notice.
• Are the results of the research going to be used to make decisions about any of
the research subjects; for example does research concern patients with a
particular illness and the results may determine subsequent treatment for one
member of the group of patients? If this applies no research exemptions can be
claimed and the provision of the Principles and the individual rights apply to the
personal data for the research.
• Could the data processing being carried out result in any damage or distress to
the individual data subjects? If this is the case no research exemption can be
claimed and the provisions of the Principles and the individual rights apply to
the personal data used for the research.
100
If all the above points on the checklist have been satisfied then the research project can
claim the benefit of the first aspect of the exemption, that is:
(a) the personal data may be used for the research project even if the use for
research would otherwise be incompatible with the purpose for which the data
were obtained; and
(b) the personal data may be kept indefinitely
• How are the results of the research to be made public? Will they be
made public in an anonymised form only?
If this point can also be satisfied subject access to the data may be withheld to the
personal data used in the research.
• Can any PETs be applied to the research?
101
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hamudi Ismail Majamba is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the School of Law, (Formerly
Faculty of Law) and Deputy Director for Postgraduate Studies, University of Dar-es-
Salaam, Tanzania. He has held the position of Associate Dean (Academics) at the Faculty
of Law (2004- 2008) and coordinated and taught the Legal Research Course since 2000.
He holds an LL.B. from the University of Dar-es-Salaam; an LL.M from Queen's
University, Canada and a Ph.D. from Northeastern University, USA. He is also an
Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, Notary Public and Commissioner for Oaths. Dr.
Majamba has published numerous articles on diverse legal subjects in scholarly journals.
He has co-authored a book; Constitutional and Legal System of Tanzania – A Civics
Source Book, Dar-es-Salaam, Mkuki na Nyota, 2004.
102

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FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL

A LAW STUDENT’S COMPANION

HAMUDI ISMAIL MAJAMBA

[DRAFT: Issued For Restricted Circulation

© H.I. Majamba, December 2009

THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH IN LAW

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF CONDUCTING LEGAL RESEARCH

“No research on this has been conducted in Tanzania…” 6

Papers presented at conferences or seminars by academics are usually products of in-

Another important objective of undertaking legal research is to reach out to the

IDENTIFYING THE LEGAL PROBLEM

(a) A researcher in the field of economics would have to identify an economic

CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC/TITLE

COLLECTION OF DATA IN THE FIELD 12

Main Types of Data

Disadvantages and Advantages of Primary and Secondary Data

One of the main objectives of a tertiary (higher) learning institution is to conduct

There is a fine distinction between acceptable plagiarism and unacceptable plagiarism.

data. In the event of a community, a visit to each household, where possible is

Selected references for further reading on ethics and research

An unstructured interview consists of a person to person interaction that is conducted by

asked in a chronological order. The respondent is usually given enough leeway to

One of the advantages of using an unstructured interview is that it is useful where in

questions as specified in the interview schedule. 14 The researcher formulates questions

Nominal/Focused Group Discussions

In such circumstances, group discussions may be of help in collecting information/data

Questionnaires could either be close-ended or open-ended. The former leaves no room

questionnaire is being administered elsewhere, it would be a good idea to state so.

Generally, a questionnaire that guarantees anonymity of the respondent is preferable. In

To some extent, the use of a questionnaire in collecting information from respondents

The other set-back likely to be encountered by a researcher who opts to use

Selected references for further reading:

Key Informant Interviews (KII’s)

Traditionally, researchers usually consider research subjects as people to be researched

Websites and Computer Assisted Searches

References for further reading:

DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Outline of the Main Contents/Body of Proposal

Statement of the Problem

A mere statement of what is perceived to be a problem without providing concrete data

or she is judged by one who understands their ‘background’ – their conceptual

A researcher is advised to make reference to authorities who have similar inclination to

sometimes play together in a mosquito infected neighborhood. The mother guesses

Significance/Objectives/Justification of the Research

Compiling the Bibliography

It is important to provide for a bibliography because it shows that the researcher is

International Legal Instruments

Dissertations and Theses

Papers Retrievable from Conference/Workshop Proceedings

Documents in the Custody of Researcher

Footnotes and Endnotes

If something is important enough to be in a footnote, it is important enough to be in the

Common Latin Phrases and Foot/end noting

REPORT WRITING: THE DRAFTING STAGE

TIPS ON ORGANIZING THE REPORT

BASIC PITFALLS TO AVOID

Statement of the Legal Problem and Significance

SELECTED TEXTS FOR FURTHER REFERENCES

ANNEXTURE “A” – SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

A. My name is XYX; I am a third year law student at the University of Dar-es-Salaam,

? Very high (>70%) ? High (>50%) ? Moderate (>30%)

? Low (<30%) ? Don't know

? Very high ? High ? Moderate ? Low ? Not at all

? Yes ? Partly Yes ? No