St.

Joseph’s College of Law

Residency Road, Bangalore

ASSIGNMENT

Subject

Legal Methods

Topic:

TYPES OF RESEARCH

Submitted by:
POOVIZHI KALYANI M
First Year BA LLB – A Section

College Roll Number:

21155

University Registration Number:

5YRBALLB222

Submitted to:
Dr. Gagan K.
Assistant Professor of Law
St. Joseph’s College of Law, Bangalore
 I. MEANING OF RESEARCH AND LEGAL
RESEARCH

RESEARCH:
Research is largely an in depth and a cautious observation of
event/person(s)/object etc which enables us to find out more
information about the same. It basically involves gathering
information from various sources be it human or material
research, which helps us to come to a conclusion about our
study/experiment.
Research is once you have an interest in doing something
that excites you and into the “know-how’’ to
recognise about how the concept works and to see if there
is any way that you can help to improve it.
In recent days the word “research” has become popular
among students as it helps them to analyse and understand
their work or study in different perspectives.
Also, research helps in acquiring in depth knowledge about
the topic/subject which helps them to have an upper hand or
have better positions at their work place / educational
institutions.

LEGAL RESEARCH:
“Legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving
information needed to support legal decision-making. It
begins with a factual analysis of an issue and ends with the
results of the investigation. Legal research skills are
important for lawyers to solve any legal problem, regardless
of the area or type of practice.’’
It is essential for a lawyer/law student/paralegal to do a
legal research in an effective manner so that they get
different dimensions and approaches, which helps a client
while solving (his/her) case(s).
Legal research looks into the facts of social, economic and
political. It is basically performed by anyone (an individual,
firm, etc) who are in need of legal assistance.
The sources can be taken from lawyer(s), books, news
articles, law websites
II. DEFINITION OF RESEARCH AND LEGAL RESEARCH

DEFINITION OF RESEARCH:
Research has different definitions given by various
philosophers
The common meaning of research according to man is
Research is the careful, diligent & exhaustive investigation of
a specific subject matter which has the aim to advance
mankind knowledge.
According to C.C. Crawford – “Research is the systematic and
redefined method of questioning and using specialised
tools, units and technique so that you can gain a greater
answer’’
According to Francis Bacon: “Research is a power of
suspending judgement with patience of meditating with
pleasures of asserting with caution, of correcting with
readiness of arranging thought with scrupulous plan”
In a dictionary created by Miriam Webster - A careful inquiry
or examination seeking facts or principles, diligent enquiries or
investigations, in order to ascertain something.
DEFINITION OF LEGAL RESEARCH:
Legal research is generally the process of finding an answer
to a legal question or checking for legal precedent that can
be mentioned in short or at trial. Sometimes, legal research
can help determine whether a legal issue is a "case of first
impression" that is unregulated or lacks legal precedent.
Virtually every lawsuit, appeal, criminal case, and legal
process in general requires some amount of legal research .

III. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH AND LEGAL RESEARCH

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH:
There are three main objectives of research. They are
EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, CASUAL.
1) EXPLORATORY RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The main objective of exploratory research objective is
to explore the “WHAT’’ part of the question. It helps us
to understand the customers preference for a period of
time and the questionnaire basically deals with
questions like average sales, quantity of goods
purchased, number of goods sold in the market. It is not
necessary that it must deal with markets in the society it
can also deal with health care, food supply, government
survey, number of people residing in a society etc.,
This research helps us to prepare a quantitative
outcome.

2) DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

 The descriptive research objective helps us to
understand the “WHY” part of the research. This in turn
helps us to take informed decisions which gives us a
clarity of our question/case. For example, the questions
in our questionnaire deals with questions like lack of
sanitation, rating the quality of food etc., This research
helps us to prepare a qualitative outcome.

3) CASUAL RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

Here the researcher wants to know about the “CAUSE
AND EFFECT”. Which combines WHAT and WHY parts
of research. It helps us to understand the reactions in a
society or a community when certain changes are made.
Therefore, casual research objectives induce various
elements of cause and effect in the questionnaire which
is to be circulated to general audience in the society.
OBJECTIVES OF LEGAL RESEARCH:
The objectives of Legal Research are:
1) To discover new facts, as it is prone to changes and
upgradation
2) To test and verify old facts
3) To analyse the facts in a new theoretical framework
4) To examine the consequences of new facts/new
principles of law or judicial decisions
5) To develop new legal research tools or apply tools of
other disciplines in the area of law
6) To analyse law and legal institutions from the point of
view of history and to propound to new legal concept
7) To examine the nature and scope of new law or legal
institution.
 8) Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the old law
or institution and make suggestions for a new law or
institution in place of the old one.
9) To develop the principles of interpretation for critical
examination of statutes.
IV. IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH AND LEGAL
RESEARCH
IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH:
Research is an important aspect to drive better outcomes.
Research is not only a tool for building crucial knowledge, it
also simplifies our understanding by refining and referring
various resources available.
It reveals new ideas and facts which enables a researcher to
come to a conclusion about a topic. It also induces new ideas
which helps to build critical and logical ideas.
Research develops understanding and decision-making
process which helps us to understand the difficulties of the
problem. It is important for a researcher to observe the facts
through research which gives better results which improves
the quality of the work done.
Research helps us in building our credibility. It helps us to
demonstrate the authenticity of findings done by the
researcher.
Research helps us to unlock the unknown parts of
findings/studies and help us to look things from different
perspectives
It encourages to find the latest information available. Also
helps in problem solving as it helps us to concentrate on the
main issue and find out the right solutions by looking at
various options available.

IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL RESEARCH

Legal research helps at examining the law through breaking
up into simple and separate elements. It can be simple in
such a way that it helps us in criticising and analysing,
studying, examining, specific case or statutes (a written law
passed by the legislative body).
To combine the clear-cut elements of cases and statutes
together into logical/useful legal standards/rules, such that
its consistent with the explanations or justifies a set of legal
decisions. A legal researcher looks at different cases and
statutes through which he can come to a conclusion after
comparison of all the materials/cases.
It provides teaching material for students. And legal analysis
is beneficial for students, advocates, law firms which helps
them to take informed decisions at critical times or to
improve their knowledge on the subject. It also helps law
students to explore and be involved in the subject.
To acquire knowledge while arguing or presenting. It is
helpful in tackling situation and questioning very efficiently.

V. CHARACHTERISTICS OF A RESEARCHER
1) A researcher must be patient to gather information
from all possible resources
 2) A researcher should be able to critically analyse the
situation and take necessary actions and, must be
truthful to himself/herself.
3) A researcher must use the tools of research to its
optimum level to extract the necessary information
4) He/ she must be committed to the work give as it’s a
time-consuming process
5) A researcher must be bold enough to face criticism
6) Also, a researcher must be able to connect well to his
subjects (client, respondents etc.,) through
communication as it is one of the most important
characteristics of a researcher.
7) A researcher must be clear in his concepts.
8) A researcher must be precise with his content and avoid
unnecessary details and must have some knowledge
about the tools of research.

VI. DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESESARCH

1. Quantitative research
 Quantitative research basically refers to
collection of numerical data which involves
numbers. This data is further represented as
graphs.
2. Qualitative research
 Qualitative research refers to the non-numerical
data representation
 It is widely used in theoretical data and is based
on the nature of research conducted
3. Descriptive research
 Descriptive research deals with questions
dealing with WHAT, WHEN, HOW which
 answers certain questions in a particular
society or group of individuals.
 Surveys and many other variables are used to
collect information
4. Case studies
 Another method of research which helps in
the foundation of research. Facts and theories
from case studies help us to gain better
perspective about the topic.
 A proper understanding of the topic can be
understood from case study.
5. Surveys
 They play a very important role in research.
Helps in collecting real-time data
 It can be both quantitative and qualitative, and
quantitative survey is preferred the most when
compared to qualitative. They are mainly used
in businesses to forecast planning and
production
6. Analytical legal research
 It is a qualitative type of research. It involves
analysis, critical thinking and evaluation of
facts and information with regards to the
research conducted by the questioner.
7. Doctrinal legal research
 Doctrine legal research is conducted and
concerned with finding the law, analysing
and come up with the logical reason behind
it.
 The information can be collected through
primary and secondary data.
8. Non doctrinal legal research
  Non doctrine legal research is also known as
socio legal research.
 It basically looks into law and how it helps to
bind the society
9. Comparative legal research
 Compares legal doctrines, legislations, and
foreign law.
 Compares the cultural and social aspects of
law in different situations. Helps in useful
developments in the society by modifying
law. We must also note that sometimes this
approach might turn negatively in certain
situations and areas as it might not work all
the time.
 VII. CONCLUSION
This project has been helpful in giving a wholistic view of
TYPES OF RESEARCH.
It has helped me to gain knowledge about what research is
and different aspects of it. It helped me to distinguish
between research in general and legal research.
Each kind of research method has its own value and
methodology. Research is basically a detailed and a careful
study of event/person(s)/object etc which helps us to find
out more information about the same. It basically involves
gathering information from various sources be it human or
material research, which helps us to come to a conclusion
about our study/experiment and Legal research is the
process of identifying and retrieving information needed to
support legal decision-making.
It is helpful for society in general as we make valid decisions
or conclusion through various study materials. Also, study
materials can be of different forms for example literature,
news articles, human interaction, recorded conversations
etc., it is widely used in almost every field.
Researcher must be aware of the objectives of their research
topic which helps them to come to accurate decisions and
must also have knowledge about the tools of research which
prevents from unnecessary mistakes.
Overall, the researcher must have some knowledge while
researching about the topic which is the key factor for any
kind of research be it research (in general/specific topic) or
legal research. Truthful to oneself and the information
presented
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.preplounge.com
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www.google.com
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www.mustard-research.com
www.iedunote.com
www.youarticlelibrary.com
www.vaidhalegal.com
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www.indiastudychannel.com
PDF: Meaning and objective of legal research
https://indianjudiciarynotes.com/notes/legal-research-
methodology/legal-research-notes/
https://blog.ipleaders.in/legal-research-2/
http://readingcraze.com/index.php/types-research-objectives/
www.coursehero.com
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research
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NOTE: All these links provided are used as reference links
of the topic TYPES RESEARCH