Paper- II LEGAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
Unit 1:-
Legal Education System In India

Introduction

Law is important to society, as it serves its citizens as a norm of conduct. Legal education serves society liberally
by imparting general and cultural education to law students, making them good law-abiding citizens. Such legal
training installs in the students the significance and relevance of democratic culture. Law, legal education, and
development have become interrelated topics in modern emerging societies trying to evolve into social welfare
states and finding sustainable means to improve people’s socio-economic status. The same applies to our
Country.

Basic knowledge of the law has become necessary for all those who are engaged in administration, trade or
industry. “A citizen to be successful in the enjoyment of his civic capacities needs basic knowledge of law at least
some aspects of the law. Officials and others who perform important law roles, such as a policeman, businessman
or politician, need to understand parts of the law and the policies and values underlying it.

According to Justice Krishna Iyer, ‘Profession of law is a noble vocation and the members of the legal profession
are of a very high Status ‘Law is the pillar of every community and it produces abiding people, lawyers, scholars
and aspiring judges. In India, legal education refers to the training of lawyers prior to their entry into practice

As professional education, legal education equips law students to perform various roles in society and discharge
different law jobs. In the modern democratic society, the range and scope of which is constantly expanding; for
example- policymakers, lawyers, law teachers, administrators etc. Accordingly, in modern India it is realized that
there should be breadth to legal education.

History of legal education

Historically speaking, legal education dates back to ancient times, when dharma and nyaya teachings were given
to the kings and princes. Then during mughal period the concept of legal representatives came into existence.
Even before Indian independence legal education existed, as many of our freedom fighters are from legal
background. But, it only gained importance in the post-independence period. In certain conventional universities,
law courses are offered for a three-year period but can only be taken after graduation.

During the British period legal education had begun in India. Much before India gained independence in 1947, at
Hindu College in Calcutta and at Elphinstone College in Bombay law courses were launched.

Basic knowledge of the law has become necessary for all those who are engaged in administration, trade or
industry. “A citizen to be successful in the enjoyment of his civic capacities needs basic knowledge of at least
some aspects of the law. Officials and others who perform important law roles, such as a policeman, businessman
or politician, need to understand parts of the law and the policies and values underlying it.
According to Justice Krishna Iyer, ‘Profession of law is a noble vocation and the members of the legal profession
are of a very high Status ‘Law is the pillar of every community and it produces abiding people, lawyers, scholars
and aspiring judges. In India, legal education refers to the training of lawyers prior to their entry into practice.

Aims of Legal Education:-

Legal education should not only create lawyers but also be used as a legal instrument for social change. The
principal aims of legal education are:

• To provide a center where scholars can contribute to understanding the law and contribute to its growth
and improvement;
• To install in students organizational legal rules and to provide them with sufficient experience in applying
certain laws;
• To train legal professional students;
• To educate the students in solving the problems of the individual client and in solving the problems of
the society in which he lives;
• Pointing the right course for future development.
• Thus, legal education aims at furnishing skills and competence, for creation and maintenance of just
society.

Objectives of legal education

• To generate the various kinds of skills and knowledge necessary for social tasks.
• Increase opportunities and social mobility, especially among groups that may have been disadvantaged.
• Legal education targets can be multiple in a developing democratic country such as India.
• Developing beliefs and understanding social issues, and shaping values and behaviors.
• Develop interest research for education and community, using educational facilities.

Status of Legal education in India

In the past decade, private colleges have played an important role in pursuing developments in legal education.
They participate in the field of legal education and strive to enhance the standard of Indian legal education.
National law schools on the other hand put emphasis on advanced learning. Many institutions conferred
entirely with the teaching method of lecture and instead opted for more interactive and innovative learning
methods. Law schools in India have a proliferating moot court culture that has made legal education more
realistic and intresting, than simply learning the letter of law. The importance of co-curricular activities such as
seminars, workshops and so on has now become an indivisible part of the course. Internships are also a
compulsory prerequisite during the time of study. Recruitments on campuses are a popular feature of most law
schools.

After independence, the rate of literates has been increasing gradually, so in the case of legal education the
number of law students has been improving from 1947 to up to now. There is wider scope of getting
employment in legal fields, viz. such as legal advisers in industries, Chit Funds, finance companies, Press, etc.,
legal practitioners, judges, teachers in law colleges, administrators, writers, reporters, etc. The number of law
colleges also has been growing from 1947 to up to now.
The Constitution of India, 1950 provide India a broader scope picture of social welfare, political and economic
structure. It gives the ‘social welfare state’ in place of ‘police state’. Several High Courts, Tribunals, subordinate
courts were established after independence. The Supreme Court of India, which substituted the Privy Council,
has become the highest court of our land. The Constitution gives fundamental rights to every citizen. Now the
aggrieved person approaches Court immediately, if his fundamental rights are violated. The legal, economic,
social and political awareness has been increased in India due to the Constitution of India.

All these factors affected on legal education. The administrators, jurists, judges, professors, political leaders,
etc. also concentrated for the development of legal education. Several commissions, committees, etc, were
constituted which gave their recommendations for the development of legal education.

University Education Commission: This Commission was established in 1948. The primary object of this
commission was to examine the quality of University Education. Besides this primary target, the Commission
enquired and submitted its report on the legal education also.

The Commission reported:

“With the attainment of independence and the consequent responsibility of developing our own constitutional
government, together with international relations, now as important as domestic affairs, it becomes imperative
that we develop high grade colleges of law, real scholars, and capable of producing men who can cope with
international, constitutional and administrative problems, as well as with the civil, criminal and routine
demands which exist. Our gifts for philosophical studies would indicate that it is possible to have as great
students of systematic law and the principles of jurisprudence as any other people”.

After verification and enquiry, the Commission gave its recommendations as follows:

There should be a single degree course of three years duration in entire India.

Degree in Arts or Science must be prescribed qualification to enter into law course.

Practical training should be given to-every law student.

The subjects of Constitutional Law, International Law, Legal History, the Fundamentals of jurisprudence, etc.
must be given more attention.

Roman Law which is the basic of all modern legal systems should be taught in the law course.

Two years Master’s Degree in law after LL.B. course shall be introduced.

All-India Bar Committee, 1951 was established with the aims and objects of enquiring the defects in the
profession. It gave report with the detailed recommendations. It submitted several recommendations for the
integrity of the legal profession. It also submitted certain recommendations on the legal education.

It stated;
“ the uniform minimum qualification for admission to the roll of Advocates should be a law degree obtained
after at least a two years study of law in the University after having first graduated in arts, Science or commerce
and a further apprentice course of study for one year in practical subjects... after attending a certain percentage
of lectures arranged for imparting instruction during the apprentice course".
All India Bar committee also recommended that a legal Education Committee of 12 persons for All India Bar
Council, which shall give recommendations for the improvement of the legal education. This Committee should
consist of two judges, five persons to be elected by the All-India Bar Council and five other persons from the
Universities co-opted by these seven members.

First Law Commission Of India: After independence, Law Commission was constituted on 5-8-1955. This was
the First Law Commission of India after independence. Its functions were to look into the matters pertaining all
fields of law. Side by side, it also recommended and suggested various recommendations for the development
of legal education.

It recommended having the graduation qualification for the Bachelor in Law Course (LL.B.). It rejected minimum
qualification of Intermediate.
It suggested the minimum duration of LLB course should be for two years.
If a person chooses to opt legal profession, that person should undergo one year practical training after the
completion of LLB course.
Law colleges should work as full-time institutions.
Besides the lectures, the students should be given teaching by seminars, group discussions, tutorials, etc.
Employees, the persons studying other courses should not be allowed to study full-time LLB courses in full-time
institutions.
The Bar Council of India should be empowered to decide the minimum prescribed entrance qualifications
throughout India. Thus, a uniform system can be adopted.

Besides the above Committees, several Universities Committees were also constituted. They had given their
recommendations on legal education.
These Committees recommended that three years LLB course shall be the best course instead of two years LLB.
According to changing socio-economic circumstances of India new courses shall be introduced. Examples:
Environmental law, industrial law, consumer protection law, etc.
Instead of yearly examinations, semester system shall be introduced.
Old laws, such as Roman law, etc. shall have to be deleted from the curriculum.
The Committee observed;
“The legal education is intended to be given to students who expect to follow one or another branch of legal
profession, and its aim would be to make the students of law good lawyers who have absorbed and mastered
the theory of law, its philosophy, its functions and its role in a democratic society”.
The Committees also recommended any graduation as a prerequisite qualification for LL.B. course.
In the place of English, Hindi and other vernacular languages shall be introduced in legal education.
It has also submitted several recommendations and reports to the Central government. It had also conducted
several seminars, such as Kasauli Seminar, Poona Seminar, etc. Its recommendations were:

It suggested a graduation qualification in arts or science for the three years LLB course.

It recommended for the two years LLB course.

The LLB course should be impacted by separate Law colleges, preferably universities, and each college should
possess adequate library.

It recommended abolishing private law institutions.

LLB degree should be treated as a post-graduate degree.

1.2 Bar Council of India

Based upon the All lndia Bar Committee, 1951 report the Advocates Act, 1961 has been enacted. Accordingly,
the Bar Council of India was established in Delhi. It is a unanimous, juristic person. The Act provides several
powers to the Bar Council of India.

One of the important powers of the Bar Council of India is that it can lay down standards of such education in
consultation with the universities in India imparting such education and the State Bar Councils (Section 7(l) (h) of
the Advocates, Act 1961).

Section 7 (l) (i) empowers the Bar Council to recognize Universities whose degree in law shall be a qualification
for enrolment as an advocate and for that purpose to visit and inspect Universities or cause the State Bar Councils
to visit and inspect Universities in accordance with such directions as may give in this behalf.

The bold letters in the above section have been inserted newly by the Act 70 of 1993 newly, strengthening the
Bar Council’s powers over the Universities and Law colleges. Thus Sections 70(1) (h) and 7(1) (i) give abundant
and full powers to the Bar Council to control and manage the Universities and Law Colleges, and thus to improve
the standards of the legal education.

Further Section 49(1)( d) of the Advocates Act 1961 adds that the Bar Council of India has General Power to make
any rules prescribing the standards of legal education to the be observed by university in India and the inspection
of Universities for that purpose. Section 24(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961 provides that a citizen of India will be
entitled to be admitted as an Advocate if he has obtained a degree in law from a University in India, which is
recognised for the purposes of this Act by the Bar Council.

Therefore, the control management of legal institutions is in the hands of the Bar Council of India. Some of the
Universities are giving two years course, called as B.G.L. (Bachelor of General Laws). The Bar Council does not
recognized such course for the purpose of enrolment as an advocate.

The present position is that there are two LLB degrees:

(1). 10 + 2 + 3 + 3 i.e. (10 = Tenth class; + 2 = Intermediate; + 3 = any degree + 3 = LLB.)

(2). 10 + 2 + 5 i.e. (10 = Tenth class + 2 = Intermediate; + 5 = LLB.)

10 + 2 + 5 System has been adopted with effect from 1982. Some of the Universities are following 10 + 2 + 3 + 3
system. Majority of the Universities introduced l0 + 2 + 5 side by side. The Bar Council was in dilemma whether
to introduce one year practical training after completion of LL.B. course.

At last it had taken the decision to implement the scheme of apprenticeship with effect from 1996.

The Bar Council of India decided that the person who has completed Law course should obtain apprenticeship
(Practical training), and then only he shall be admitted as an advocate. It is being now implemented. The object
of this compulsory practical training is to improve the standards of legal education and also legal profession.

Adding to LLB degree, there are some other legal courses such as LLM (Master of Laws), PhD. (Doctorate in Law)
for the persons who show academic interest.

The Bar Council recommended compulsory subjects and optional subjects. Indian Legal and Constitutional
History, Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Civil Procedure including Limitation
Arbitration, Legal Theory and Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Transfer of Property, Evidence are the
compulsory subjects to be imparted in a Law course. Administrative Law, Equity, Public International Law,
Company Law, Labour Law, Taxation, Bankruptcy, Co-operation, Insurance, Trust and other Fiduciary
Obligations, Trade Marks and Patents, Criminology and Criminal Administration, Interpretation of Statutes and
Principles of Legislation, Legal Remedies, Private International Law, etc. are the optional subjects. Each
University has power to include or, exclude the compulsory subjects and optional subjects.

Now the Bar Council of India is proposing to abolish the three years LL.B. course, and to continue only 10 + 2 +
5 + Practical Training for one year in entire India uniformly. However, the number of the persons is interested in
joining in 3 years course. The admissions in 5 years course are poor.

University Grants Commission-

The commission was initially formed in 1945 to undertake the management of the three central Indian
universities of Delhi, Banaras, and Aligarh. Later in 1947, the responsibilities were extended to cover all Indian
Universities.
In 1948, under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the University Education Commission was
established to evaluate Indian university education and recommended changes to transform education as per
the country’s requirements. The proposal was made to reconstitute the general model of UGC as that of the
UK.
In 1952, the union government decided that UGC will manage the allocation of grants-in-aid from public funds
to the Central and other Universities and Institutions of higher learning. The commission was eventually
launched on 28 December 1953 by the late Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister of Education.
However, the center has the requisite powers with reference to higher and professional education in 1950, but
more power is given to in 1976 after the 42nd amendment was adopted. Officially established in Nov’1956
through the Act of Parliament, UGC works as a statutory body of the Indian government responsible for
coordination, determination and maintenance of higher education standards.
As of now, The NAAC or National Assessment and Accreditation Council have the responsibility to evaluate and
accredit higher education institutions (HEIs) in India, and this autonomous body is funded by UGC.

Roles of the UGC:- The commission has the power to allocate funds to Universities and Institutions of Higher
Learning as well as ensuring that these institutions abide by the standards imposed by the commission.
Institutions that fail to fall under the category are deemed fake universities or colleges, and the University
Grants Commission generates a list of the same regularly. Besides, some other roles of UGC are:

• Promote and coordinate UGC approved universities

• Formulate regulations to set up minimum higher education standards
 • Evaluate the advancement n the field of University and College Education
• Organize examination standards for UGC Net, CSIR NET, and ICAR NET etc.
• Maintain Coordination between State Governments, Union governments, and Institutions of Higher
Learning
• Make suggestions to the Central and State Governments to bring about positive changes in Higher
Education

Besides, to stimulate progression in the education and research sector, the commission imparts fellowship
programs, awards, research grants and scholarships. These scholarships provide financial assistance to
meritorious students who can contribute to the development of the country.

UGC Mandate:- UGC is the only grant-giving commission in India vested with two responsibilities simultaneously.
It coordinates, determines, regulates the standards of higher education institutions and provides funds to these
institutions.

Why do Universities need UGC Recognition?

In India, higher education holds primary worth, and there are thousands of institutions that impart these courses.
Effective functioning of these institutions is requisite to upkeep the standard of education. It includes Central
Universities, State Universities, Deemed Universities, State Private Universities, Institutions of National
Importance, Fake Universities. With so many universities and colleges out there, the standard may dwindle if not
gauged regularly. For both private and public universities, it’s mandatory to have UGC recognition to run courses
and enroll students. One such example of management is that universities can only be called “universities” if
established under Provincial Act/ Central Act/ State Act.

To attain UGC recognition, the university has to walk through a formal inspection process conducted by a
designated panel selected by UGC. This panel is accounted for inspecting every minute detail and follows an
intricate process, making it quite lengthy. Contrary to this, if universities fail to comply with UGC norms, the
panel will call off the UGC recognition. Also, UGC recognition is obligatory for public universities to mark their
eligibility for financial grants. Therefore, these universities must comply with the norms prescribed by UGC from
time to time. Universities that comply with the rules and regulations of UGC are given deemed university status.
UGC established the Quality Assurance Council in April 2007 to strengthen its role in quality assurance and
contribute to the enhancement of education status. Eventually, it safeguards institutional and academic
freedom.

1.3 CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL LEGAL EDUCATION IN INDIA

I. INTRODUCTION
In the legal profession in India, professional development has traditionally been considered as a one-time affair,
occurring at the stage of pre-service education. Increasingly, changing professional needs have compelled some
kind of reflection on the need for in-service or on-the-job professional development.
Law being a dynamic field it is imperative for the working professionals to stay abreast of the latest developments
which have a direct nexus with the subject. The developments affect the bar and bench equally not to mention
the litigants. Hence to serve the greater cause of justice, continuing professional legal education is a sine qua
non.

II. WHY DOES ONE NEED TO CONTINUE LEGAL EDUCATION?

Continuing Legal Education ensures that legal and judicial reforms contribute to changing the attitudes and
behaviors of lawyers and citizens. For this reason, Continuing Legal Education should be an integral part of legal
and judicial reform strategies that are anchored on the rule of law and reflect a country’s societal values. Legal
education strengthens professionalism, builds public confidence, and facilitates consensus and momentum for
further reforms. Continuing Legal Education also improves the performance of legal professionals, enhances
service quality and stimulates public respect.
The legal service rendered and the courts and the agencies before which we appear deserve a maximum level of
competence, which we believe cannot be maintained without regular participation in seminars and other
training programs designed to keep the lawyers abreast with developments in his or her chosen field.
Moreover, law is one of the few professions that allows a new admittee to jump right in and start practicing their
craft without any required “real-world” training. For example, we would not want a doctor straight out of medical
school to take out an appendix without first completing his residency program.

III. HOW TO GO ABOUT IT?

The concept for Continuing Legal Education Programme is as old as the profession itself. Seminars, Conferences,
lectures etc are all very regular phenomenon across the country. However, doing the same in a more regularized
manner, making it accessible for all and then making it compulsory would go a long way in enhancing the
standards and quality of profession.
Activities being contemplated in this regard include full-time certificates, diplomas, accumulation of credit hours
of training, and even professional socialization and dialogue in seminars, roundtables and conferences. Online
distance learning is the latest development within non-classroom based modes of communication and
interaction, and has attracted interest from providers of legal education as well. The training programs should
be designed not only to enhance performance but also to instill the values of impartiality, professionalism,
competency, efficiency and public service.

(1) Latest developments- Seminar, Conferences, Workshops etc-

The journey of modernization of legal education started under the guidance of the British, but over the years it
has failed to impress upon. Although members of the legal fraternity have contributed immensely to the
emergence and growth of this nation, the general state of affairs regarding legal education in this country needs
a lot of improvement. While other professional courses are surging ahead, this remained rooted in mediocrity.
Research and deliberations went on from time to time to improve the system, but still a lot of work needs to be
done. Therefore continuing legal education is the need of the hour; legal education should be dynamic rather
than static. In order to keep lawyers abreast with the changing law in the society there is a need to organize
seminars, conferences and workshops etc both at national and international level on various subjects of law
which are still unexplored.
(2) Specialization
Today specialization has become the need of hour irrespective of any profession. Just as many doctors choose
specializations outside of family medicine, lawyers also have the option to specialize in different areas of the law.
The reasons are for the same as doctors; it can pay both financially and academically, to specialize in a field. For
instance, a lawyer may have an active interest in property law or alternatively wants to concentrate on family
law in order to gain more familiarity with those sorts of cases and thus make a stronger attorney in court. Also,
by specializing in a particular area of law, some lawyers can charge additional fees.
In the present day scenario there is need for the legal professionals to specialize themselves in the particular
field of law by enrolling themselves in various short term specialization courses, LLM programmes, distance
mode courses etc. which will pay them both academically and financially.

(3) Partnership between colleges and bar/bench:

The BCI, state bar councils, state government, UGC and the universities have a greater role to play for improving
the standards of continuing professional legal education in the country. They should work in a comprehensive
manner without any conflict. They should think seriously to provide the resources both human and financially to
all law schools for implementation of the continuing professional legal education. The BCI along with help of
academicians and bar should search for improved ways to serve, and always with an eye toward how to better
train lawyers and allied professionals to be competent and ethical practitioners.
The 21st century should also consider the globalization and its implementation on legal field at national and
international level. The BCI and UGC in the area of computer application and the information technology in the
legal field, should explore new avenues and potential use of internet in the practice of law and continuing legal
education. They should find out the way and means to meet the new challenges and provide better tools of
research and methodology of learning from coming generations.
Further the bar council of India and state bar councils along with universities should start LLM programme on
part time basis which should include research methodology, seminars and conferences, practical court training.
They should also make sincere endeavor to start with various short term diploma courses in specialized field of
law like media law, taxation, etc. which will enhance their knowledge about the subject of their interest in which
they wish to practice. The BCI and the universities has to discharge their duties and the responsibilities more
religiously and also lay down the standards in terms of class room teaching, practical training and skills, court
visits ,moot courts, legal aid work and other practical training programmes for the law students and legal
professionals. Further the area of deficiency should be located and corrective measures should be affected with
the cooperation of both bar council, which is the governing body and universities, so that the legal fraternity is
enriched with the added skill set.
The NLSIU has laid firm foundation in the sphere of Continuing Legal Education programmes. The International
Bar Association (IBA) has established an Endowment Chair in this regard. The University has been conducting
series of Continuing Legal Education programmes for Lawyers, Judges, Administrators and Law teachers on
identified subject areas. Besides, a variety of paralegal and public legal education programmes are part of the
teaching and research agenda of NLSIU and the CLE unit.

(4) Training the judges

It is also imperative that continuing Legal Education Centers be set up for keeping abreast the judges particularly
in the field of new emerging areas of Law, such as Cyber laws, Intellectual Property matters, matters pertaining
to Computer and Internet etc. In these Centers, judges must have an opportunity of interacting with
distinguished people from various disciplines so that they can be made aware of ground realities which will help
them in effective discharging of their onerous task.
A felicitous initiative in this direction has been taken by setting up the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal which
is rightly termed as India’s ‘Think tank on justice’. The National Judicial Academy aims at strengthening the
administration of Justice through Judicial Education, Research and Policy Development. It is the constant
endeavor of the National Judicial Academy to maximize the scope of learning and to influence judicial behavior
for greater efficiency and productivity.

(5) Evening and Weekend Courses

It is suggested that courses must be designed in such a manner that actively practicing lawyers and sitting judges
are able to comfortably attend the same. Various one month diploma and certification courses specializing in a
particular subject should be conducted during summer vacations which enhance the skill sets of lawyers in their
respective subject areas. Also regular short term courses should be started where classes are held only on
weekends, keeping the course structure interactive. The assignments if given should be based on practical
learning and experiences. A person would become eligible to take this exam after attending a particular number
of classes which are spread over a span of time.

IV. TREND IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Continuing Legal Education requirements exist in nearly all developed other countries, such as in United Stated,
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, to name a few. Some jurisdictions such as Israel recommend, without
requiring, their attorneys to participate in CLE courses other have made it obligatory.
Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) is a requirement for attorneys in the United States to maintain their ability
to practice law after initial admission to the bar. CLE credit usually have a set class-hour requirement for a period
of years, sometimes with specific hour requirements for special topics.
CLE courses are offered throughout the year by state bar associations, national legal organizations, law schools,
and many other legal associations and groups such as non-profit CLE providers, as well as other private, for-profit
enterprises.
In recent years, many states allow CLE classes to be taken on-line as part of distance education courses or by
listening to MP3 downloads, such as www.lawline.com. Often, a portion of CLE requirements may be satisfied
through reading and other self-study as well. CLE courses are usually taught by attorneys and cover legal theory
as well as practical experiences in legal practice. Classroom materials can be extensive and may represent the
most current and advanced thinking available on a particular legal subject. Competency testing is usually not
required as part of CLE.
In United Kingdom, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has operated a compulsory Continuing Professional
Development (“CPD”) scheme. Solicitors are encouraged to assume responsibility for their own development by
choosing from the wide range of activities that can be pursued in order to meet the yearly CPD requirement.
Currently, all solicitors and registered European lawyers (RELs) who,
(a) are in legal practice or employment in England and Wales, and
(b) work 32 hours or more per week,
are required to complete a minimum of 16 hours of CPD per year; at least 25 per cent of which must consist of
participation in accredited training courses. A solicitor or registered European lawyer must keep a record of such
continuing professional development undertaken to comply with these regulations and produce the record to
the Law Society on demand.

The continuing legal education in Canada is in the form of CPD (Continuing Professional Development). The CPD
in Canada aims at maintenance and enhancement of a lawyer or paralegal’s professional knowledge, skills,
attitudes and professionalism throughout the individual’s career. Under CPD lawyers and paralegals must
complete in each calendar year at least 12 hours of continuing professional development in eligible educational
activities. No less than 3 of the 12 hours must be concentrated on topics related to ethics, professionalism and/or
practice management. The Law Society of Upper Canada assumes primary responsibility for delivering the
required ethics, professionalism and practice management content subject to the CPD requirement which needs
to be met, without charging for program registration or materials.

Participation in courses is accredited based on the following criteria:

• Generally, credit is based on the actual time in attendance at a course.
• Credit is available for participating in “real time” on-line courses, streaming video, web and/or telephone
conferences, if there is an opportunity to ask and answer questions.
• Two or more lawyers or paralegals reviewing a previously recorded course together are able to obtain credit.
More over the credit is also available for the following educational activities:
• Participation as a registrant in a college, university or other designated educational institution program,
including distance education.
• Teaching (to a maximum of 6 hours per year)
• Acting as an Articling Principal or mentoring or being mentored or supervising a paralegal field placement (to
a maximum of 6 hours per year)
• Writing and editing books or articles (to a maximum of 6 hours per year)
• Study groups
• Educational components of bar and law association meetings
The continuing legal education in Australia is in the form of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (Continuing
Professional Development) (MCPL/CPD) scheme provided by the Law Society of New South Wales, Sydney. Under
the MPCL the requirement is first practicing certificate and the practicing certificate has an effective start date
between 1 July and 31 December, you need to attain 5 units by 31 March. If the effective start date is between
1 January and 31 March there is no need to attain any units by 31 March. Units may be gained through a variety
of activities including:
• Attending seminars/conferences/ lectures = 1 unit per hour minus refreshment breaks
• Preparing CLE/CPD lectures = 1 unit per hour – maximum of 5 units
• Presenting CLE/CPD lectures = 1 unit per hour – maximum of 5 units
• Private study of video/audio tapes/DVD = 1 unit per hour – maximum of 5 units
• Publishing/editing articles in law journals = 1 unit per 1000 words – maximum of 5 Units
• On line web based programs = 1 unit per hour
A course of MCLE/CPD must include at least one (1) unit in each of the following fields:
• Ethics and Professional Responsibility
• Practice Management and business skills
• Professional Skills
The Law Society does not have an accreditation process but it provides for “Notes for Course Provider”
Notes for Course Providers
The system of self-assessment underpinning the MCLE/CPD scheme requires individual practitioners to
determine the number of units for which he/she will claim credit. The Society suggests that providers use one of
the following statements on brochures in preference to making any specific reference to MCLE points or units.
• Version A – long version
Seminars and other CLE/CPD activities are not accredited by the Law Society of New South Wales. Under the
MCLE/CPD Rules and Guidelines, if this particular educational activity is relevant to your immediate or long term
needs in relation to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim one “unit” for
each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included.
The annual requirement is ten (10) units each year from 1 April to 31 March.
• Version B – short version
If this particular educational activity is relevant to your immediate or long term needs in relation to your
professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim one “unit” for each hour of attendance,
refreshment breaks not included.

1.4 Globalization and Legal Education

The Legal profession has been going through a profound revolution due to globalization with increasing
participation and involvement of countries and more access to domestic economies. Globalization should not be
looked upon in a restrictive sense as it has brought a change in the teaching of law students, training of advocates
to hone professional skills to meet the challenges put down by the globalization and universalization of law. The
increase in the high standards norms of the firms or legal industry requires lawyers capable of handling high
profile cases which normally includes merger & acquisition, project finance, securities, and initial public offering
that demanded by the foreign and domestic firms establishing in India.

Legal profession in India

India has been putting efforts in maintaining the legal sector services in India, to allow foreign lawyers and firms
to locate in India. Few Indian firms have been locating their firms’ branches in other countries like the US and
UK. This is beneficial as the lawyers will have a wider scope and coverage to the different aspects of the law
arena and would be able to practice outside the country. Further, the lawyers need to have original and path-
breaking legal research skills to accommodate the need of meeting the challenges in a manner responsive to the
country’s goals and aims of the constitution. India as a country striving for development and lawyers will play a
vital role in these situations.

Over the years lawyers are expected to provide services to the consumers in the legal sector and hold that
lawyers are accountable for the issues caused to the consumers. In the case of Srinath V. Union of India (AIR
1996 MAD 427), the Madras high court held in the views regarding Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act,
1986. It was held that the Consumer redressal forum will have jurisdiction to deal with claims of
advocates. Section 2(U) of the Compensation Act, 2002 explains service along with the lines of the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986. Therefore it can be concluded that the trade-related laws are the matter of the subject
where consumerism and market forces should be given enough concern.

Changing nature of legal profession

Globalization has brought a huge change in international trade with an increased number of engagements from
different countries and their participation and more access to domestic services. India has seen a drastic change
in the legal sector services and a lot has changed. The corporate law arena activities in project financing,
intellectual property protection, competition law, etc., were almost unknown in the 90s. Back then the number
of lawyers working in such a field was limited. But due to globalization, a revolution has emerged and the need
for professionals in the aforesaid field has increased. The money earned by lawyers today is effectively more
than before but the workload is also huge. Today’s law students are trained and taught in a way to meet the
requirements of this fast-paced environment, where effective work and proficiency in one’s field is given utmost
importance, which is the basic requirements.
Difficulty faced by Indian legal education system due to Globalization

• Inadequate Infrastructure: Having a strong well-structured infrastructure plays a requisite role in

framing the legal education of a student. In comparison with international law universities, India’s
universities are far behind. Good infrastructure helps in shaping the overall life of a student and
providing thorough knowledge into the insights of legal education. Ample resources to the faculty as
well as to the students play a crucial role in moulding the development of skills. The global legal
practitioners and lawyers have put up a high standard in the legal education system. India is still
lacking behind in providing enough resources to broaden the scope of the law and accommodate
with the ability to level with the aforesaid global lawyers who have been working and studying under
the umbrella of learned law experts and well-infrastructured universities. In India, many law
universities are unable to fulfil the minimum required infra and specialised law faculty because of
insufficient funds.

• Foreign direct investments in education systems: Globalization has brought a whole lot of revolution
in society, polity, and professionalism which leads to the era of transformation. Legal education in
India has taken a dramatic turn in the last 30 years due to the globalization of trade and business.
FDI is enabled in the Indian law education system at the rate of 100% by the automatic route. FDI has
provided an edge to the Indian legal system to rise above their standards as well as a challenge giving
element. To keep up with the leading globalization, developing nations like India, have concentrated
more on establishing a global curriculum and standardised legal education for qualitative legal
education. FDI has created a sense of cut-throat competition among the institution. Therefore, Indian
law schools are not only centralizing in the studies on Indian laws but majorly in teaching and
research in international laws. Law students are taking an active part in national-international moot
courts, conferences, and webinars. The faculty are also expected to impart knowledge that can
expand the legal minds of students.

• Global programs and international experiences: Indian universities need to get indulge in broadening
their international connections by instituting programs like student exchange programs in foreign
countries as well as offer education that can stand equivalent to the standards and norms of
international universities.
• Continuous legal approach and research-based education: Theoretical knowledge is something which
any school can provide but be in a law school, having only theoretical knowledge is not enough. To
be able to have an edge over other students can only happen if one is having top-notch research
skills. Continuing legal education (CLE) plays a vital element in the industry for professional
development, good delivery of legal services and is also a measure of the accountability of the
profession. Observation and active participation are something that dearth in the law students under
the Indian legal education system. If we observe the most common skill that the top-most faculty
possess is the ability to do better research and publication among academics whereas in India not
much emphasis is given on research skills of a student or a faculty.
Major issues unnerving the legal service sector
The approach of the legislator and Bar Council of India is not clear regarding the legal sector services in India.
The foreign law firms because of their better infrastructure, better knowledge, and developed skills of legal
drafting and communication build up a huge competition against the local firms. Therefore, India is still behind
to enter the successive rounds of negotiation mandated by the WTO (World trade organization) rules. The
provisions of the Advocates Act 1961, and BCI regulations are too rigid and section 24 of the former being an
encumbrance. The section states that a person can only be allowed to practice in India if the person has studied
law from a BCI recognized Law college and qualified under the Advocates Act, 1961.

Subject to the provisions of the Act, a national citizen of a foreign country can only be permitted to practice law
if that person is duly qualified, to practice law in their country. According to Section 33 of the aforesaid Act,
advocates are entitled to practice law, except as otherwise as per the Act or any other law for the time being in
force, no person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to practice law unless he is enrolled as an
Advocate under the Act.

Foreign law firms have been the object of the controversy since 1955. When the Arshurt of UK and White and
Case and Chadbourne and Parke of the US, set up their liaison offices in India and were granted to start liaison
activities only and not to practice law under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. In the year 1955, a
lawyer collective, public interest trust set up by the lawyers for the free legal aid services challenges in
the Bombay High court the right of foreign law to practice in India. The main motive of moving to the court is to
express that appearing before the court is not only a job but legal drafting and advising clients is. Whereas, on
the other hand, the Central Government expressed that the Advocates Act prevented the foreign lawyers from
giving advice to the client and from practising in the court.

The government has given its protocol in India for the establishment of legal sector service and also their
contention for the foreign lawyers to practice in India and establish law firms if they are qualified under the
Advocates Act.

Recently, the Supreme court of India restricted the running of law firms and practice in India but allowed the
foreign lawyers to visit India to advise clients on a fly-in and fly-out basis.

Fly in and fly out does not really amount to practise and this is not really a pragmatic approach to deal with it.
This decision may deter India’s prospects towards foreign investments and a good legal service sector is what
large and sophisticated investors would expect.

Measures taken to meet the Global challenges/opportunity by the Indian legal system
With the emergence of multinationals in India as compared to anywhere else, India has a lot to catch up with
other countries in order to level up with other trained lawyers. Competent lawyers are needed for the hour who
would be trained in the right legal education system. The Indian legal system should work according to global
needs as having good infrastructure and consists of various facilities such as research-based study, revised
curriculum, conferences, webinars, moot court, as well as National/ International training programs thus our
legal system faces the challenges put up by the globalisation. Majoring in a particular subject can broaden the
legal minds yet they require to be trained by competent faculty.

This revolution by globalization needs a committed and ardent faculty who can coach the legal minds in a way
to create hardworking and skilful students in the form of lawyers, judges, and jurists. The centre of focus should
be relevantly on the reformation of the curriculum so that it can justify the need of the legal profession.
The Supreme court of India in the case of Mahipal singh rana vs State of Uttar Pradesh, noted the need for legal
reformation and reviewed the Advocates Act dealing with regulatory mechanisms for the legal profession. The
three benched judges had asked the Law Commission and Government of India to take appropriate steps in this
regard. Here are some proposals instated:

• CLAT (Commission Law Admission Test): A proposal was established to conduct an all India common
entrance examination in order to give admission to the students in the university all over India.

• Enrolment Qualifications: Under this jurisdiction, those advocates who are disqualified on the basis
of moral misconduct or corruption would not be re-enrolled in any way to the Bar Council of India. In
order to enroll in the Supreme Court, the law entrants need to complete the following requirements:
o Pass the All India Bar Examinations (AIBE).

o The entrant has to complete a three-month training course from a state bar council-
affiliated training centre.
o Have been Practiced, for at least two years, before a district or session Judge and other
subordinate courts of original jurisdiction.
o Have been Practiced, for at least three years, before a high court and other appellate
forums.

• Law firms and foreign lawyers: The proposal was instituted to include partnerships, limited liability
partnerships (LLP), private or public limited companies, and any other partnerships which are not
actually registered but are for practising law. The foreign lawyers should be allowed to practice on
some reciprocality.

• Examining strikes and boycotts: To keep an eye on the strikes or boycotts done by the Advocates
from Courts and proposed amendments to include a six-year disqualification from contesting
elections of any Bar Association and Bar Council.
 UNIT II

2.1 Present Legal Education in India:

Traditionally universities in India offered Legal education as a three years graduate degree. The eligibility
requirement for the Bachelor of Law was that the applicant already has a Bachelor’s degree in any subject from a
recognized institution. The legal education was imparted only at law departments in the university system and
through affiliated law colleges. Now some institutions also offer an integrated five years BA-BL course after
twelve years of schooling.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) are the two main regulatory bodies
responsible for maintaining the quality of legal education in India. The course content for these courses is decided
by the universities with guidelines from the bar council of India, under the Advocates Act. The legal education is
imparted at different levels, namely, law Universities, government law colleges, private law colleges (government
aided) and private law colleges (non-aided). Imparting practical skills to law students is a compulsory component
of legal education in all the institutions imparting the legal education. The University Grants Commission
approved one-year LL.M. courses in India on 6 September 2012 and the 2 guideline for the same was notified in
January, 2013. “We have an immense problem with the faculty, especially with more than 900 plus law schools
all over the country, we suffer for want of faculty. The curriculum needs to be regulated and we will have to
gradually upscale and upgrade,”

The Bar Council of India, Rules provide for compulsory and optional subjects to be taught in the LL.B course
Rule (9) (1) lists 6 subjects for Part- 1(compulsory): Rule 9 (2) lists 21 subjects for Part 11 (compulsory). Rule
9(3) lists 15 subjects (optional) out of 3 which three have to be selected. A fresh UGC Model Curriculum was
prepared by the Curriculum development committee constituted by UGC in 2000 which was circulated to various
universities for revision of their law courses.

A National Law Universities (NLS) establishment has a great role in reforming the legal education in India. The
various Law schools offer a multi-disciplinary and combined approach to legal education. NLS has offered five
years law course within the successful completion of an integrated course named as B.A., LL.B (Honours) be
granted. Then the next NLU was set up in the year 1997 in Bhopal. It was followed by NALSAR University in
the year 1998.

CLAT is the reforming of Law entrance exam in the Legal Education. The Common Law Admission Test was
came into an existence for bring together the law entrance system in India like other courses.

Today, India have the largest number of Legal Professionals in the whole world. A law student with all his/her
desired skills, inherent interest has a vast range of opportunities available in the legal professional. Now in India,
legal Education is completely different from what it was in last decade.

Challenges Faced by Indian Legal Education:

The quality of legal education in India has been a matter of concern for a long time, with issues such as inadequate
infrastructure, lack of qualified faculty, and poor quality of teaching cited as major problems. In recent times, the
legal education system has been facing challenges such as a lack of practical training and exposure, inadequate
research, and a lack of focus on the needs of the legal profession. The UGC and the BCI have made efforts to
improve the quality of legal education, such as setting standards for accreditation and curriculum and providing
funding for legal education institutions. However, these efforts have not been able to address all the issues related
to the quality of legal education in India. Some major shortcomings or challenges faced by our legal education
system are as follows:

o Easy Entry in Legal Education: It has been observed that when a student fails to get admission in a
medical, engineering, Commerce etc. they choose for law as the last resort. In this Law College which is
the part of the mushroom growth plays an important role to degrading the standard of legal education by
filling their vacant seats by taking huge donations which creates the casual atmosphere and approach
which decrees the enthusiasm of students as well as the teachers which causes degradation of environment
of legal education in India.
o Mushroom Growth of Law Colleges: Legal education has nowadays emerged as a promising business
activity for the law institutions which are mostly run by politicians, builders and industrialists. The
mushroom growth of law colleges resulted in ill-equipped law college with dull rooms, lacking in adequate
faculty and some of them in short duration of evening classes. The main problem is that the team of Bar
Council and the university which is responsible for the inspection of colleges seeking permission to start
law courses.
o Lack of Infrastructure: Bar Council of India in its Rules( Legal Education Rules,2008) has made the
provision of infrastructure under Rule 1129 Schedule III where provisions for adequate library with online
database, reading room even size of class room is mentioned. This problem has also been suggested by
the CJI T S Thakur to Bar Council to Shut those law college which lack in appropriate infrastructure
o The Irrelevant Syllabus: The legal curriculum in India has been criticized for being outdated and not
reflective of the changing legal and social landscape. Even after being asked by the UGC Committee and
Bar Council of India for upgrading of syllabus of law courses here remain a lack of uniformity in law
curriculum of different Universities. Further the inclusion of too many subjects in the syllabus has diluted
the concept of teaching skills and research orientation.
o Shortage of Good Teachers: Many law schools in India have been criticized for having poor quality of
teaching, with inadequate resources and infrastructure, and a lack of well-trained and motivated
faculty. Generally, law colleges fail to attract talented law professional for joining as teachers in their
institution. The requirement of requiting the NET qualified applicants as lecturers has invariably limited
the choice of appointing good teachers. Also selection committees, in different universities are restricted
to make free judgments of the quality of teacher.
o Old Teaching Facilities and Techniques: The law schools are still accustomed to the age old method of
teaching through lectures in a class room. No heed is paid to these suggestions and recommendations
made by the committees assigned the role of upgrading education.
o The faulty Examination System: The true value of any curriculum can only be realised if the knowledge
is put to the test in a controlled environment. Law school examinations must be rigorous to eliminate
misconduct. The nature of the questions must be analytical, requiring students to develop the law in the
form of application rather than the duplication of law and cases found in textbooks. This phase would
ensure that students use their critical thinking skills to respond to the questions. But, the laws schools
adopt the traditional examination pattern. The malady of covering a part of the prescribed syllabus and
fallacy of memorizing the selected questions rules the roost. The grade card of students is reflection of
their ability to mug up few topics instead of their analytical and practical attributes.
o Lack of Practical Training: The majority of the college curriculum is built on theory, which students
find uninteresting. As it has been observed by the Apex Court in V. Sudeer v. Bar Council of India, AIR
1999 SC 1167 case that practical training should be mandatory to all universities in imparting legal
education prior to getting his degree of law and Bar Council of India has function to promote the standard
of legal education in consultation with universities.
o Poor Attendance: The Attendance is another factor which plays an important role in degradation of legal
education India. As per rule 4 of Bar Council of India (Part IV), “The student shall be requested to put
minimum attendance of 66% of lecture on each of the subject as also at the moot courts practical training
course. The provision of compulsory attendance is been observed that it remains on paper only and hardly
it is enforced. Due to of these kind of practices a large number of students are joining Law (LL.B) course
without a serious objective.
o Use of Regional Language: Language is set to as important factor for good litigant or legal practitioner,
college located at rural areas some time adopt regional language as medium of instruction and examination
too. Several private institutions govern education in regional languages. As a result, several candidates in
particular states get admitted to universities despite their inability to communicate effectively in English.
o Lack of Research: Faculty members should encourage students to conduct research and write persuasive
memos on projects allocated to them, and they should place an embargo on plagiarised projects. Plagiarism
has an impact on academic writing quality. Due to the teacher’s lackadaisical approach toward reviewing
the projects, the majority of the projects submitted by students are plagiarised. Professors frequently award
top grades to all students, regardless of whether or not the student finished the project assigned to him.
This has given the students who study hard and deliver their projects on time a negative perception.
o Problem of Placement: Students usually complete their placement with a lawyer, NGO or a corporate
house. The law students are expected to learn the skill of reading and maintaining case files, legal research,
drafting and client interviewing and counselling. Students are required to maintain a diary of their visits
to lawyer’s chamber and courts recording the work they did there and the proceeding observed. Their
diaries and their preparation for the mock trail and mood court do reflect their learning from placement.
Practical training in law schools imparted though choosing one of these methods or their combination,
namely, legal and clinic, class based lectures and simulation, and external placement.
o Globalization: Globalization makes it increasingly difficult for legal study to be contained within the
territorial boundaries of national legal systems. The operation of formal State law can be understood by
taking into account the proliferation of supranational sources of law such as those emanating from the
European Union or WTO. Sovereignty at the international level is being undermined by greater acceptance
of interference in the internal affairs of states egg through the doctrine of humanitarian intervention. While
 traditional jurisprudence focused exclusively on municipal and public international law; globalization
requires notice of other forms of legal ordering, such as the sue generis legal order of the ED.

Solution to Challenges Faced by Legal Education in India:

o Develop Physical infrastructure and financial resources: The law schools in India have to recognize
the need for creating sound physical infrastructure and for developing research projects and should take
initiatives to encourage faculty members.
o Promotion of Philanthropic Initiatives in Field of Legal Education: Initiatives to encourage
philanthropy are required for promoting excellence in legal education and research in the country. Efforts
ought to be made by all stakeholders, including the law schools, the bar, the bench, the law firms and
corporations for promoting philanthropic initiatives in legal education and research.
o Qualified Teachers and Research Aptitude: Good teachers and researchers in the law schools is also a
great required in legal education to motivate the students and impart better education of law, including
clinical legal education.
o Slowing Privatization of Legal Education: The privatization of legal education has resulted in
mushrooming of law colleges resulting in the degrading of Indian image of legal education at
internationally.
o Collaboration with Foreign Law Universities: Collaboration with international law schools to gain
access to their law reports, case laws, research papers, and other materials can help to improve this
proficiency. Law schools such as NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, and NLU Delhi, among
others, have collaborated on teaching, research, and offering world-class legal education, and the results
have been positive.
o Producing Qualified Lawyers for the Globe: Our aim should be to produce lawyers who will be most
sought after professionals to appear in foreign countries. When multinationals establish firms in India,
they too will require the services of lawyers whose competence is comparable to the best anywhere. The
law schools in the country should also have special topics dealing with the Corporate, Taxation and
Bankruptcy laws of different countries. The curriculum should be designed to equip the students for
handling problems that involved more than one legal system.
o Change in Curriculum: Professional ethics should be made a compulsory course. The case methods and
problem methods should be made compulsory and must carry more marks than theory. Parting in mood
courts, mock trials and debates must be made compulsory and marks awarded.
o Practical Approach of Course: Practical training in drafting pleadings, contracts can be developed in the
last year of the study. Students’ visits to the courts are made compulsory so as to provide greater exposures.
The legal education committee should lay down norms for the conduct of theses examination.

2.2 Methods of Law Teaching

1) Concept of Lecture Method Teaching: Lectures is probably one of the oldest methods used by classroom
teachers. As a widely practiced method of teaching, a teacher can reach a large number of students at the same
time; a large amount of materials can be covered in a short period of time. This is a ‘teacher-centred’ approach
involving largely a one-way form of communication from teacher to students. The teacher, as the authoritative
figure, does most of the writing and talking (chalk and talk) with the students as mere passive recipients of
information-listening and writing down a few notes and asking few or no questions. The basic fundamental
postulations of this type of method are that the teacher has knowledge, or can acquire knowledge, and that the
teacher can give knowledge to students. The lecture method is considerably cheap to operate since no special
teaching aids are required. It requires nominal planning. Its expository nature provides the teacher a feeling of
security as the “influential figure” in the class. No matter how easy this method may appear, teachers must make
efforts, to plan and organize their lecture to cover the subject matter to be presented and the manner in which
it will be presented. In the introduction, the law teacher should identify the subject of the lecture and connect it
with past lessons and try to stimulate interest on the subject matter. The body of the lecture should be presented
in a logical order, building from what the students already know towards new knowledge that the teacher wants
them to absorb. Knowledge is presented in small enough doses so that the students can absorb the material and
at a slow enough pace. The pace however should not be too slow to make The students disinterested. Both the
level of vocabulary used and the technical nature of the subject must correspond to the capability of the students.
Teacher is more active and students are passive but he also uses question answers to keep them attentive in the
class. It is used to motivate, clarify, expand and review the information. By changing his Voice, by impersonating
characters, by shifting his posing, by using simple devices, a teacher can deliver lessons effectively, while
delivering his lecture; a teacher can indicate by his facial expressions, gestures and tones the exact soul of
meaning that he wishes to convey. Thus we can say that when teacher takes help of a lengthy or short explanation
in order to clarify his ideas or some fact that explanation is termed as lecture or lecture method. The primary
advantage of a lecture is its ability to present a large number of facts in a short period of time but it is necessary
that the students should accept and understand the subject matter to be presented. Lecture method makes fewer
demands on the teacher’s time for planning and preparing and is therefore an attractive and easy method of
teaching. It is very useful in conveying factual information when introducing new topic.

Merits of the Lecture Method of Teaching :

1. The teacher controls the topic, aims, content, organization, sequence, and rate. Emphasis can be placed where
the teacher desires.
2. The lecture can be used to motivate and increase interest, to clarify and explain, to expand and bring in
information not available to the students, and to review.
3. The number of students listening to the lecturer is not important.
4. Students can interrupt for clarification or more detail.
5. The lecture can be taped, filmed, or printed for future use. 25
6. Other media and demonstrations can be easily combined with the lecture.
7. The lecture can be easily revised and updated.
8. The teacher can serve as a model in showing how to deal with issues and problems.
9. Students are familiar to the lecture method.
10. It is relatively less expensive as no special apparatus is needed.
11. Lecture method gives a teacher a sense of security by reliance upon the supposed authority of the dispenser
of knowledge.
12. Lecture method channels the thinking of all students in a given direction.
13. Large materials can be covered in a short time period.
14. It is very economical to use.

Demerits of the Lecture Method:

1. Some of the students may already know the content of the lecture while some may not be ready for the lecture.
Those who now may not be interested those who are not ready may be restless. This may not give the possible
effect to the teaching.
2. Lectures are group based. In India their huge gathering is before the teacher. Some of the classes have more
than one hundred students. It is possible that the teacher may not be able to pay attention to an individual.
Hence it will become an address to the gathering rather than teaching.
3. It is difficult to maintain student interest and attention for a full hour of lecture. The teacher may fail to keep
the same tone, volume of voice and the contents of his/ her lecture must be interesting. This may not be possible
in some serious subjects like Jurisprudence, or The code of civil procedure etc.
4. The communication is mostly one-way from the teacher to the students. Usually there is little student
participation. The students who do participate are few in number and tend to be the same students each class.
The teacher dominates the class and hence the students just have to listen.
5. Most of the students are not habituated of taking notes. They sit in the class as if it is some story-telling session.
Students either want dictation or simply purchase tailor-made notes from market without understanding the
gravity of the subject.
6. Lecture information is forgotten quickly, during and after the lecture. As the student is neither attentive nor
taking note they cannot revise what has been taught and happen to forget.
7. There is no immediate and direct check of whether learning has taken place. If the teacher simply delivers a
lecture and walks out of the class he/she is not aware about the learning habits of the student. Also if the teacher
avoids asking questions about the topic lectured on the day before he/ she does not get the feedback whether
the student really followed what he is been taught. Nor the teacher comes to know about his teaching. All this is
understood only when the examinations are conducted and the results are declared. But most of the time it’s
too late.
8. Lectures are not effective when teaching objectives are not clear.
9. The lecture method encourages student dependence on the teacher.
10. Students are not very active when only listening.
11. Few teachers have been taught how to lecture effectively. In India we do not have courses like B. Ed or D. Ed
to teach in the colleges. A person is eligible to teach in colleges and universities after attaining mere qualification
i.e. passing NET/SET exams in a particular subject or pursuing a Ph. D or M.Phil. There is neither a course nor a
training session for a person appointed as lecturer (now Assistant Professor).

2) Concept of Problem Method:

Problem-based learning or Problem Method of teaching is a teaching or training method regarded as teaching by
the use of “real world” problems. It is as a situation prepared for individuals to learn ‘critical thinking’ and develop
‘problem solving skills’ and ‘acquire knowledge’. It involves both knowing and doing. Problem Method can be
applied to an individual or to a group of individuals. It can be applied to a classroom setting or any type of training
program. It can even be used for employee development and even prepare someone for a new assignment or a
promotion, even in MBA classes. It should be emphasized that the teacher does not change the length of the
training; they have simply changed how they train. It is accepted that the results have been astonishing and
satisfactory. A training model rooted in problem-based learning has the potential to change the face of law
enforcement with this approach that teaches decision-making, critical thinking and problem-solving. The
problem with a ‘content driven approach’ is such that it enhances the quality of thinking and pumps in confidence
in the student. It is same as the LL.B graduate participates in moot court. It is a better approach to give them a
solid foundation that is anchored in problem-solving, decision-making, and self-directed learning. That is what
Problem Method does; it provides the anchor to the foundation of the profession. Thus with the help of Problem
Method, learners apply knowledge, not just acquire it. Thus a Problem Method is “A teaching and learning
method which puts a problem first, and in which further learning is conducted in the context of that problem.” A
broad definition of Problem Based Learning or as we are studying Problem Method, used by Dr. Woods is, “PBL
is any learning environment in which the problem drives the learning. ” Problem based learning

Usefulness of Problem Method:

Problem Method as we understand is a teaching and learning method. In which the problem is placed before the
student. The student is not much aware 38 about it. He has no or very less knowledge of the subject he is going
to study through the problem. The teacher puts a problem first, and then facilitates situation in which further
learning is conducted in the context of that “problem.” if a teacher wants to explain a term or section of any law
generally he/she will explain and give some day-to-day examples. This will not only help the student understand
the words, phrases, and construction of the section. But how will the student get to know about the utility of
that law or say that section? For example the teacher is explaining the concept of Fundamental rights, and goes
on telling them how important they are and how this concept has been evolved. He may take them to French
Revolution, American Revolution talk about Bill of Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights etc. the student
will feel like taken on historical tour. But if the teacher puts before them a hypothetical problem of a person
illegally detained, or a mother whose young son is beaten in prison, or the small children in orphanage are not
given food. Ask them to take help of the Constitution of India and some pre-decided case of the Supreme Court
of India. The students will not only come out with beautiful arguments as good as the lawyers of higher courts
but they are able to understand ‘the Law’ in much better way than the historical tour.

Here three things are happening

1. The teacher gives a problem. Acts as facilitator

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research

3. Student learns on his own with the help of the problem.

Although the student is learning on his own that doesn’t mean that the teacher has no role to play. On the
contrary the teacher is teaching with the help of the problem. The teacher play the role of guide, facilitator,
mentor etc. the teacher is always there with the student, but it is the student who have to work.

Merits of Problem Method: A. Benefits for faculty:

1.Satisfying ‘research-led’ teaching.

2.Opportunity to enhance rationality between ‘research interests’ and ‘teaching’.

3.Move away from instructive approaches allows development of ‘better’ relationships with students; respect
for students maintained and strengthened.

4. A mark of distinction for the approved law school (the Maastricht experience)

5.Recognition by employers, prospective students, and other schools as a groundbreaking, innovative

establishment – a virtuous circle

6.Resource inference enhances.

Demerits of Problem Method

1.Can be frustrating for participants when they are at significantly different levels of knowledge and skill
2.Can be unpredictable in terms of outcomes
3.Increases potential for interpersonal conflicts
4.Can be time-consuming.
5.Can be a challenge to ensure participation by all in the groups.

3) Concept of Discussion Method.

The law teachers can use considerable learning techniques in law classes along with the lecture method to
encourage the skills of legal investigation, synthesis, analysis and appraisal etc . Hess, for example, describes the
benefits of discussion: Discussion has a number of benefits for students and teachers. Discussion allows students
to “discover” ideas, which leads to deeper learning. Good discussions prompt students to use higher-level
thinking skills: to apply rules in new contexts, analyse issues, synthesise doctrines, and evaluate ideas. Through
effective discussions that expose them to diverse points of view, students develop values and change attitudes.
Discussions can provide teachers with valuable insights about their students’ learning and their creative
approaches to problems. It is often recommended by the experienced seniors that discussion as a technique
should be used more frequently by law teachers.

Discussion method operates in three stages:

1. The teacher gives a problem. Acts as facilitator

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research
3. Student learns on his own with the help of the problem.

Types of Discussion Methods Discussion method may be done in the following forms:

(a) Debate is a formal discussion of an issue in a classroom, at a public meeting or in a state or national assembly.
In a debate two or more speakers express opposing views. The teacher acts as facilitator.

The following things will happen during the debate

1. The teacher gives an issue to debate on. He/she acts as facilitator,

2. Student try to find appropriate points- does a research and comes ready with the notes or his preparation to
place the points before the other student i.e. his opponent. He comes so prepared that he is ready to refute all
the points of his opponent and same is with the opponent. Here the student is prepared for understanding quickly
and making a reply promptly,
3. Students are given a time limitation and therefore they learn that they have to be quick, up-to-the-point and
brief yet clear and covering all the required points,
4. With the help of the problem in issue the students try to learn on their own.

(b) Small Group Discussion:

1. In this method a number of people will set together in the same place as in a classroom or outside the
classroom. Students form groups and teacher give them an issue to discuss on certain topic. Then one or two of
them may make presentation also if required. It is different from a debate the whole group is talking on the same
issue at a time. However, the discipline has to be maintained and the teacher or a student can control on the
group. The group discussion has to be finished in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by
the teacher or a student.

The following things will happen during the small group discussion.

1. The teacher gives an issue for discussion. Acts as facilitator,

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research,
3. Students try to learn on their own.

(C) Round Table Discussion: A round table discussion either in the classroom or at the meeting hall in the college.
may be arranged. Within the college system, a round table discussion involves a healthy academic interaction
between the teacher and the students; or between the students. It is a pleasant confidence building experience
among students. It is just like a group discussion, teacher give them an issue to discuss on certain topic. It is
different from a debate the whole group is talking on the same issue at a time. However the discipline has to be
maintained and the teacher or a student can control on the group. The round-table discussion has to be finished
in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by the teacher or a student.

The following things will happen during round-table discussion

1. The teacher gives an issue for discussion. Acts as a facilitator,

2. Seating arrangement is like those in meetings; round-table,
3. Student try to find a solution- does a research,
4. Students try to learn on their own.

(d) Symposium: The teacher organise this kind of meeting at which experts discuss on a particular subject. The
main objective is to ensure that it involves a healthy academic interaction between the teacher and the students
and between students and students. Students are given the opportunity to build confidence, gain knowledge and
discover things by themselves. Here also the topics of discussion are pre-decided, hence there is lot of scope to
prepare and talk on the given topic. But expectation is that you are an “expert”. With this expectation the other
who do not think themselves as expert they are reluctant and do not participate or rather feel discouraged. All
the methods involve a lot of reading, research work, command on language good communication skill and the
person presenting must be able instantly remember all his points of argument and must be able to convince the
audience or listeners when posed with a question. The teacher also gives an extempore for testing the knowledge
of the student. But an extempore is different from discussion. In this method the teacher has to give the issue
for discussion, give enough time for the student to prepare, The teacher will give them an issue to discuss on
certain topic, acts as facilitator, maintains the discipline and controls the group. The group discussion has to be
finished in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by the teacher or a student. It is duty of
the teacher to give the issue for discussion related to the syllabus, thus this will help the student to learn as well
as the student does not find it use less or irrelevant. If the topic is included in the syllabus the student avoid to
study from the notes and becomes an independent as well as makes his/ her own notes. This encourages the
student to adopt self-study method.

Merits of Discussion Method.

1. Discussion in the classroom makes a teacher to be well prepared and to organize the classroom for best results.
2. It gives the students good opportunity to participate fully in the lesson and contribute their ideas. By expressing
their ideas about concepts, they are exposed to some clarifications, engage in argumentation thereby gaining
more knowledge and confidence.
3. Discussion method, being an interactive process, aids the teacher towards a better understanding of his
students.
4. It can be used to promote inquiry mind and to provide good practice for problem–solving.
5. Socially, students develop the spirit of accepting peers’ ideas and views.
6. Hidden talents are discovered while creativity and initiative are promoted.
7. There is more participation of students.
8. Students listen to other’s opinion & then express their own opinion. This develops their analytical power.
9. Teachers discuss the points that were missed during discussion this adds to the knowledge of the students.
10. Students learn on their own & find out explanation points.
11. They also exchange their ideas.
12. Students get point of view of all and not only those who always speak.
13. After discussion when students give their presentation, teacher corrects their mistakes.
14. Students can make their own notes.
15. This type of learning is more effective
16. They don’t have to rely on routine learning.
17. The exercise to be worked out develops creativity among students.
18. It evokes thinking among students.
19. Students have time for preparation of topic.
20. If the students have material and knowledge before discussion they get boosted for talking as well as come
up with new and latest information.
21. Concepts become clear after discussion.
22. Every student gives his/ her opinion.
Demerits of Discussion Method.

1. Lengthy method: Discussion method is a mainly interactive process involving a multiple flow of communication
between student and student and student and teacher, therefore takes a huge length of time.
2. Little ground is covered in the curriculum because of excursion.
3. Some students may never participate either because they lack the knowledge of the background to the topic
or they are not afforded the opportunity to do so.
4. Slow learners feel shy to contribute or be part of the exercise because the brighter students may dominate the
discussion. Since the discussion method is highly dependent upon intelligence and good communication skills,
because they may shy away from the exercise.

4) The seminar method is the most modern and advanced method of teaching. A seminar is an advanced group
technique which is usually used in higher education. It is an instructional technique it involves generating a
situation for a group to have a guided interaction among themselves on a theme. It refers to a structured group
discussion what usually follows a formal lecture or lectures often in the form of an essay or a paper presentation
on a theme. This seminar method is employed to realize the higher objectives of cognitive & affective domains.
The higher learning process requires the interactive and integrated methodologies based on the psychological
principles. The seminar method applies such technique of human interaction / intervention with the learning and
teaching experiences. Aim & Objectives of Seminar Method: This seminar method is utilized to realize the higher
objectives of cognitive and affective domains.

Cognitive objectives

i. To develop higher cognitive abilities.

ii. ii. To develop the ability of responding in this manner would involve higher cognitive
actions.
iii. To develop the ability of keen observation of experience, feelings and iv. To develop
the ability to seek clarification and defend the ideas of others effectively.

Affective objectives i. To develop the feeling of tolerance to the opposite ideas of others.

ii. To develop the feelings of co-operation with other colleagues and respect of the ideas and feelings of others.

To develop the emotional ability among the participants of the seminar.

To acquire the good manners of putting questions and answering the questions of others effectively. The human
interaction under this technique develops the good manners and skills among the participants. Provide a good
learning and scholastic experience to the participants of seminar. Pre-requisites (Basic Principles) to be included
in the seminar:

• This seminar method depends with the lingual, social and emotional instances and its maturity level. • The
complex and undefined concept or article must be read and discussed for the meaningful learning experiences
and new concept.

• Group discussion is emphasized. The kernel of seminar is stressed.

• The value and success of the seminar depends on the path of the learner and their learning experiences through
the discussion. The learner can advocate and interact in group discussion with his experiences and concept
derived. Both the group and learner can transform their ideas and to derive a new conclusion also be anticipated.

• In the lower level of learning experiences the concepts are explanatory but in this higher level of learning
experience the theme or concept centered and need more evidences and explanations through the discussion.

• The interactions in this method develop observation and questioning skills, evaluation skills using their own
learning experience.

Advantages and special features of Seminar Method.

1.This seminar method gives good motivation and learning experience.

2.Help to evaluate the learn-ability of learners.  Regulate the creating and organizing of facts and information.
3.Dissemination and retrieval of information is scientifically managed.
4.Develop the self reliance and self confidence.
5.Also inculcates the responsibility and cooperative nature.
6.This method is the best for socialization.
7.Students’ interaction is possible in participation and production of teaching learning process.  Traditional
monotony is abolished in this method.
8.Ensures the understandability and enhances the capability of the students learning.
9.Seminar is always subject / theme specific, so that sufficient knowledge about the concerned subject can be
developed.
10.The presenter or the reader of the article can get further clarifications in his subject.
11.Develop the questioning skills.
12.The data processing and analysis also play a vital role in this method.
13.This makes teaching and learning process lively.
14.The student receives good information from his teacher and the fellow students.

Types of Seminar Seminars are conducted in various stages.

Based on the size and organizational aspects the seminars can be classified in to four types.

1. Mini seminar: Its coverage and scope are small and simple. A small population is enough to hold this
seminar. A discussion held over the topic taught or to be taught with the students is known as Group
discussion. Such group discussions held in an organized way within a class room, it is called mini seminar.
This mini seminar gives the students training in questioning skills, organizing the information and
presentation skills of seminar. A mini seminar is felt necessary because it gives good experience to
conduct a major seminar at Institutional level.
2. Major seminar: The seminar conducted at an institutional or departmental level for a specific topic or
subject is known as Major seminar. Usually students and teachers are participating in this type of seminar.
This major seminar can be organized at department level for every month. A specific topic or subject is
selected for the theme of the seminar.
3. National seminar: An association of any kind particularly with academic or professional interest or an
organization (Government, Firm, etc.,) conducts the seminar at National level is called National seminar.
The subject experts are invited to the seminar for discussion. The Secretary of the seminar prepares the
schedule and functionaries for seminar.
4. International seminar: Usually the seminar conducted by an international organization or agency is
known as International seminar. Theme of this seminar has wider aspects. Globalization, Renovation,
Atomic energy agreements, Policies implementation and modification etc., are examples for themes of
International seminars. A Nation or its body can conduct or organize the international seminar.

Seminar Committee: Seminar is conducted or organized by the committee proposed for this purpose only. This
committee constitutes a chairperson, Organizing Secretary and subject experts who are expertise in the theme
proposed for seminar. The organizing committee guides and helps with the functions of Chair person and
organizing secretary. Usually a seminar has been conducted with the following team of organizing body.

1. Chairperson or President / Convenor of Seminar Naturally, She/he may be the apex person of the Institution /
Department / Government / Firm / Policy maker of the concerned body or agency.

2. Organizing Secretary of Seminar Usually he is nominated by the Chair person or President of the Seminar
committee. S/he must be a good administrator and subject expert in the field proposed theme of the seminar.
He must be the person of tolerance and capable of doing things in right time with right persons.

3. Chairperson of the Technical Session of seminar S/he must be the person with expertise in the theme proposed
for the seminar. S/he would have a good experience to perform all the activities of technical session which is vital
to the seminar.
4. Speaker of Seminar S/he is the active participant of seminar presenting his / her paper among the other
participants in the presence of Chair Person of Technical session of seminar.

5. Participants / Paper presenters of seminar The people who are presenting papers and observing the paper
presentation by participating in the seminar are termed as Paper presenters and Participants of the seminar.

Merits of Seminar method:

1. Naturally, the spontaneous learning can be achieved effectively in this method.

2. Seminar is usually learner cantered.
3. Information seeking and retrieval behaviour is encouraged very much in this method.
4. The learner himself prepares and compiles his own paper for the seminar gives readiness of mind and
learning becomes structured.
5. Learning by doing is encouraged in this method.
6. The paper presenter / participant receive a reinforced learning experience from the Group discussion.
Learning experiences is highly structured by the learner himself.
7. The teacher or chairperson of technical session only plays the Guidance and instructional role. Develops
cognitive, affective domain based learning.
8. Norms of behaviour is developed and reinforced.
9. Develops open mindedness, suppress the subjective ideas from the learners.
10. The interactions and interrogations develops the spirit of information seeking behaviours (norms of
behaviour)
11. The data processing skills, compilation skills, communication skill are easily inculcated in this method.
Learner gets in-depth knowledge of the subject he presented.
12. This method built better social values and fault tolerance levels in the minds of learner.

Limitations of Seminar method

• Setting up of a seminar for every topic in the Text is not feasible.

• The subject area to be taught must be relevant to the theme of the seminar.
• The seminar themes must conform the learning experiences to be inculcated to the students.
• This method found fit for higher learning only.
• Implementation of this method for lower classes is cumbersome.
• Only matured and balanced minded teachers can make this method successful.
• The teacher must be resourceful (both in academic and administrative) in nature.
• Time management is somewhat difficult.se students participate who have confidence rest do not participate.

2.3 CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION:
The clinical legal education is basically for lawyers for developing new perceptions, attitudes, skills, and aspects
of the legal fields which will be more than the actual law curriculum. The law students after completing their
studies the practice of the law profession can be defined as the clinical legal education. The term “clinical” itself
means directing or observing the person who has been diagnosed by some type of serious condition. It is not
always referred to as the ‘medical’ term but is also termed as for in legal profession. The clinical legal education
sets a wider goal for the lawyers in their profession for not only in litigation it helps but mostly it helps in
understanding their client’s perspective and their thinking. This is often more correlated in the ‘psychological
terms’ also where in psychology the client or the person who is diagnosed with some serious or moderate kind
of mental or traumatized conditions is hereby counselled by the counsellor who offers some appropriate
psychotherapies to them ‘the clients’. Similarly, in the legal terms the client who has some issues regarding the
problems in business, personal life, or any such problems which needs to be resolved through legal remedies
comes to the advocate for getting them out of it.
The advocate, hereby, at initial stages tries to understand the problem of the client regarding the case and then
set into legal framework and then the advocates speak up about the strategies regarding the case as the next
step to the client. Clinical legal education over here helps the lawyer to understand the point of views of the
client and the issues regarding the case. It plays a very important role the clinical legal studies in the profession
of law further.
Talking about the clinical legal education it is very important to take a look at the main key role of the clinical
legal profession which not only helps to strengthen the relationship between clients or lawyers or with other
people but also help maintain a good rapport that is “communication”.
COMMUNICATION: Etymologically, the term ‘communication’ has been derived from the Greek term
‘communicare’ . which means to share or to comment. In simple English it can be defined as the means of
information or sharing of ideas from one person to another person effectively and efficiently.
Communications is always associated with ideas, obviously, because sharing of ideas and speaking up comments
or sharing of information from one person to another is very important. It is more than an art rather than a
science because there is no certain or particular format which is important for communication as seeing it from
a scientific perspective but rather it can be called as an art because skills and effective type of communication is
what really is important and necessary.
Similarly, language also doesn’t make a difference over here sharing information in an effective manner and the
other person you are speaking up to understands it effectively is what a successful communication is said to be.
Talking about expressing your ideas and communicating it with the other person understanding it is called a good
communication.
Words which are carefully spoken and framed in a good manner and also effectively communicated is what is
called as the most powerful source of communication. People who have good communication skills are often
seen as the person with various goals to be achieved and because of their good and powerful communication
more other people are seen to be inclined in with their work to help them achieve their targeted goals. They can
easily establish their business and their work can also be seen to be accomplishing all the achievements with the
help of the other people in their work.
Legal communication is where the advocate and the client discuss about the case and what next step or strategy
can be more effective in the court regarding the case. This means that in legal profession communication skills
are very much essential and thereafter it plays a very crucial role in communication with the client.
Talking about communication there are various kinds of benefits to it and they are-
· Leads to build a good rapport and strengthens the relationship with clients.
· Minimizes misunderstanding and also help minimizes the conflicts.
· Saves the three most important resources that is the time, money ,energy.
· Leads to some intended results which are to be achieved.
· Leads to appropriate feedbacks to be received and shared.
· No mixed signals can be received until there are no sort of barriers to it.
Sides of communication which have benefits also has some disadvantages to it and they are-
· Sends mixed signals due to barriers.
· Increases the risks of conflicts and misunderstandings.
· Strains off the relationships between people.
· Creates stress
· Emotional and physical traumas which will be caused due to misinterpretation of information to the person
psychologically resulting the abovesaid problems.
· Wasting of the three resources time, money, energy.
Communication has been further categorized as formal and informal communication-
1. Formal Communication: In the formal type of communication the source or the medium through which the
information is been shared or transferred is from a particular and trustworthy source and through any kind of
airy sources. The formal communication is always having some true facts and issues based on the communication
which travels. The source is always trustable in other words it has a form according to which it travels.
In the formal type of communication, the source of information in travels from one higher authority of a person
to their juniors or lower authority wise.
For example, it is generally been seen in the firms and corporate fields where a certain information travels from
the most senior to their junior staffs and then to the other junior, the other staffs in the firm. The source over
here through which the information travels is trustworthy because it itself has a true source that is the senior in
the firm or any business organization. It can be in oral form or written form also.
2. Informal Communication: In the informal type of communication the source or the medium through which
the information is been transferred is not true also the information from which it has come through is itself not
true, you can say that, it has a ‘airy source’ where the source of information is itself not true there is no truth or
no evidence or no support basically to that information which proves itself to be true. It is also called as the
‘grapevine communication’.
For example, there some people in an office who are transferring some sort of information which does not have
a proper relevance to it or no proper basis to that information but it is been transferred only for the sake of
gossiping or some sort of entertainment which in its true sense is thereafter defined as the ‘grapevine
communication’.
There are certain problems which occurs during communication which later on causes misunderstandings
between people and thus further on leads to misinterpret the information which will result in fights and conflicts
between people.
The barriers which take place while communicating can be as further-
· Online barriers while communicating online through a meeting so it can be network issues.
· Not an active listener
· No good communication skills
· Difference in communication styles
· Cultural differences
· Lack of trust on your own team member or sometimes lack of trust in yourself ‘self-trust’
· Conflicts which were continuously taking place in the workplace
· No matching of ideas
· Emotional barriers such as disinterest in one’s speaking up
· Showing lack of interest, attention, etc.
· Irrelevance in one’s information
· No appropriate feedbacks
· No correlation of any information which is been transmitted
· Personal hate or ignorance of a team member while questioning
· Language barriers
These are some of the barriers which can take place in a communication or while people are communicating this
leads to conflicts, wastage of time, money and energy sometimes and thereafter misleads you and your
information in further which causes traumas, conflicts etc. causing trouble psychologically and physically also by
fighting and arguing most of the times.

2.4 EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND EVALUATION PROCESS

This Part describes the nature of law school examinations and the reading,
interpretation, and grading of these exams. This inquiry reveals the basic
examination structure and the personal attributes that are necessary to succeed
on law school exams. These insights set the stage for a subsequent look at the
complex relationships between law school exams and their educational, social, and
personal contexts.

UNIT 3
SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH

Socio-legal research is an interdisciplinary field that combines the study of law with the social sciences, such as
sociology, anthropology, and political science. It aims to understand the relationship between law and society
and how laws and legal systems shape and are shaped by social, economic, and cultural factors.

Law schools have recognized the importance of socio-legal research in understanding the complex interplay
between law and society. It helps law students to gain a deeper understanding of the legal system and its impact
on individuals and communities. It also helps them develop critical thinking skills, essential for practicing law in
today's rapidly changing world. Socio-legal research can provide valuable insights into the functioning of the legal
system and its impact on society. For example, it can shed light on how laws are enforced, how legal processes
are conducted, and how legal decisions are made. It can also help identify areas where the law may be lacking
or need reform.

In addition to its academic value, socio-legal research can also have practical applications. It can inform policy
decisions, help to shape legal reforms and provide a basis for advocacy and social change. For example, research
on access to justice, discrimination, and human rights can inform legal reforms and support advocacy efforts to
promote social justice and equality.
In conclusion, socio-legal research is an important aspect of legal education, as it helps to broaden students'
understanding of the legal system and its impact on society. It also has practical applications in informing policy
decisions, shaping legal reforms, and supporting advocacy efforts to promote social justice and equality. When
establishing a research project, students study social and legal research courses to understand the need to
integrate other fields of knowledge to bring the issue to the public in a real-life context. Often, the law falls short
when it comes to addressing social issues. As a result, it is imperative to use socio-legal research techniques and
procedures that emphasize the judicial problem and the social reality resulting from a discipline like sociology. It
is vital to limit the scope of the investigation to achieve the best results and solutions. A problem should be
identified, a goal developed, and an empirical object set to study it from the perspective of others. Students
must constantly be encouraged to work on research projects from both quantitative and qualitative
perspectives, focusing on the latter since it is a subject in which it is possible to evaluate social reality by
interpreting personal meaning and comprehending language and social interactions.

SOCIO-LEGAL ISSUE IN INDIA

India is a country of diversities. Different religions, castes, traditions, languages, cultures and entangled social
fabric are visible in India. The slavery of foreigners for centuries has produced many evils in Indian society. In
particular, issues like casteism, women’s protection, communalism, economic inequality, religious bigotry and
poverty, hunger remain the social legal issues of our great country.

1. RACISM
The Constitution of India gives equal rights to all citizens at social, economic, political and education levels. All
citizens have equal rights. At any level, there can be no discrimination against any citizen. But in reality, the
country is still far away from this legal right. Even after seventy years of independence, there is discrimination
among citizens at some legal level, at some social level. The caste system in India has its roots in ancient India.
In ancient India, rules and duties in terms of a person’s life, varna or caste were determined by his actions. All
professions were the same. Everyone was seen with respect, but first the faulty system of the Mughals and later
the British divided the society into permanent castes. Today is the biggest social legal challenge of the country.

2. INEQUALITY
The constitution gives equal right to both men and women in every field. Women have been given many rights
after independence. Right to vote, right to legal marriage, inheritance of property, divorce, dowry rights. The
Equal Remuneration Act was passed in 1976 to provide equal remuneration to men. Muslim women have
recently gained rights against triple talaq. But even after getting the legal strength at social level, women are
facing many challenges socially.

3. ECONOMIC DISPARITY
Economic disparity is a challenging social legal issue in India. According to the Global Wealth Report, 10 per cent
of India’s rich people own 77.4 percent of the country's wealth. On the other hand, 60 per cent of the people
own only 4.7 per cent property. 6 percent of these people are those whose income is less than hundred rupees.
Millions of people still do not have the bread for two days. At the same time only ten percent people have
acquired two-thirds of the country's wealth. This inequality destroys the fabric of the country. Increases poverty
and unemployment. Social harmony also ends because of this inequality. As such, everyone has the right to live
legally and live honorably. But at the ground level it has many punch diggies. It does not look the same on the
ground.
4. RURAL AND URBAN DIVIDE
The country's major social challenge is that 70 percent of the population in India lives in the village. But in the
name of facilities, there is not even thirty percent facilities as compared to cities. The agricultural sector is
continuously backward and youth are migrating continuously to the cities. Farming has become a continuous
loss. There are several thousand villages in the country where only the elderly is left to live. The youth have left
the villages in the hope of employment and better facilities. The reason for this is the lack of facilities in rural
areas. The youth who lead a livelihood by farming are troubled. Because of this, the farmers want to get more
facilities and discounts through constant agitation. In recent days, farmers are agitating all over the country on
the issue of support price and free market. Discrimination in urban and rural life remains a big challenge and
social issue before the country.

5. RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
Originally, India is a country of people living in harmony, harmony and equality with all religions and all castes.
But for some decades religious fundamentalism has challenged the integrity and unity of the country. The
incidents of maw leaching along with religious riots and terrorist incidents have spoiled India's name in the world.
Legally, governments are dealing with convicts influenced by fundamentalist ideology, yet religious segregation
in all the states of the country poses a major challenge. Similarly, caste-sharing is also a big issue. For example,
when the Supreme Court made changes in Section 3 a few years ago, there was uproar in the whole country.
Police have the right to arrest anyone without investigation on the report of Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribes.
It was the subject of arrest only after being investigated. But the change was not liked and there were fierce
movements across the country. There are many issues which still remain social legal issues before the country.
Apart from this, many social legal issues have been emerging in India. Issues like workers' rights, children's rights,
dowry system, unemployment, illiteracy, starvation, remain a challenge even after centuries

6. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
As I said, India is a country full of diversities. There are around 121 major languages, spoken by group. Apart from
the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, each state has its own mother tongue. There
are 60 languages whose number of speakers is more than one million. This is also the beauty of the country, as
well as trouble for the unity of the country. The mother tongue of India is Hindi. But there is strong opposition
to Hindi in South Indian states. The protest is of such a level that if the names of railway stations, banks or public
places are written in Hindi then there will be uproar. North Indian citizens do not feel familiar in South India and
South Indian citizens in North India. The same is with the residents of the Indian states of the North East.

Recently, when the central government formulated an education policy, it was recommended to include Hindi
in primary education. There was a sharp reaction in the South Indian states. The Center had to clarify that this
was not mandatory. This attitude is towards Maharashtra's Marathi, West Bengal's Bengali, Odisha's Oriya. There
is also linguistic radicalism in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Assamese linguistic states. Because of this, India could
never be integrated into linguistic unity.

7. NAXALISM
Naxalism is deeply affected in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh adjoining
Chhattisgarh and Chhattisgarh. Till now thousands of people have lost their lives in Naxal attacks. It is a socio-
economic and legal dispute. Naxalites do not believe in the Constitution of India even while living in the country.
They demand that full rights of water, forest and land should be given to the people living there. Make decisions
there. They should have power there. The tribals in particular should be empowered to govern and control the
natural resources. It is against the Constitution of India. Because of this, the Government of India has deployed
about 50 thousand paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh itself. Apart from this, more than 30 thousand soldiers are
deployed in border states. But this tension has not ended because of disagreements with the law. This social
legal issue remains a major obstacle in India's development.

8. SEPARITISM AND TERRORISM

Similarly, terrorist attack in Kashmir is also a social legal issue. A group of citizens there challenge the power of
India. He keeps demanding the independence of his kingdom. However, because of the abolition of Article 370
recently, terrorism in Kashmir has reduced considerably. But it is yet to be fully controlled. In many states of the
Northeast, small groups clash with governments because of hostility. Their demands are local. And socially they
keep demanding complete independence. Organizations like United Liberation Front of Assam, National
Democrat Front of Bodoland in Assam keep demanding separate statehood. In many states like Manipur, Tripura,
Nagaland, extremist organizations are active about their demands. These organizations see their existence as a
separate country on linguistic, cultural and geographical basis. However, the central government has always kept
open the way for limited power usage and dialogue with these organizations. Because of this, many extremist
organizations have formed a mindset to fulfill their demands while staying in India. But these still remain stressful
social legal issues for the country.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Social issues are a problem that influences the common citizen of a country and as Justice is a fundamental pillar
of Indian Democracy and Constitution, the law makers and law keepers need to be proactive to cater to the social
injustice and inequalities from time to time

Social issue can be a part of our history, traditions and cultural stereotypes. And every country in the world faces
different social issues like racism, illiteracy, inequality etc. so is India. India being an old civilization with multiple
rulers from time to time, has its own social issues.

Lastly, Social issue, if they are not solved can lead to dissatisfactions, disruptions and violence. As we all move
towards a new millennial with technology as a new normal, social legal issues will take newer forms and shapes.
We have to prepared to tackle the same as always.

DOCTRINAL AND NON-DOCTRINAL RESEARCH

Introduction
The research basically means searching for something again and again until we reach an unequivocal conclusion.
It is a systematic investigation that entails the collection of data, critical information, arranging it all and then
analyzing it to deduce something meaningful. The word “research” is derived from the French word “recherché”
which means to investigate thoroughly. So whenever research is being conducted, be it in any field, it involves
going into the depth of the topic and making sense of it.
Legal research in particular dives deeper into the legal ocean. It is all about searching and researching laws, their
origin, their application and everything else that can have the slightest nexus with the legal sphere. We try to
search and analyze the effect of all the legal and non-legal variables on the process of legal decision-making.
Black’s law dictionary defines legal research as “the finding and assembling of authorities that bear on a question
of law”.(How to do legal research in 3 steps n.d.) Legal research is a constant companion of people involved in
the legal world, be it the attorneys, judges, jurists, law researchers, law students and academicians. To possess
the legal prowess and accumulate knowledge to effectively contribute in this arena, research is important for all
of them.

Now, to conduct research different pathways can be adopted. These pathways are known as “research
methodologies”. Methodology in research is defined as the systematic method to resolve a research problem
through data gathering using various techniques, providing an interpretation of data gathered and drawing
conclusions about the research data.(Bouchrika 2021) The two words method and methodology should not be
used interchangeably. Method signifies the process of collecting the required information and the technique
that is employed to achieve this objective.
Whereas, on the other hand, methodology implies not only the procedures involved to collect data but also how
to analyze and interpret it. The methodology is a comprehensive term and is wider than the method. It is a
compass that determines the direction of the research.
Two prominent methodologies that are employed in legal research are doctrinal and non-doctrinal. The former
one is more inclined towards theoretical aspects and academics, hence also known as “library” or “arm-chair”
research. While the latter is more practical and takes an interdisciplinary approach to observation. Hence it is
also called “empirical” research.
Doctrinal research
Meaning and definition
Dr S.R. Myneni has defined, “A doctrinal research means a research that has been carried out on a legal
proposition or propositions by way of analyzing the existing statutory provisions and cases by applying the
reasoning power.” (Tiwary 2020)
Doctrinal research has the root word “doctrine” which means a principle or a basic governing tenet. That means,
the legal doctrine would include legal principles and tenets that would govern the legal world. Therefore, it
implies that doctrinal legal research would involve digging deeper into the legal principles and concepts from
various sources like cases, precedents, statutes and others; to analyze them and reach valid conclusions.
The focal point of doctrinal research is answering the question “What is law?”. It is library-based research, i.e.
we try to find out definite answers to legal questions through a thorough investigation from the law books,
statutes, legislation, commentaries and other legal documents. All of these sources fall under the category of
“Secondary Sources”. As stated earlier, it is theoretical research that does not involve any kind of
experimentation or fieldwork.
Here, we are basically checking the validity of existing laws in light of a changing society. It begins with one or
more legal propositions taken as a starting point and the entire research is directed in finding the validity of that
hypothesis. It simply means reviewing and studying different legal documents and other sources and then
deducing a complete answer to the question asked at the beginning by the means of rational interpretation and
logical reasoning. Most often, the starting point in any research is doctrinal, i.e. library-based and then we move
forward to other methodologies once our base is set by doctrinal research. This is the reason that doctrinal
research is very famous among students and academicians.

History
The roots of doctrinal research can be traced to the positivist or the analytical school of law which was objective
and value-free. It is more epistemologically oriented and does not concern itself with people or society. Though
the law itself is normative, doctrinal research does not study it in a normative sense. It does not take into
consideration the human aspects of law and how it affects people in society. In this type of research, we just
concern ourselves with existing laws in the present state as they are. Its emergence can be traced parallel to the
rise of common law in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Common law has been developed by the efforts of
jurists and the Court’s decisions. The doctrine of precedents also developed around the same time. All of these
developments are linked to doctrinal research as without it the other parallel developments would have been
incomplete. It is when judges and attorneys investigated laws from various above-mentioned sources, that they
could set the stage for the progress of common law.
And we all know, common law is the basis of legal development in several other countries. At a similar time, the
law had entered the academic field in Europe and doctrinal research picked up pace as it became a popular tool
of academic legal research. (Tiwary 2020) This is the reason why doctrinal research is also known as traditional
research.

Purpose
One of the main purposes of conducting doctrinal research is solving the legal problems of bringing laws. For
example, if the government decides to bring umbrella legislation for all the crimes committed against women, it
may initiate doctrinal research by some jurists and experts in the field.
They may have to go through all the existing laws in this field, previous case laws, precedents, international
trends, legal commentaries, articles by scholars, dictionaries, encyclopedias, journals, treatises, textbooks and
other sources of legal information. Going through this sea of information, they would be able to answer all the
questions related to this legislation and will be successful in bringing out comprehensive legislation.
It can be utilized for several other purposes as well like to help lawmakers develop meaningful and effective
laws, develop fresh legal doctrines, aid courts in reaching effective and legally accurate judgments, help lawyers
to interpret statutes and prepare their suits, help students in academia to set a base and many others.

Methodology
The methodology in doctrinal research starts with setting a proposition as the starting point. A legal provision in
question or an existing law could be chosen for the purpose. The next step could be to analyze the purpose
behind bringing that particular law. For example, for a provision of the constitution, Constituent Assembly
Debates could give great insight.
The law then can be studied in greater detail. A course of action must be selected. Alternative courses can be
explored. Different models need to be studied and finally, the consequences and approximated effects have to
be weighed in order to accurately make predictions about the proposition set at the beginning. In all these stages,
secondary sources talked about in the above paragraphs are utilized.
But one must be very careful in the selection of these sources. Searching for reliable and accurate sources
demands time and effort. Useful information must be separated from the chaff as the presence of unreliable
information could lead to misleading and inaccurately skewed results. The efficiency of this method also depends
on the question that is asked in the beginning. Asking the right question is the first step towards concrete
research. Setting the right proposition and then relying on the right sources is the key to successful doctrinal
research.

Advantages and disadvantages

To begin with the advantages, doctrinal research forms the base of legal research in the academic field of law.
Law students at the graduate and post-graduate levels usually venture into the world of legal research with the
help of doctrinal methodology. This is the starting point for them where they can analyze sources available in
the library and logically deduce their findings. The students are not well equipped at this particular stage to get
involved with empirical research and to consider the law in the context of society. It is easier for them to study
law “as it is” from secondary sources and it acts as a good starting point.
In addition, it gives the judges and lawyers the flexibility to approach law from different aspects and make its
interpretation. It may not be wrong to say that the amorphous mass of the present-day statutory provisions
takes concrete shape and form in the great laboratories of the law courts. (Jain 1982) Judges have over time
developed law from their deep knowledge and investigation into the field. Law of torts is one great example as
it is a “judge-made law”. Therefore, doctrinal research being the traditional methodology has helped in the
development of legal research by giving it a base. It has been a close companion of law academicians, students,
judges, advocates and jurists.
However, doctrinal research has its own shortcomings as well. Availability and choice of right and reliable sources
is the bottleneck in doctrinal research. Logical deduction is also an uphill task. Furthermore, it is highly theoretical
and restricted. Without the right direction, it may become highly objective and too mechanical. Moreover, it can
be further highlighted that it studies law individually and does not consider it in the backdrop of society which is
the playground of law. Without studying its normative and practical aspects, it’s like studying law in darkness
and seems incomplete.

Non-doctrinal research

Meaning and definition

Non-doctrinal research, also known as social-legal research, is research that employs methods taken from other
disciplines to generate empirical data that answers research questions. (Salim Ibrahim Ali 2017)
Non-doctrinal research takes a multi-disciplinary approach towards legal research. It employs methods and
information available from other disciplines to make a comprehensive approach towards law. It employs primary
sources of legal information to reach a conclusion. Primary sources may include observations, experiments,
questionnaires, surveys, etc. With the help of these sources, we analyze the practical aspects of law like the
effect of its implementation in non-legal fields and society as a whole. Basically, we take a legal variable which
could be a law along with a non-legal variable like economic, social, political, etc. and study their relationship by
data collected, which could be qualitative or quantitative. Its area of focus is how the law works in the real world.

History
After World War II, there was a growing emphasis on empiricism. Hence, the realist school of thought developed.
The realist school of thought brings to the forefront, the concern that laws are made for the benefit and
regulation of society. Laws are there to fulfil society’s needs. Therefore, they cannot be studied in isolation and
must be developed as per society’s requirements. Society is dynamic and so should be the law. Law should be
suited to the needs of the real world.
Non-doctrinal research developed out of the growing need of bringing the law into the realm of realism. It was
felt that legal research should deal more with its practical application and how it functions and affects the life of
people in real-world; and less with the theoretical aspect of studying written law.
Moreover, we have also seen that towards the same time, there was a growing emphasis on the welfare state
model. It was believed that the state was meant to serve the society and all the laws that it brings must cater to
this need of welfare of the citizens. In this background, there was a huge lift received by non-doctrinal research
that helped in this direction. Governments have also encouraged this field of research to bring out legislation
that truly help people and also to judge how well they have performed.
Purpose and methodology
The purpose of non-doctrinal research is to check the utility of a law that has been brought or how it impacts the
non-legal aspects of society. Also, non-legal factors affect the implementation of the law. Sometimes, a very
comprehensive law is brought but sometimes the environment is such that its effectiveness is shielded by those
circumstances. For example, a law brought to open the market for foreign players to liberalize the economy may
be considered very destructive at a time like that of a pandemic when the domestic market is hard hit by
lockdown and would be considered devastating.
While in normal circumstances the same law might have been proved very useful for the economy. Now research
may be sponsored by the government to check whether circumstances are conducive to bringing such a law. The
research may include collecting data about the condition of the domestic market and how it will affect it if the
law becomes a reality. Research after implementing the law can also be conducted to check its consequences
and effects that it had actually brought. For this purpose, the help of other behavioural sciences can be taken. It
relies on observation more than theory because under different circumstances theory remains the same but its
practical application changes and it is important to keep a track of these changes to keep the law updated and
effective.
The methodology adopted is that of empirical research, i.e. different modes of experimentation and observation
like collecting data by means of case studies, questionnaires, surveys, etc. These are the primary sources that
give us first-hand information that can be then analyzed. This data collected can then be arranged in pie charts,
bar graphs or other forms to reach a conclusion.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of non-doctrinal research are many but the prime one remains its utility in practical purposes. It
helps in gauging the practical effectiveness of laws in various non-legal fields. It is an effective tool to judge the
performance of law in society. Legal issues are better analyzed when studied in a comprehensive manner by
taking into consideration all the factors that might affect it. Moreover, when the data is quantified, it becomes
rationally more appealing and authentic. Also, since it relies on primary sources of information, it is more
reliable.
Developing welfare policies for people has become the major function of the state. But it is not possible without
any data that reveals the actual circumstances of society. Non-doctrinal research tells us what actually the
society needs, where the laws are lacking and what are the responses of people on whom those laws are
imposed. All of this information which can be obtained by non-doctrinal research makes policymaking a better
and easier task.
Moreover, there is a gap between the law in books and law in action. Law transforms to a certain extent when
it comes to implementation. Many variables exert their influence to cause this transformation. Knowledge of
these factors that can be obtained by non-doctrinal research can help us in understanding this gap and in working
towards eliminating it.
However, it also has its fair share of pitfalls. Non-doctrinal research is very time-consuming. It requires a lot of
time and resources. Availability of funds poses another challenge. The collection of data can be a daunting task.
And more than that, collecting the right pool of information from society can be full of errors. People have
different understanding and amounts of information. They have their own biases. That means the information
collected, like from questionnaires and surveys can be skewed and misleading. Also, collecting primary data
about some sensitive issues can be a dangerous task for the researcher. The research may also be blurred by the
researcher’s personal prejudices and biases.

Comparison between doctrinal and non-doctrinal research

 • Doctrinal research is theoretical research, while on the other hand, non-doctrinal research is more
practical.
• Doctrinal research has its roots in the analytical or positivist school of thought. But non-doctrinal
research comes from the realist school of thought.
• Doctrinal research is based on secondary sources of information, like articles, commentaries,
textbooks, etc. But non-doctrinal research is based on primary sources like surveys and case studies.
• Non-doctrinal research includes fieldwork but doctrinal research is library-based arm-chair research
that does not involve going to the field.
• Doctrinal research is more concerned with the question “What is law” and studying law exclusively.
But non-doctrinal research studies law in connection with society and various non-legal aspects that
affect the law. It is socio-legal research.
• The scope of doctrinal research is narrower concerning the law in isolation. But non-doctrinal
research has a wider scope and studies law in comprehensive terms.
Conclusion
Both forms of legal research have their own share of advantages and disadvantages. This means that none of
them is infallible or complete in itself. One is rooted in theory while the other in practicality and as theory cannot
be sacrificed for practicality alone and vice versa, both of them have their separate roles in the field of legal
research.
Doctrinal research has helped in developing a basic awareness of legal issues among the people. It has immensely
helped judges and attorneys in legal suits to develop valid arguments and reach an effective judgment. The
development of tort law is a prime example. Doctrinal research by focusing on “law as it is” has helped in
percolating a greater awareness about legal issues among the masses. It has also helped in pointing out the
loopholes in existing laws and statutes. As another side of the same coin, non-doctrinal research focuses on law
in action in its playing field i.e. the society. It could be of great help for analyzing the effects of laws on people
and how to bring out legal reforms. It helps the law to catch up with this ever-changing society. Judicial activism
is a great product of non-doctrinal research.
Therefore, both these forms are complementary to each other. Doctrinal research forms the foundation, on
which the structure of non-doctrinal research can be constructed. They need to and must support each other.
They can be used alternatively or in a hybrid form for effective and meaningful legal research.

Relevance of empirical research

Calfee & Chambliss (2005) (UofM login required) describe empirical research as a "systematic approach for
answering certain types of questions." Those questions are answered "through the collection of evidence under
carefully defined and replicable conditions".
The evidence collected during empirical research is often referred to as "data."

Characteristics of Empirical Research

Emerald Publishing's guide to conducting empirical research identifies a number of common elements to
empirical research:
1. A research question, which will determine research objectives.
2. A particular and planned design for the research, which will depend on the question and which will find
ways of answering it with appropriate use of resources.
3. The gathering of primary data, which is then analysed.
4. A particular methodology for collecting and analysing the data, such as an experiment or survey.
 5. The limitation of the data to a particular group, area or time scale, known as a sample [emphasis added]:
for example, a specific number of employees of a particular company type, or all users of a library over a
given time scale. The sample should be somehow representative of a wider population.
6. The ability to recreate the study and test the results. This is known as reliability.
7. The ability to generalize from the findings to a larger sample and to other situations.
If you see these elements in a research article, you can feel confident that you have found empirical research.
Emerald's guide goes into more detail on each element.
Empirical research methodologies can be described as quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both (usually called
mixed-methods).
Ruane (2016) (UofM login required) gets at the basic differences in approach between quantitative and
qualitative research:
Both quantitative and qualitative methods are empirical. If you can recognize that a research study is
quantitative or qualitative study, then you have also recognized that it is empirical study.
Below are information on the characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research. This video from Scribbr
also offers a good overall introduction to the two approaches to research methodology:
documents, photographs, etc. The researcher is a key instrument and must be reflective of their background,
culture, and experiences as influential of the research.
What is empirical evidence?

Empirical evidence is any information you can collect through the processes of observation or investigation. You
might use your five senses, measure data or design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Acquiring empirical
evidence is a vital step in the scientific method, as it allows researchers to collect, organize and study data that
results from their work. Empirical evidence is necessary for validating or disproving a claim, statement or
hypothesis. A scientist usually begins their investigation by forming a hypothesis and then searching for empirical
evidence that aligns with their educated guess.

It's important for scientists and researchers to correctly recognize instances of empirical evidence, as this lends
credibility to the research project or experiment. To ensure that you can accurately identify empirical evidence
in an experiment or observation, ask yourself the questions below. If the answers to these questions are "yes,"
you can conclude that the evidence in the experiment or research study is empirical.

Uses for empirical evidence

Research and experimentation are the most common ways to find and use empirical evidence. The thorough
testing of scientific theories and the subsequent collection of empirical evidence has provided data for the
creation of various technologies, including common safety features like seatbelts, airbags, air ventilation and fire
extinguishers. Although scientists commonly use empirical evidence in their work, it appears in other disciplines
such as:
Engineering
Research and development
Psychology
Sociology
Marketing
Finance
Types of empirical evidence
There are two main types of empirical evidence you can use when conducting the scientific method:

Quantitative evidence refers to any sort of data represented through numbers and provides measurements that
other scientists can replicate by using the same tools. A researcher can then analyze this data to make scientific
conclusions. Quantitative evidence is present in nearly all kinds of research, and it's typically less susceptible to
bias since the evidence can prove or disprove the hypothesis using mathematics and statistics. Quantitative
evidence is more common in experiments than it is in observations.

Qualitative evidence is data that a researcher cannot measure numerically. You can collect qualitative evidence
through observations of human and animal behavior. While scientists often gather qualitative research as part of
their experiments, these observations are also common in social science, marketing and financial research, as
these three fields address human behavior. Qualitative research is sometimes less reliable than its quantitative
counterpart, as there are more opportunities for bias in qualitative reporting. Because of this, scientists may
prefer to use qualitative research in observations rather than in experiments.

Empirical evidence examples

To better understand the different types of empirical evidence and how researchers can engage with them, it
may be helpful to view the following examples:

Example one: quantitative cosmetic research

Here's an example to help you better understand quantitative empirical evidence:

West Palm Beauty is a cosmetics company that wants to create a new under-eye moisturizer to reduce wrinkles.
The company has spent a year researching various ingredients that can potentially improve skin quality when
applied to the under-eye area. Using its research, it creates a formula that reduces wrinkles in its intended target
demographic of women over the age of 50.

To support its theory that the ingredients in the product can produce smooth skin, the company conducts an
experiment and measures the changes in under-eye texture over intervals of time. To measure the product's
success, researchers measure the test subjects' skin elasticity in the under-eye area every day for 60 days. The
researchers' findings from this type of experiment are quantitative empirical evidence.

Example two: qualitative wildlife research

This example can help you better understand how to collect and use qualitative evidence:

A wildlife research team at Willow University is studying the nocturnal hunting patterns of gray wolves in a wildlife
preserve. For years, the team has attempted to track gray wolves during the night with no success. Because
wolves avoid areas where humans are present, the team decides to create an alternative observation plan. For
them to identify the times that the wolves prefer to hunt, the team decides to use observational techniques to
better understand the wolves' behaviors.

The researchers collect data by setting up multiple night vision cameras in the areas of the preserve where they
know the wolves hunt. The cameras are solar-powered and programmed to begin filming at sundown every night
for 30 days. The resulting observational footage is qualitative empirical evidence.
What are other types of evidence?

Empirical evidence is not the only form of evidence that exists. It's helpful to know about two other types of
evidence you may encounter:

Anecdotal evidence

You can collect anecdotal evidence through personal stories or reported experiences from an individual. For
example, a person who says that they've talked to ghosts is proof of the paranormal is anecdotal evidence.
Because it's virtually impossible to prove or disprove these claims, anecdotal evidence is uncommon in scientific
research.

Logical evidence

Logical evidence uses reasoning and universal truths to prove or disprove theories. Deductive reasoning can help
a researcher make conclusions with logical evidence. For example, deductive reasoning can help determine the
following:

All dogs are canines. Fido is a dog. Therefore, Fido is a canine.

Theoretical evidence

Theoretical evidence analyzes empirical studies and forms connections between them. This type of evidence
advances a theoretical position that doesn't necessarily have proof behind it but can use effective reasoning.
Consider a simple example of a pharmaceutical company testing a new drug. Empirical studies reveal that the
drug is effective in lowering blood pressure. Though the empirical studies didn't have subjects wearing hoodies,
the researcher can confidently say that the drug is just effective for lowering blood pressure when people wearing
hoodies take it.

Induction and Deduction methods of research

The terms “inductive” and “deductive” are often used in logic, reasoning, and science. Scientists use both
inductive and deductive research methods as part of the scientific method.
Famous fictional detectives like Sherlock Holmes are often associated with deduction, even though that’s not
always what Holmes does (more on that later). Some writing classes include both inductive and deductive essays.
But what’s the difference between inductive vs deductive research? The difference often lies in whether the
argument proceeds from the general to the specific or the specific to the general.
Both methods are used in different types of research, and it’s not unusual to use both in one project. In this
article, we’ll describe each in simple yet defined terms.
Content Index:

1. What is inductive research?

2. Stages of inductive research process
3. What is deductive research?
4. Stages of deductive research process
5. Difference between inductive vs deductive research
6. Conclusion
What is inductive research?
Inductive research is a method in which the researcher collects and analyzes data to develop theories, concepts,
or hypotheses based on patterns and observations seen in the data.
It uses a “bottom-up” method in which the researcher starts with specific observations and then moves on to
more general theories or ideas. Inductive research is often used in exploratory studies or when not much
research has been done on a topic before.

Stages of inductive research process

The three steps of the inductive research process are:

1. Observation:
The first step of inductive research is to make detailed observations of the studied phenomenon. This can be
done in many ways, such as through surveys, interviews, or direct observation.

2. Pattern Recognition:
The next step is to look at the data in detail once the data has been collected. This means looking at the data for
patterns, themes, and relationships. The goal is to find insights and trends that can be used to make the first
categories and ideas.

3. Theory Development:
At this stage, the researcher will start to create initial categories or concepts based on the patterns and themes
from the data analysis. This means putting the data into groups based on their similarities and differences to
make a framework for understanding the thing being studied.

These three steps are often repeated in a cycle, so the researcher can improve their analysis and understand the
phenomenon over time. Inductive research aims to develop new theories and ideas based on the data rather
than testing existing theories, as in deductive research.

What is deductive research?

Deductive research is a type of research in which the researcher starts with a theory, hypothesis, or
generalization and then tests it through observations and data collection.
It uses a top-down method in which the researcher starts with a general idea and then tests it through specific
observations. Deductive research is often used to confirm a theory or test a well-known hypothesis.
Stages of deductive research process
The five steps in the process of deductive research are:

1. Formulation of a hypothesis:
The first step in deductive research is to develop a hypothesis and guess how the variables are related. Most of
the time, the hypothesis is built on theories or research that have already been done.

2. Design of a research study:

The next step is designing a research study to test the hypothesis. This means choosing a research method,
figuring out what needs to be measured, and figuring out how to collect and look at the data.
3. Collecting data:
Once the research design is set, different methods, such as surveys, experiments, or observational studies, are
used to gather data. Usually, a standard protocol is used to collect the data to ensure it is correct and consistent.

4. Analysis of data:
In this step, the collected data are looked at to see if they support or disprove the hypothesis. The goal is to see
if the data supports or refutes the hypothesis. You need to use statistical methods to find patterns and links
between the variables to do this.

5. Drawing conclusions:
The last step is drawing conclusions from the analysis of the data. If the hypothesis is supported, it can be used
to make generalizations about the population being studied. If the hypothesis is wrong, the researcher may need
to develop a new one and start the process again.
The five steps of deductive research are repeated, and researchers may need to return to earlier steps if they
find new information or new ways of looking at things. In contrast to inductive research, deductive research aims
to test theories or hypotheses that have already been made.

Identification of Research Problem

Identification of research problem

Identification of research problem refers to the sense of awareness of a prevalent social problem, a social
phenomenon or a concept that is worth study – as it requires to be investigated to understand it. The researcher
identifies such a research problem through his observation, knowledge, wisdom and skills.
Types of research Problem: There are four general conceptualizations of a research problem in the social
sciences:
1. Casuist Research Problem -- this type of problem relates to the determination of right and wrong in questions
of conduct or conscience by analyzing moral dilemmas through the application of general rules and the careful
distinction of special cases.
2. Difference Research Problem -- typically asks the question, “Is there a difference between two or more groups
or treatments?” This type of problem statement is used when the researcher compares or contrasts two or more
phenomena. This a common approach to defining a problem in the clinical social sciences or behavioral sciences.
3. Descriptive Research Problem -- typically asks the question, "what is...?" with the underlying purpose to
describe the significance of a situation, state, or existence of a specific phenomenon. This problem is often
associated with revealing hidden or understudied issues.
4. Relational Research Problem -- suggests a relationship of some sort between two or more variables to be
investigated. The underlying purpose is to investigate specific qualities or characteristics that may be connected
in some way.

Sources of Problems
The identification of a problem to study can be challenging, not because there's a lack of issues that could be
investigated, but due to the challenge of formulating an academically relevant and researchable problem which
is unique and does not simply duplicate the work of others. To facilitate how you might select a problem from
which to build a research study, consider these sources of inspiration:
Deductions from Theory This relates to deductions made from social philosophy or generalizations embodied in
life and in society that the researcher is familiar with. These deductions from human behavior are then placed
within an empirical frame of reference through research. From a theory, the researcher can formulate a research
problem or hypothesis stating the expected findings in certain empirical situations. The research asks the
question: “What relationship between variables will be observed if theory aptly summarizes the state of affairs?”
One can then design and carry out a systematic investigation to assess whether empirical data confirm or reject
the hypothesis, and hence, the theory.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives Identifying a problem that forms the basis for a research study can come from
academic movements and scholarship originating in disciplines outside of your primary area of study. This can be
an intellectually stimulating exercise. A review of pertinent literature should include examining research from
related disciplines that can reveal new avenues of exploration and analysis. An interdisciplinary approach to
selecting a research problem offers an opportunity to construct a more comprehensive understanding of a very
complex issue that any single discipline may be able to provide.
Interviewing Practitioners The identification of research problems about particular topics can arise from formal
interviews or informal discussions with practitioners who provide insight into new directions for future research
and how to make research findings more relevant to practice. Discussions with experts in the field, such as,
teachers, social workers, health care providers, lawyers, business leaders, etc., offers the chance to identify
practical, “real world” problems that may be understudied or ignored within academic circles. This approach also
provides some practical knowledge which may help in the process of designing and conducting your study.
Personal Experience Don't undervalue your everyday experiences or encounters as worthwhile problems for
investigation. Think critically about your own experiences and/or frustrations with an issue facing society, your
community, your neighborhood, your family, or your personal life. This can be derived, for example, from
deliberate observations of certain relationships for which there is no clear explanation or witnessing an event
that appears harmful to a person or group or that is out of the ordinary.
Relevant Literature The selection of a research problem can be derived from a thorough review of pertinent
research associated with your overall area of interest. This may reveal where gaps exist in understanding a topic
or where an issue has been understudied. Research may be conducted to: 1) fill such gaps in knowledge; 2)
evaluate if the methodologies employed in prior studies can be adapted to solve other problems; or, 3) determine
if a similar study could be conducted in a different subject area or applied in a different context or to different
study sample [i.e., different setting or different group of people].Also, authors frequently conclude their studies
by noting implications for further research; read the conclusion of pertinent studies because statements about
further research can be a valuable source for identifying new problems to investigate. The fact that a researcher
has identified a topic worthy of further exploration validates the fact it is worth pursuing.

Survey of available literature and bibliographical research

A bibliography is a list of books, scholarly articles, speeches, private records, diaries, interviews, laws, letters,
websites, and other sources you use when researching a topic and writing a paper. The bibliography appears at
the end.

The main purpose of a bibliography entry is to give credit to authors whose work you’ve consulted in your
research. It also makes it easy for a reader to find out more about your topic by delving into the research that
you used to write your paper. In the academic world, papers aren’t written in a vacuum; academic journals are
the way new research on a topic circulates and previous work is built upon.
Literature broadly is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically
considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has
expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. We can say that Available literature
means literature which available.

Once the research problem is formulated, the researcher needs to undertake an extensive survey of literature
connected with, related to, and/or having bearing on, his research problem. This is the process whereby the
researcher locates and selects the references that are relevant for his inquiry. A scholar of law, at this stage, is
expected to cautiously outline his work and then survey around to lay his hands on standard material. Some
important reference material he can look into can be as follows,
1. Standard textbooks: such as those written by reputed authors,
2. Reference books: dealing with or having bearing on the research problem,
3. Legal periodicals: so that he locate research articles written, or authoritative comments made, on the subject
or its allied subjects,
4. Case reports: so that he get familiarize with the judicial exposition of the problem,
5. conference/symposium/seminar proceedings: to become accustomed to different proportions highlighted in,
investigate into, or appear from, the conference/symposium/seminars,
6. Government or Committee Reports: so as to appreciate and understand perspectives of the ideas or intention
of the law-makers and the experts in the field (when by delegated legislation) , and
7. General web pages: so that to know latest emerging perspectives and illustrative examples. There are many
good materials (writings) available on the net. One can subscribe to a good online library etc.
8. Earlier studies done: The researcher has also to take special care to locate earlier studies done on the problem
and to have a quick reading thereof. Many leading journals and other published information from recognized
sources are now available on the Web.

Survey of available literature and bibliography helps the researcher to know and to have his preliminary
impressions about:
1. The investigated and un-investigated aspects/dimensions of the problem,
2. The explanations offered or issues rose with and without offering solutions thereof
3. The lacuna, if any, in the offered explanations of the problem/its dimensions and their inter-relationship.
4. Competence of previous authors/ researchers in explaining the problem/its dimensions
5. Conceptual issues raised, with or without offering suggesting and/or solutions thereof
6. The operational framework of previous researcher and
7. Research techniques used in the previous research, and their correctness.

Survey of available literature and bibliography enables the researcher to know what kind of data has been used,
what methods have been used to obtain the data, and what difficulties the earlier researchers in collecting and
analyzing the data have faced.

Legislative materials including subordinate legislation, notifications and policy

statements

Subordinate legislation is a process by which the executive is given powers

by primary legislation to make laws in order to implement and administer
the requirements of that primary legislation. Such law is the law made by a
person or body other than the legislature but with the legislature‟s
authority. Article 13(3) of the Indian Constitution includes within the
definition of law forms of subordinate legislation such as order, rule,
regulation, notification.

The need for subordinate legislation arises due to:

limited time available for legislation in Parliament due to overburdening,
increasing complexity requiring knowledge and experience of experts.
covering those situations which have not been anticipated by the
Parliament.
flexibility in meeting emergency situations.

However, the concept of subordinate legislation faces criticisms on many

grounds including undermining separation of power, legislation by
unelected people, lack of publicity, etc.

Thus, there are various mechanism for scrutiny and control of

delegated legislation. For example:
Parliamentary scrutiny and control: It occurs at various levels such as:
During the debate on the Act, the relevant departmental standing
committee may recommend the scope of delegated legislation.
Statutory motion to discuss rules: After the rules have been tabled, MPs
may move a statutory motion seeking an annulment or modification of the
rules.
Question Hour
Committee on Subordinate Legislation: Both the houses have a Standing
Committee on Subordinate Legislation to oversee whether the power
delegated by Parliament to the government is being properly exercised.
Every delegated legislation needs to be laid before the Parliament within a
stipulated time frame.
Public consultation: Some Acts mandatorily require prior publication and
consultation on draft rules while in others the government may exercise its
discretion and invite comments on the draft rule.
Judicial scrutiny and control: Delegated Legislation may be declared invalid
on the grounds of violation of the Constitution of the India or the violation
of the enabling Act.

There has been an exponential rise in delegated legislation in India. Thus,

apart from strengthening the existing mechanisms, a separate law like the
Statutory Instruments Act of the UK, providing for uniform rules of laying
and publication, may be looked into . The committees of Parliament may
be supplemented by a specialized body to make vigilance of delegated
legislation more effective and reconciled with democratic principles of
parliamentary control.

Survey of available literature and bibliographical research:

Once the research problem is formulated, the researcher needs to undertake an
extensive survey of literature connected with, related to, and/or having bearing on,
his research problem. This is the process whereby the researcher locates and selects
the references that are relevant for his inquiry. A scholar of law, at this stage, is
expected to cautiously outline his work and then survey around to lay his hands on
standard material. Some important reference material he can look into can be as
follows,
 1. Standard textbooks: such as those written by reputed authors,
2. Reference books: dealing with or having bearing on the research
problem,
3. Legal periodicals: so that he locate research articles written, or
authoritative comments made, on the subject or its allied subjects,
4. Case reports: so that he get familiarize with the judicial exposition of the
problem,
5. conference/symposium/seminar proceedings: to become accustomed to
different proportions highlighted in, investigate into, or appear from, the
conference/symposium/seminars,
6. Government or Committee Reports: so as to appreciate and understand
perspectives of the ideas or intention of the law-makers and the experts
in the field (when by delegated legislation) , and
7. General web pages: so that to know latest emerging perspectives and
illustrative examples. There are many good materials (writings)available
on the net. One can subscribe to a good online library etc.
8. Earlier studies done: The researcher has also to take special care to
locate earlier studies done on the problem and to have a quick reading
thereof. Many leading journals and other published information from
recognized sources are now available on the Web.
Literature review helps the researcher to know and to have his preliminary
impressions about:
1. The investigated and un-investigated aspects/dimensions of the problem,
2. The explanations offered or issues rose with and without offering solutions
thereof,
 3. The lacuna, if any, in the offered explanations of the problem/its
dimensionsand their inter-relationship,
4. Competence of previous authors/ researchers in explaining the problem/its
dimensions,
5. Conceptual issues raised, with or without offering suggesting and/or
solutions thereof,
6. The operational framework of previous researcher and
7. Research techniques used in the previous research, and their correctness.

Literature review enables the researcher to know what kind of data has been used,
what methods have been used to obtain the data, and what difficulties the earlier
researchers in collecting and analyzing the data have faced.

Main purposes of literature review can be summarised as follows:

1. depict the work done on the particular or similar topic in the past,
2. calculate/estimate the limitations of the work,
3. get familiar with research techniques used,
4. make out the kind of material/data used and its sources.
5. appreciate (even criticize) competence of the data used for drawing the
conclusions,
6. know the vital arguments advanced and the concepts exposed and
discussedearlier.
7. acquaint with the patterns of presentation of previous arguments and
theconcepts and
8. established relationship between these arguments and the concepts
 9. in the light of the earlier studies and findings the researcher can rephrase
hisresearch problem/question, and
10. to formulate appropriate research techniques for smooth function of his
inquiry.

Legislative materials including subordinate legislation,

notification and policy statements:

Legislative materials:
Legislations:
Legislation or “statutory law” is law which has been promulgated or “enacted” by
a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it. Before an item of
legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to
as “legislation” while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other
business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to prescribe,
to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict.
Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the Parliament or State Legislature,
whereupon it is debated by members of the Parliament or State Legislature and is
often amended before passage. Legislation is regarded as one of the three main
functions of government, which are often distinguished under the doctrine ofthe
separation of powers. For a researcher it is one of the most authentic sources of law.
Delegated legislation (also referred to as secondary legislation or subordinate
legislation or subsidiary legislation) is law made by an executive authority under
powers given to them by primary legislation in order to implement and administer
the requirements of that primary legislation. It is law made by a person or body other
than the legislature but with the legislature’s authority.
Often, a legislature passes statutes that set out broad outlines and principles, and
delegates authority to an executive branch official to issue delegated legislation that
flesh out the details (substantive regulations) and provide procedures for
implementing the substantive provisions of the statute and substantive regulations
(procedural regulations). Delegated legislation can also be changed faster than
primary legislation so legislatures can delegate issues that may need to be fine- tuned
through experience.

Notification:
Several meaning can be given to the word notification according to its use/ utility
1. Notice given in words or writing, or by signs.
2. The act of notifying, or giving notice; the act of making known; especially, the
act of giving official notice or information to the public or to individuals,
corporations, companies, or societies, by words, by writing, or by other
means.
3. The writing which communicates information; an advertisement, or citation,
etc.
4. The act of notifying, or giving notice; the act of making known; especially, the
act of giving official notice or information to the public or to individuals,
corporations, companies, or societies, by words, by writing, or by other
means.
5. The writing which communicates information; an advertisement, or citation,
etc.
A student of law has to look into the notifications related with his studies issued by
the government or any concerned authority so that he shall be able to draw the
importance of the ‘subject’ notified in the said notice as well as the ‘object’ of the
said notification.

Policy statements:
The policy statement serves three important purposes.
1. First, it allows the delegate an opportunity to think his/her policy out more
thoroughly;
2. Secondly, it serve the greater need of his/her delegation to have a document
which contains the country’s policy on all the issues at the conference so that
there will be consistency in policy among the various members of the
delegation. Ideally, each delegate should have some familiarity with all the
issues so that he/she is comfortable in representing his country’s view.
3. The third important function of the policy statement is to act as an outline
for the draft resolution.
Five basic components of a policy statement:
1. An explanation and definition of the issue and its key terms as they appear
on the agenda.
2. A background summary of recent international events related to the action
in question.
3. Some reference to key documents relating to the issue (underlined).
4. A general statement of the country’s position on the issue.
5. Specific suggestions for a solution to the question (to serve as the first draft
for the operative clauses of a resolution).
 Decisional materials including foreign decisions; methods of discovering the
“rule of the case” tracing the history of important cases and ensuring
that these have not been over-ruled; discovering judicial conflict in
the area pertaining to the research problem and the reasons thereof.
(1) For example, A.K. Gopalan case is overruled by Bank Nationalisation and
finally in Maneka Gandhi case by the Honourable Supreme Court.

(2) Section 6 of Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, (by interpreting the
word ‘after’ as not after the life time but if father is non-functioning) gave mother
aright of being a Natural Guardian of her legitimate son or daughter.

(3) Sajjan Singh and Sampath Kumar cases are overruled in Golak Nath case by
saying that Parliament has no power to curtail or abridge fundamental rights and
no power to amend the basic structure of the Constitution. The Court has
introduced various changes in the areas of labour law, criminal law, property law,
etc. Now death penalty is an exception, life imprisonment is the rule.
Thus in these cases Judges played and are playing the role of researcher by giving
concrete shape and stability to the legal principles by applying the principles of
review, revision or overruling.
 Let us sum up
Through this unit we are able to understand what a research problem is. We also are
acquainted with how to survey the available literature and do the bibliographical
research and make use of legislative materials including subordinate legislation,
notification and policy statements. We come to know that decisional materials
including foreign decisions; methods of discovering the “rule of the case” tracing
the history of important cases and ensuring that these have not been over-ruled;
discovering judicial conflict in the area pertaining to the research problem and the
reasons thereof are also important for the researcher.
 UNIT II

2.1 Present Legal Education in India:

Traditionally universities in India offered Legal education as a three years graduate degree. The eligibility
requirement for the Bachelor of Law was that the applicant already has a Bachelor’s degree in any subject from a
recognized institution. The legal education was imparted only at law departments in the university system and
through affiliated law colleges. Now some institutions also offer an integrated five years BA-BL course after
twelve years of schooling.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) are the two main regulatory bodies
responsible for maintaining the quality of legal education in India. The course content for these courses is decided
by the universities with guidelines from the bar council of India, under the Advocates Act. The legal education is
imparted at different levels, namely, law Universities, government law colleges, private law colleges (government
aided) and private law colleges (non-aided). Imparting practical skills to law students is a compulsory component
of legal education in all the institutions imparting the legal education. The University Grants Commission
approved one-year LL.M. courses in India on 6 September 2012 and the 2 guideline for the same was notified in
January, 2013. “We have an immense problem with the faculty, especially with more than 900 plus law schools
all over the country, we suffer for want of faculty. The curriculum needs to be regulated and we will have to
gradually upscale and upgrade,”

The Bar Council of India, Rules provide for compulsory and optional subjects to be taught in the LL.B course
Rule (9) (1) lists 6 subjects for Part- 1(compulsory): Rule 9 (2) lists 21 subjects for Part 11 (compulsory). Rule
9(3) lists 15 subjects (optional) out of 3 which three have to be selected. A fresh UGC Model Curriculum was
prepared by the Curriculum development committee constituted by UGC in 2000 which was circulated to various
universities for revision of their law courses.

A National Law Universities (NLS) establishment has a great role in reforming the legal education in India. The
various Law schools offer a multi-disciplinary and combined approach to legal education. NLS has offered five
years law course within the successful completion of an integrated course named as B.A., LL.B (Honours) be
granted. Then the next NLU was set up in the year 1997 in Bhopal. It was followed by NALSAR University in
the year 1998.

CLAT is the reforming of Law entrance exam in the Legal Education. The Common Law Admission Test was
came into an existence for bring together the law entrance system in India like other courses.

Today, India have the largest number of Legal Professionals in the whole world. A law student with all his/her
desired skills, inherent interest has a vast range of opportunities available in the legal professional. Now in India,
legal Education is completely different from what it was in last decade.

Challenges Faced by Indian Legal Education:

The quality of legal education in India has been a matter of concern for a long time, with issues such as inadequate
infrastructure, lack of qualified faculty, and poor quality of teaching cited as major problems. In recent times, the
legal education system has been facing challenges such as a lack of practical training and exposure, inadequate
research, and a lack of focus on the needs of the legal profession. The UGC and the BCI have made efforts to
improve the quality of legal education, such as setting standards for accreditation and curriculum and providing
funding for legal education institutions. However, these efforts have not been able to address all the issues related
to the quality of legal education in India. Some major shortcomings or challenges faced by our legal education
system are as follows:

o Easy Entry in Legal Education: It has been observed that when a student fails to get admission in a
medical, engineering, Commerce etc. they choose for law as the last resort. In this Law College which is
the part of the mushroom growth plays an important role to degrading the standard of legal education by
filling their vacant seats by taking huge donations which creates the casual atmosphere and approach
which decrees the enthusiasm of students as well as the teachers which causes degradation of environment
of legal education in India.
o Mushroom Growth of Law Colleges: Legal education has nowadays emerged as a promising business
activity for the law institutions which are mostly run by politicians, builders and industrialists. The
mushroom growth of law colleges resulted in ill-equipped law college with dull rooms, lacking in adequate
faculty and some of them in short duration of evening classes. The main problem is that the team of Bar
Council and the university which is responsible for the inspection of colleges seeking permission to start
law courses.
o Lack of Infrastructure: Bar Council of India in its Rules( Legal Education Rules,2008) has made the
provision of infrastructure under Rule 1129 Schedule III where provisions for adequate library with online
database, reading room even size of class room is mentioned. This problem has also been suggested by
the CJI T S Thakur to Bar Council to Shut those law college which lack in appropriate infrastructure
o The Irrelevant Syllabus: The legal curriculum in India has been criticized for being outdated and not
reflective of the changing legal and social landscape. Even after being asked by the UGC Committee and
Bar Council of India for upgrading of syllabus of law courses here remain a lack of uniformity in law
curriculum of different Universities. Further the inclusion of too many subjects in the syllabus has diluted
the concept of teaching skills and research orientation.
o Shortage of Good Teachers: Many law schools in India have been criticized for having poor quality of
teaching, with inadequate resources and infrastructure, and a lack of well-trained and motivated
faculty. Generally, law colleges fail to attract talented law professional for joining as teachers in their
institution. The requirement of requiting the NET qualified applicants as lecturers has invariably limited
the choice of appointing good teachers. Also selection committees, in different universities are restricted
to make free judgments of the quality of teacher.
o Old Teaching Facilities and Techniques: The law schools are still accustomed to the age old method of
teaching through lectures in a class room. No heed is paid to these suggestions and recommendations
made by the committees assigned the role of upgrading education.
o The faulty Examination System: The true value of any curriculum can only be realised if the knowledge
is put to the test in a controlled environment. Law school examinations must be rigorous to eliminate
misconduct. The nature of the questions must be analytical, requiring students to develop the law in the
form of application rather than the duplication of law and cases found in textbooks. This phase would
ensure that students use their critical thinking skills to respond to the questions. But, the laws schools
adopt the traditional examination pattern. The malady of covering a part of the prescribed syllabus and
fallacy of memorizing the selected questions rules the roost. The grade card of students is reflection of
their ability to mug up few topics instead of their analytical and practical attributes.
o Lack of Practical Training: The majority of the college curriculum is built on theory, which students
find uninteresting. As it has been observed by the Apex Court in V. Sudeer v. Bar Council of India, AIR
1999 SC 1167 case that practical training should be mandatory to all universities in imparting legal
education prior to getting his degree of law and Bar Council of India has function to promote the standard
of legal education in consultation with universities.
o Poor Attendance: The Attendance is another factor which plays an important role in degradation of legal
education India. As per rule 4 of Bar Council of India (Part IV), “The student shall be requested to put
 minimum attendance of 66% of lecture on each of the subject as also at the moot courts practical training
course. The provision of compulsory attendance is been observed that it remains on paper only and hardly
it is enforced. Due to of these kind of practices a large number of students are joining Law (LL.B) course
without a serious objective.
o Use of Regional Language: Language is set to as important factor for good litigant or legal practitioner,
college located at rural areas some time adopt regional language as medium of instruction and examination
too. Several private institutions govern education in regional languages. As a result, several candidates in
particular states get admitted to universities despite their inability to communicate effectively in English.
o Lack of Research: Faculty members should encourage students to conduct research and write persuasive
memos on projects allocated to them, and they should place an embargo on plagiarised projects. Plagiarism
has an impact on academic writing quality. Due to the teacher’s lackadaisical approach toward reviewing
the projects, the majority of the projects submitted by students are plagiarised. Professors frequently award
top grades to all students, regardless of whether or not the student finished the project assigned to him.
This has given the students who study hard and deliver their projects on time a negative perception.
o Problem of Placement: Students usually complete their placement with a lawyer, NGO or a corporate
house. The law students are expected to learn the skill of reading and maintaining case files, legal research,
drafting and client interviewing and counselling. Students are required to maintain a diary of their visits
to lawyer’s chamber and courts recording the work they did there and the proceeding observed. Their
diaries and their preparation for the mock trail and mood court do reflect their learning from placement.
Practical training in law schools imparted though choosing one of these methods or their combination,
namely, legal and clinic, class based lectures and simulation, and external placement.
o Globalization: Globalization makes it increasingly difficult for legal study to be contained within the
territorial boundaries of national legal systems. The operation of formal State law can be understood by
taking into account the proliferation of supranational sources of law such as those emanating from the
European Union or WTO. Sovereignty at the international level is being undermined by greater acceptance
of interference in the internal affairs of states egg through the doctrine of humanitarian intervention. While
traditional jurisprudence focused exclusively on municipal and public international law; globalization
requires notice of other forms of legal ordering, such as the sue generis legal order of the ED.

Solution to Challenges Faced by Legal Education in India:

o Develop Physical infrastructure and financial resources: The law schools in India have to recognize
the need for creating sound physical infrastructure and for developing research projects and should take
initiatives to encourage faculty members.
o Promotion of Philanthropic Initiatives in Field of Legal Education: Initiatives to encourage
philanthropy are required for promoting excellence in legal education and research in the country. Efforts
ought to be made by all stakeholders, including the law schools, the bar, the bench, the law firms and
corporations for promoting philanthropic initiatives in legal education and research.
o Qualified Teachers and Research Aptitude: Good teachers and researchers in the law schools is also a
great required in legal education to motivate the students and impart better education of law, including
clinical legal education.
o Slowing Privatization of Legal Education: The privatization of legal education has resulted in
mushrooming of law colleges resulting in the degrading of Indian image of legal education at
internationally.
o Collaboration with Foreign Law Universities: Collaboration with international law schools to gain
access to their law reports, case laws, research papers, and other materials can help to improve this
proficiency. Law schools such as NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, and NLU Delhi, among
others, have collaborated on teaching, research, and offering world-class legal education, and the results
have been positive.
 o Producing Qualified Lawyers for the Globe: Our aim should be to produce lawyers who will be most
sought after professionals to appear in foreign countries. When multinationals establish firms in India,
they too will require the services of lawyers whose competence is comparable to the best anywhere. The
law schools in the country should also have special topics dealing with the Corporate, Taxation and
Bankruptcy laws of different countries. The curriculum should be designed to equip the students for
handling problems that involved more than one legal system.
o Change in Curriculum: Professional ethics should be made a compulsory course. The case methods and
problem methods should be made compulsory and must carry more marks than theory. Parting in mood
courts, mock trials and debates must be made compulsory and marks awarded.
o Practical Approach of Course: Practical training in drafting pleadings, contracts can be developed in the
last year of the study. Students’ visits to the courts are made compulsory so as to provide greater exposures.
The legal education committee should lay down norms for the conduct of theses examination.

2.2 Methods of Law Teaching

1) Concept of Lecture Method Teaching: Lectures is probably one of the oldest methods used by classroom
teachers. As a widely practiced method of teaching, a teacher can reach a large number of students at the same
time; a large amount of materials can be covered in a short period of time. This is a ‘teacher-centred’ approach
involving largely a one-way form of communication from teacher to students. The teacher, as the authoritative
figure, does most of the writing and talking (chalk and talk) with the students as mere passive recipients of
information-listening and writing down a few notes and asking few or no questions. The basic fundamental
postulations of this type of method are that the teacher has knowledge, or can acquire knowledge, and that the
teacher can give knowledge to students. The lecture method is considerably cheap to operate since no special
teaching aids are required. It requires nominal planning. Its expository nature provides the teacher a feeling of
security as the “influential figure” in the class. No matter how easy this method may appear, teachers must make
efforts, to plan and organize their lecture to cover the subject matter to be presented and the manner in which
it will be presented. In the introduction, the law teacher should identify the subject of the lecture and connect it
with past lessons and try to stimulate interest on the subject matter. The body of the lecture should be presented
in a logical order, building from what the students already know towards new knowledge that the teacher wants
them to absorb. Knowledge is presented in small enough doses so that the students can absorb the material and
at a slow enough pace. The pace however should not be too slow to make The students disinterested. Both the
level of vocabulary used and the technical nature of the subject must correspond to the capability of the students.
Teacher is more active and students are passive but he also uses question answers to keep them attentive in the
class. It is used to motivate, clarify, expand and review the information. By changing his Voice, by impersonating
characters, by shifting his posing, by using simple devices, a teacher can deliver lessons effectively, while
delivering his lecture; a teacher can indicate by his facial expressions, gestures and tones the exact soul of
meaning that he wishes to convey. Thus we can say that when teacher takes help of a lengthy or short explanation
in order to clarify his ideas or some fact that explanation is termed as lecture or lecture method. The primary
advantage of a lecture is its ability to present a large number of facts in a short period of time but it is necessary
that the students should accept and understand the subject matter to be presented. Lecture method makes fewer
demands on the teacher’s time for planning and preparing and is therefore an attractive and easy method of
teaching. It is very useful in conveying factual information when introducing new topic.

Merits of the Lecture Method of Teaching :

1. The teacher controls the topic, aims, content, organization, sequence, and rate. Emphasis can be placed where
the teacher desires.
2. The lecture can be used to motivate and increase interest, to clarify and explain, to expand and bring in
information not available to the students, and to review.
3. The number of students listening to the lecturer is not important.
4. Students can interrupt for clarification or more detail.
5. The lecture can be taped, filmed, or printed for future use. 25
6. Other media and demonstrations can be easily combined with the lecture.
7. The lecture can be easily revised and updated.
8. The teacher can serve as a model in showing how to deal with issues and problems.
9. Students are familiar to the lecture method.
10. It is relatively less expensive as no special apparatus is needed.
11. Lecture method gives a teacher a sense of security by reliance upon the supposed authority of the dispenser
of knowledge.
12. Lecture method channels the thinking of all students in a given direction.
13. Large materials can be covered in a short time period.
14. It is very economical to use.

Demerits of the Lecture Method:

1. Some of the students may already know the content of the lecture while some may not be ready for the lecture.
Those who now may not be interested those who are not ready may be restless. This may not give the possible
effect to the teaching.
2. Lectures are group based. In India their huge gathering is before the teacher. Some of the classes have more
than one hundred students. It is possible that the teacher may not be able to pay attention to an individual.
Hence it will become an address to the gathering rather than teaching.
3. It is difficult to maintain student interest and attention for a full hour of lecture. The teacher may fail to keep
the same tone, volume of voice and the contents of his/ her lecture must be interesting. This may not be possible
in some serious subjects like Jurisprudence, or The code of civil procedure etc.
4. The communication is mostly one-way from the teacher to the students. Usually there is little student
participation. The students who do participate are few in number and tend to be the same students each class.
The teacher dominates the class and hence the students just have to listen.
5. Most of the students are not habituated of taking notes. They sit in the class as if it is some story-telling session.
Students either want dictation or simply purchase tailor-made notes from market without understanding the
gravity of the subject.
6. Lecture information is forgotten quickly, during and after the lecture. As the student is neither attentive nor
taking note they cannot revise what has been taught and happen to forget.
7. There is no immediate and direct check of whether learning has taken place. If the teacher simply delivers a
lecture and walks out of the class he/she is not aware about the learning habits of the student. Also if the teacher
avoids asking questions about the topic lectured on the day before he/ she does not get the feedback whether
the student really followed what he is been taught. Nor the teacher comes to know about his teaching. All this is
understood only when the examinations are conducted and the results are declared. But most of the time it’s
too late.
8. Lectures are not effective when teaching objectives are not clear.
9. The lecture method encourages student dependence on the teacher.
10. Students are not very active when only listening.
11. Few teachers have been taught how to lecture effectively. In India we do not have courses like B. Ed or D. Ed
to teach in the colleges. A person is eligible to teach in colleges and universities after attaining mere qualification
i.e. passing NET/SET exams in a particular subject or pursuing a Ph. D or M.Phil. There is neither a course nor a
training session for a person appointed as lecturer (now Assistant Professor).

2) Concept of Problem Method:

Problem-based learning or Problem Method of teaching is a teaching or training method regarded as teaching by
the use of “real world” problems. It is as a situation prepared for individuals to learn ‘critical thinking’ and develop
‘problem solving skills’ and ‘acquire knowledge’. It involves both knowing and doing. Problem Method can be
applied to an individual or to a group of individuals. It can be applied to a classroom setting or any type of training
program. It can even be used for employee development and even prepare someone for a new assignment or a
promotion, even in MBA classes. It should be emphasized that the teacher does not change the length of the
training; they have simply changed how they train. It is accepted that the results have been astonishing and
satisfactory. A training model rooted in problem-based learning has the potential to change the face of law
enforcement with this approach that teaches decision-making, critical thinking and problem-solving. The
problem with a ‘content driven approach’ is such that it enhances the quality of thinking and pumps in confidence
in the student. It is same as the LL.B graduate participates in moot court. It is a better approach to give them a
solid foundation that is anchored in problem-solving, decision-making, and self-directed learning. That is what
Problem Method does; it provides the anchor to the foundation of the profession. Thus with the help of Problem
Method, learners apply knowledge, not just acquire it. Thus a Problem Method is “A teaching and learning
method which puts a problem first, and in which further learning is conducted in the context of that problem.” A
broad definition of Problem Based Learning or as we are studying Problem Method, used by Dr. Woods is, “PBL
is any learning environment in which the problem drives the learning. ” Problem based learning

Usefulness of Problem Method:

Problem Method as we understand is a teaching and learning method. In which the problem is placed before the
student. The student is not much aware 38 about it. He has no or very less knowledge of the subject he is going
to study through the problem. The teacher puts a problem first, and then facilitates situation in which further
learning is conducted in the context of that “problem.” if a teacher wants to explain a term or section of any law
generally he/she will explain and give some day-to-day examples. This will not only help the student understand
the words, phrases, and construction of the section. But how will the student get to know about the utility of
that law or say that section? For example the teacher is explaining the concept of Fundamental rights, and goes
on telling them how important they are and how this concept has been evolved. He may take them to French
Revolution, American Revolution talk about Bill of Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights etc. the student
will feel like taken on historical tour. But if the teacher puts before them a hypothetical problem of a person
illegally detained, or a mother whose young son is beaten in prison, or the small children in orphanage are not
given food. Ask them to take help of the Constitution of India and some pre-decided case of the Supreme Court
of India. The students will not only come out with beautiful arguments as good as the lawyers of higher courts
but they are able to understand ‘the Law’ in much better way than the historical tour.

Here three things are happening

1. The teacher gives a problem. Acts as facilitator

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research

3. Student learns on his own with the help of the problem.

Although the student is learning on his own that doesn’t mean that the teacher has no role to play. On the
contrary the teacher is teaching with the help of the problem. The teacher play the role of guide, facilitator,
mentor etc. the teacher is always there with the student, but it is the student who have to work.

Merits of Problem Method: A. Benefits for faculty:

1.Satisfying ‘research-led’ teaching.

2.Opportunity to enhance rationality between ‘research interests’ and ‘teaching’.

3.Move away from instructive approaches allows development of ‘better’ relationships with students; respect
for students maintained and strengthened.

4. A mark of distinction for the approved law school (the Maastricht experience)

5.Recognition by employers, prospective students, and other schools as a groundbreaking, innovative

establishment – a virtuous circle

6.Resource inference enhances.

Demerits of Problem Method

1.Can be frustrating for participants when they are at significantly different levels of knowledge and skill
2.Can be unpredictable in terms of outcomes
3.Increases potential for interpersonal conflicts
4.Can be time-consuming.
5.Can be a challenge to ensure participation by all in the groups.

3) Concept of Discussion Method.

The law teachers can use considerable learning techniques in law classes along with the lecture method to
encourage the skills of legal investigation, synthesis, analysis and appraisal etc . Hess, for example, describes the
benefits of discussion: Discussion has a number of benefits for students and teachers. Discussion allows students
to “discover” ideas, which leads to deeper learning. Good discussions prompt students to use higher-level
thinking skills: to apply rules in new contexts, analyse issues, synthesise doctrines, and evaluate ideas. Through
effective discussions that expose them to diverse points of view, students develop values and change attitudes.
Discussions can provide teachers with valuable insights about their students’ learning and their creative
approaches to problems. It is often recommended by the experienced seniors that discussion as a technique
should be used more frequently by law teachers.

Discussion method operates in three stages:

1. The teacher gives a problem. Acts as facilitator

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research
3. Student learns on his own with the help of the problem.
Types of Discussion Methods Discussion method may be done in the following forms:

(a) Debate is a formal discussion of an issue in a classroom, at a public meeting or in a state or national assembly.
In a debate two or more speakers express opposing views. The teacher acts as facilitator.

The following things will happen during the debate

1. The teacher gives an issue to debate on. He/she acts as facilitator,

2. Student try to find appropriate points- does a research and comes ready with the notes or his preparation to
place the points before the other student i.e. his opponent. He comes so prepared that he is ready to refute all
the points of his opponent and same is with the opponent. Here the student is prepared for understanding quickly
and making a reply promptly,
3. Students are given a time limitation and therefore they learn that they have to be quick, up-to-the-point and
brief yet clear and covering all the required points,
4. With the help of the problem in issue the students try to learn on their own.

(b) Small Group Discussion:

1. In this method a number of people will set together in the same place as in a classroom or outside the
classroom. Students form groups and teacher give them an issue to discuss on certain topic. Then one or two of
them may make presentation also if required. It is different from a debate the whole group is talking on the same
issue at a time. However, the discipline has to be maintained and the teacher or a student can control on the
group. The group discussion has to be finished in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by
the teacher or a student.

The following things will happen during the small group discussion.

1. The teacher gives an issue for discussion. Acts as facilitator,

2. Student try to find a solution- does a research,
3. Students try to learn on their own.

(C) Round Table Discussion: A round table discussion either in the classroom or at the meeting hall in the college.
may be arranged. Within the college system, a round table discussion involves a healthy academic interaction
between the teacher and the students; or between the students. It is a pleasant confidence building experience
among students. It is just like a group discussion, teacher give them an issue to discuss on certain topic. It is
different from a debate the whole group is talking on the same issue at a time. However the discipline has to be
maintained and the teacher or a student can control on the group. The round-table discussion has to be finished
in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by the teacher or a student.

The following things will happen during round-table discussion

1. The teacher gives an issue for discussion. Acts as a facilitator,

2. Seating arrangement is like those in meetings; round-table,
3. Student try to find a solution- does a research,
4. Students try to learn on their own.
(d) Symposium: The teacher organise this kind of meeting at which experts discuss on a particular subject. The
main objective is to ensure that it involves a healthy academic interaction between the teacher and the students
and between students and students. Students are given the opportunity to build confidence, gain knowledge and
discover things by themselves. Here also the topics of discussion are pre-decided, hence there is lot of scope to
prepare and talk on the given topic. But expectation is that you are an “expert”. With this expectation the other
who do not think themselves as expert they are reluctant and do not participate or rather feel discouraged. All
the methods involve a lot of reading, research work, command on language good communication skill and the
person presenting must be able instantly remember all his points of argument and must be able to convince the
audience or listeners when posed with a question. The teacher also gives an extempore for testing the knowledge
of the student. But an extempore is different from discussion. In this method the teacher has to give the issue
for discussion, give enough time for the student to prepare, The teacher will give them an issue to discuss on
certain topic, acts as facilitator, maintains the discipline and controls the group. The group discussion has to be
finished in given time and then the all discussion must be summed up by the teacher or a student. It is duty of
the teacher to give the issue for discussion related to the syllabus, thus this will help the student to learn as well
as the student does not find it use less or irrelevant. If the topic is included in the syllabus the student avoid to
study from the notes and becomes an independent as well as makes his/ her own notes. This encourages the
student to adopt self-study method.

Merits of Discussion Method.

1. Discussion in the classroom makes a teacher to be well prepared and to organize the classroom for best results.
2. It gives the students good opportunity to participate fully in the lesson and contribute their ideas. By expressing
their ideas about concepts, they are exposed to some clarifications, engage in argumentation thereby gaining
more knowledge and confidence.
3. Discussion method, being an interactive process, aids the teacher towards a better understanding of his
students.
4. It can be used to promote inquiry mind and to provide good practice for problem–solving.
5. Socially, students develop the spirit of accepting peers’ ideas and views.
6. Hidden talents are discovered while creativity and initiative are promoted.
7. There is more participation of students.
8. Students listen to other’s opinion & then express their own opinion. This develops their analytical power.
9. Teachers discuss the points that were missed during discussion this adds to the knowledge of the students.
10. Students learn on their own & find out explanation points.
11. They also exchange their ideas.
12. Students get point of view of all and not only those who always speak.
13. After discussion when students give their presentation, teacher corrects their mistakes.
14. Students can make their own notes.
15. This type of learning is more effective
16. They don’t have to rely on routine learning.
17. The exercise to be worked out develops creativity among students.
18. It evokes thinking among students.
19. Students have time for preparation of topic.
20. If the students have material and knowledge before discussion they get boosted for talking as well as come
up with new and latest information.
21. Concepts become clear after discussion.
22. Every student gives his/ her opinion.
Demerits of Discussion Method.

1. Lengthy method: Discussion method is a mainly interactive process involving a multiple flow of communication
between student and student and student and teacher, therefore takes a huge length of time.
2. Little ground is covered in the curriculum because of excursion.
3. Some students may never participate either because they lack the knowledge of the background to the topic
or they are not afforded the opportunity to do so.
4. Slow learners feel shy to contribute or be part of the exercise because the brighter students may dominate the
discussion. Since the discussion method is highly dependent upon intelligence and good communication skills,
because they may shy away from the exercise.

4) The seminar method is the most modern and advanced method of teaching. A seminar is an advanced group
technique which is usually used in higher education. It is an instructional technique it involves generating a
situation for a group to have a guided interaction among themselves on a theme. It refers to a structured group
discussion what usually follows a formal lecture or lectures often in the form of an essay or a paper presentation
on a theme. This seminar method is employed to realize the higher objectives of cognitive & affective domains.
The higher learning process requires the interactive and integrated methodologies based on the psychological
principles. The seminar method applies such technique of human interaction / intervention with the learning and
teaching experiences. Aim & Objectives of Seminar Method: This seminar method is utilized to realize the higher
objectives of cognitive and affective domains.

Cognitive objectives

i. To develop higher cognitive abilities.

ii. ii. To develop the ability of responding in this manner would involve higher cognitive
actions.
iii. To develop the ability of keen observation of experience, feelings and iv. To develop
the ability to seek clarification and defend the ideas of others effectively.

Affective objectives i. To develop the feeling of tolerance to the opposite ideas of others.

ii. To develop the feelings of co-operation with other colleagues and respect of the ideas and feelings of others.

To develop the emotional ability among the participants of the seminar.

To acquire the good manners of putting questions and answering the questions of others effectively. The human
interaction under this technique develops the good manners and skills among the participants. Provide a good
learning and scholastic experience to the participants of seminar. Pre-requisites (Basic Principles) to be included
in the seminar:

• This seminar method depends with the lingual, social and emotional instances and its maturity level. • The
complex and undefined concept or article must be read and discussed for the meaningful learning experiences
and new concept.

• Group discussion is emphasized. The kernel of seminar is stressed.

• The value and success of the seminar depends on the path of the learner and their learning experiences through
the discussion. The learner can advocate and interact in group discussion with his experiences and concept
derived. Both the group and learner can transform their ideas and to derive a new conclusion also be anticipated.

• In the lower level of learning experiences the concepts are explanatory but in this higher level of learning
experience the theme or concept centered and need more evidences and explanations through the discussion.

• The interactions in this method develop observation and questioning skills, evaluation skills using their own
learning experience.

Advantages and special features of Seminar Method.

1.This seminar method gives good motivation and learning experience.

2.Help to evaluate the learn-ability of learners.  Regulate the creating and organizing of facts and information.
3.Dissemination and retrieval of information is scientifically managed.
4.Develop the self reliance and self confidence.
5.Also inculcates the responsibility and cooperative nature.
6.This method is the best for socialization.
7.Students’ interaction is possible in participation and production of teaching learning process.  Traditional
monotony is abolished in this method.
8.Ensures the understandability and enhances the capability of the students learning.
9.Seminar is always subject / theme specific, so that sufficient knowledge about the concerned subject can be
developed.
10.The presenter or the reader of the article can get further clarifications in his subject.
11.Develop the questioning skills.
12.The data processing and analysis also play a vital role in this method.
13.This makes teaching and learning process lively.
14.The student receives good information from his teacher and the fellow students.

Types of Seminar Seminars are conducted in various stages.

Based on the size and organizational aspects the seminars can be classified in to four types.

5. Mini seminar: Its coverage and scope are small and simple. A small population is enough to hold this
seminar. A discussion held over the topic taught or to be taught with the students is known as Group
discussion. Such group discussions held in an organized way within a class room, it is called mini seminar.
This mini seminar gives the students training in questioning skills, organizing the information and
presentation skills of seminar. A mini seminar is felt necessary because it gives good experience to
conduct a major seminar at Institutional level.
6. Major seminar: The seminar conducted at an institutional or departmental level for a specific topic or
subject is known as Major seminar. Usually students and teachers are participating in this type of seminar.
This major seminar can be organized at department level for every month. A specific topic or subject is
selected for the theme of the seminar.
7. National seminar: An association of any kind particularly with academic or professional interest or an
organization (Government, Firm, etc.,) conducts the seminar at National level is called National seminar.
 The subject experts are invited to the seminar for discussion. The Secretary of the seminar prepares the
schedule and functionaries for seminar.
8. International seminar: Usually the seminar conducted by an international organization or agency is
known as International seminar. Theme of this seminar has wider aspects. Globalization, Renovation,
Atomic energy agreements, Policies implementation and modification etc., are examples for themes of
International seminars. A Nation or its body can conduct or organize the international seminar.

Seminar Committee: Seminar is conducted or organized by the committee proposed for this purpose only. This
committee constitutes a chairperson, Organizing Secretary and subject experts who are expertise in the theme
proposed for seminar. The organizing committee guides and helps with the functions of Chair person and
organizing secretary. Usually a seminar has been conducted with the following team of organizing body.

1. Chairperson or President / Convenor of Seminar Naturally, She/he may be the apex person of the Institution /
Department / Government / Firm / Policy maker of the concerned body or agency.

2. Organizing Secretary of Seminar Usually he is nominated by the Chair person or President of the Seminar
committee. S/he must be a good administrator and subject expert in the field proposed theme of the seminar.
He must be the person of tolerance and capable of doing things in right time with right persons.

3. Chairperson of the Technical Session of seminar S/he must be the person with expertise in the theme proposed
for the seminar. S/he would have a good experience to perform all the activities of technical session which is vital
to the seminar.

4. Speaker of Seminar S/he is the active participant of seminar presenting his / her paper among the other
participants in the presence of Chair Person of Technical session of seminar.

5. Participants / Paper presenters of seminar The people who are presenting papers and observing the paper
presentation by participating in the seminar are termed as Paper presenters and Participants of the seminar.

Merits of Seminar method:

13. Naturally, the spontaneous learning can be achieved effectively in this method.
14. Seminar is usually learner cantered.
15. Information seeking and retrieval behaviour is encouraged very much in this method.
16. The learner himself prepares and compiles his own paper for the seminar gives readiness of mind and
learning becomes structured.
17. Learning by doing is encouraged in this method.
18. The paper presenter / participant receive a reinforced learning experience from the Group discussion.
Learning experiences is highly structured by the learner himself.
19. The teacher or chairperson of technical session only plays the Guidance and instructional role. Develops
cognitive, affective domain based learning.
20. Norms of behaviour is developed and reinforced.
21. Develops open mindedness, suppress the subjective ideas from the learners.
22. The interactions and interrogations develops the spirit of information seeking behaviours (norms of
behaviour)
23. The data processing skills, compilation skills, communication skill are easily inculcated in this method.
Learner gets in-depth knowledge of the subject he presented.
 24. This method built better social values and fault tolerance levels in the minds of learner.

Limitations of Seminar method

• Setting up of a seminar for every topic in the Text is not feasible.

• The subject area to be taught must be relevant to the theme of the seminar.
• The seminar themes must conform the learning experiences to be inculcated to the students.
• This method found fit for higher learning only.
• Implementation of this method for lower classes is cumbersome.
• Only matured and balanced minded teachers can make this method successful.
• The teacher must be resourceful (both in academic and administrative) in nature.
• Time management is somewhat difficult.se students participate who have confidence rest do not participate.

2.3 CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION: The clinical legal education is basically for lawyers for developing new perceptions, attitudes,
skills, and aspects of the legal fields which will be more than the actual law curriculum. The law students after
completing their studies the practice of the law profession can be defined as the clinical legal education. The
term “clinical” itself means directing or observing the person who has been diagnosed by some type of serious
condition. It is not always referred to as the ‘medical’ term but is also termed as for in legal profession. The clinical
legal education sets a wider goal for the lawyers in their profession for not only in litigation it helps but mostly it
helps in understanding their client’s perspective and their thinking. This is often more correlated in the
‘psychological terms’ also where in psychology the client or the person who is diagnosed with some serious or
moderate kind of mental or traumatized conditions is hereby counselled by the counsellor who offers some
appropriate psychotherapies to them ‘the clients’. Similarly, in the legal terms the client who has some issues
regarding the problems in business, personal life, or any such problems which needs to be resolved through legal
remedies comes to the advocate for getting them out of it.
The advocate, hereby, at initial stages tries to understand the problem of the client regarding the case and then
set into legal framework and then the advocates speak up about the strategies regarding the case as the next
step to the client. Clinical legal education over here helps the lawyer to understand the point of views of the
client and the issues regarding the case. It plays a very important role the clinical legal studies in the profession
of law further.
Talking about the clinical legal education it is very important to take a look at the main key role of the clinical
legal profession which not only helps to strengthen the relationship between clients or lawyers or with other
people but also help maintain a good rapport that is “communication”.
COMMUNICATION: Etymologically, the term ‘communication’ has been derived from the Greek term
‘communicare’ . which means to share or to comment. In simple English it can be defined as the means of
information or sharing of ideas from one person to another person effectively and efficiently.
Communications is always associated with ideas, obviously, because sharing of ideas and speaking up comments
or sharing of information from one person to another is very important. It is more than an art rather than a
science because there is no certain or particular format which is important for communication as seeing it from
a scientific perspective but rather it can be called as an art because skills and effective type of communication is
what really is important and necessary.
Similarly, language also doesn’t make a difference over here sharing information in an effective manner and the
other person you are speaking up to understands it effectively is what a successful communication is said to be.
Talking about expressing your ideas and communicating it with the other person understanding it is called a good
communication.
Words which are carefully spoken and framed in a good manner and also effectively communicated is what is
called as the most powerful source of communication. People who have good communication skills are often
seen as the person with various goals to be achieved and because of their good and powerful communication
more other people are seen to be inclined in with their work to help them achieve their targeted goals. They can
easily establish their business and their work can also be seen to be accomplishing all the achievements with the
help of the other people in their work.
Legal communication is where the advocate and the client discuss about the case and what next step or strategy
can be more effective in the court regarding the case. This means that in legal profession communication skills
are very much essential and thereafter it plays a very crucial role in communication with the client.
Talking about communication there are various kinds of benefits to it and they are-
· Leads to build a good rapport and strengthens the relationship with clients.
· Minimizes misunderstanding and also help minimizes the conflicts.
· Saves the three most important resources that is the time, money ,energy.
· Leads to some intended results which are to be achieved.
· Leads to appropriate feedbacks to be received and shared.
· No mixed signals can be received until there are no sort of barriers to it.
Sides of communication which have benefits also has some disadvantages to it and they are-
· Sends mixed signals due to barriers.
· Increases the risks of conflicts and misunderstandings.
· Strains off the relationships between people.
· Creates stress
· Emotional and physical traumas which will be caused due to misinterpretation of information to the person
psychologically resulting the abovesaid problems.
· Wasting of the three resources time, money, energy.
Communication has been further categorized as formal and informal communication-
1. Formal Communication: In the formal type of communication the source or the medium through which the
information is been shared or transferred is from a particular and trustworthy source and through any kind of
airy sources. The formal communication is always having some true facts and issues based on the communication
which travels. The source is always trustable in other words it has a form according to which it travels.
In the formal type of communication, the source of information in travels from one higher authority of a person
to their juniors or lower authority wise.
For example, it is generally been seen in the firms and corporate fields where a certain information travels from
the most senior to their junior staffs and then to the other junior, the other staffs in the firm. The source over
here through which the information travels is trustworthy because it itself has a true source that is the senior in
the firm or any business organization. It can be in oral form or written form also.
2. Informal Communication: In the informal type of communication the source or the medium through which
the information is been transferred is not true also the information from which it has come through is itself not
true, you can say that, it has a ‘airy source’ where the source of information is itself not true there is no truth or
no evidence or no support basically to that information which proves itself to be true. It is also called as the
‘grapevine communication’.
For example, there some people in an office who are transferring some sort of information which does not have
a proper relevance to it or no proper basis to that information but it is been transferred only for the sake of
gossiping or some sort of entertainment which in its true sense is thereafter defined as the ‘grapevine
communication’.
There are certain problems which occurs during communication which later on causes misunderstandings
between people and thus further on leads to misinterpret the information which will result in fights and conflicts
between people.
The barriers which take place while communicating can be as further-
· Online barriers while communicating online through a meeting so it can be network issues.
· Not an active listener
· No good communication skills
· Difference in communication styles
· Cultural differences
· Lack of trust on your own team member or sometimes lack of trust in yourself ‘self-trust’
· Conflicts which were continuously taking place in the workplace
· No matching of ideas
· Emotional barriers such as disinterest in one’s speaking up
· Showing lack of interest, attention, etc.
· Irrelevance in one’s information
· No appropriate feedbacks
· No correlation of any information which is been transmitted
· Personal hate or ignorance of a team member while questioning
· Language barriers
These are some of the barriers which can take place in a communication or while people are communicating this
leads to conflicts, wastage of time, money and energy sometimes and thereafter misleads you and your
information in further which causes traumas, conflicts etc. causing trouble psychologically and physically also by
fighting and arguing most of the times.

2.4 EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND EVALUATION PROCESS

This Part describes the nature of law school examinations and the reading,
interpretation, and grading of these exams. This inquiry reveals the basic
examination structure and the personal attributes that are necessary to succeed
on law school exams. These insights set the stage for a subsequent look at the
complex relationships between law school exams and their educational, social, and
personal contexts.

UNIT-3

SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH
Socio-legal research is an interdisciplinary field that combines the study of law with the social sciences, such as
sociology, anthropology, and political science. It aims to understand the relationship between law and society and
how laws and legal systems shape and are shaped by social, economic, and cultural factors.

Law schools have recognized the importance of socio-legal research in understanding the complex interplay
between law and society. It helps law students to gain a deeper understanding of the legal system and its impact
on individuals and communities. It also helps them develop critical thinking skills, essential for practicing law in
today's rapidly changing world. Socio-legal research can provide valuable insights into the functioning of the legal
system and its impact on society. For example, it can shed light on how laws are enforced, how legal processes
are conducted, and how legal decisions are made. It can also help identify areas where the law may be lacking or
need reform.

In addition to its academic value, socio-legal research can also have practical applications. It can inform policy
decisions, help to shape legal reforms and provide a basis for advocacy and social change. For example, research
on access to justice, discrimination, and human rights can inform legal reforms and support advocacy efforts to
promote social justice and equality.

In conclusion, socio-legal research is an important aspect of legal education, as it helps to broaden students'
understanding of the legal system and its impact on society. It also has practical applications in informing policy
decisions, shaping legal reforms, and supporting advocacy efforts to promote social justice and equality. When
establishing a research project, students study social and legal research courses to understand the need to integrate
other fields of knowledge to bring the issue to the public in a real-life context. Often, the law falls short when it
comes to addressing social issues. As a result, it is imperative to use socio-legal research techniques and procedures
that emphasize the judicial problem and the social reality resulting from a discipline like sociology. It is vital to
limit the scope of the investigation to achieve the best results and solutions. A problem should be identified, a goal
developed, and an empirical object set to study it from the perspective of others. Students must constantly be
encouraged to work on research projects from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, focusing on the latter
since it is a subject in which it is possible to evaluate social reality by interpreting personal meaning and
comprehending language and social interactions.

SOCIO-LEGAL ISSUE IN INDIA

India is a country of diversities. Different religions, castes, traditions, languages, cultures and entangled social
fabric are visible in India. The slavery of foreigners for centuries has produced many evils in Indian society. In
particular, issues like casteism, women’s protection, communalism, economic inequality, religious bigotry and
poverty, hunger remain the social legal issues of our great country.

1. RACISM
The Constitution of India gives equal rights to all citizens at social, economic, political and education levels. All
citizens have equal rights. At any level, there can be no discrimination against any citizen. But in reality, the
country is still far away from this legal right. Even after seventy years of independence, there is discrimination
among citizens at some legal level, at some social level. The caste system in India has its roots in ancient India. In
ancient India, rules and duties in terms of a person’s life, varna or caste were determined by his actions. All
professions were the same. Everyone was seen with respect, but first the faulty system of the Mughals and later
the British divided the society into permanent castes. Today is the biggest social legal challenge of the country.

2. INEQUALITY
The constitution gives equal right to both men and women in every field. Women have been given many rights
after independence. Right to vote, right to legal marriage, inheritance of property, divorce, dowry rights. The Equal
Remuneration Act was passed in 1976 to provide equal remuneration to men. Muslim women have recently gained
rights against triple talaq. But even after getting the legal strength at social level, women are facing many
challenges socially.

3. ECONOMIC DISPARITY
Economic disparity is a challenging social legal issue in India. According to the Global Wealth Report, 10 per cent
of India’s rich people own 77.4 percent of the country's wealth. On the other hand, 60 per cent of the people own
only 4.7 per cent property. 6 percent of these people are those whose income is less than hundred rupees. Millions
of people still do not have the bread for two days. At the same time only ten percent people have acquired two-
thirds of the country's wealth. This inequality destroys the fabric of the country. Increases poverty and
unemployment. Social harmony also ends because of this inequality. As such, everyone has the right to live legally
and live honorably. But at the ground level it has many punch diggies. It does not look the same on the ground.

4. RURAL AND URBAN DIVIDE

The country's major social challenge is that 70 percent of the population in India lives in the village. But in the
name of facilities, there is not even thirty percent facilities as compared to cities. The agricultural sector is
continuously backward and youth are migrating continuously to the cities. Farming has become a continuous loss.
There are several thousand villages in the country where only the elderly is left to live. The youth have left the
villages in the hope of employment and better facilities. The reason for this is the lack of facilities in rural areas.
The youth who lead a livelihood by farming are troubled. Because of this, the farmers want to get more facilities
and discounts through constant agitation. In recent days, farmers are agitating all over the country on the issue of
support price and free market. Discrimination in urban and rural life remains a big challenge and social issue
before the country.

5. RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
Originally, India is a country of people living in harmony, harmony and equality with all religions and all castes.
But for some decades religious fundamentalism has challenged the integrity and unity of the country. The incidents
of maw leaching along with religious riots and terrorist incidents have spoiled India's name in the world. Legally,
governments are dealing with convicts influenced by fundamentalist ideology, yet religious segregation in all the
states of the country poses a major challenge. Similarly, caste-sharing is also a big issue. For example, when the
Supreme Court made changes in Section 3 a few years ago, there was uproar in the whole country. Police have the
right to arrest anyone without investigation on the report of Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribes. It was the subject
of arrest only after being investigated. But the change was not liked and there were fierce movements across the
country. There are many issues which still remain social legal issues before the country. Apart from this, many
social legal issues have been emerging in India. Issues like workers' rights, children's rights, dowry system,
unemployment, illiteracy, starvation, remain a challenge even after centuries

6. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
As I said, India is a country full of diversities. There are around 121 major languages, spoken by group. Apart
from the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, each state has its own mother tongue.
There are 60 languages whose number of speakers is more than one million. This is also the beauty of the country,
as well as trouble for the unity of the country. The mother tongue of India is Hindi. But there is strong opposition
to Hindi in South Indian states. The protest is of such a level that if the names of railway stations, banks or public
places are written in Hindi then there will be uproar. North Indian citizens do not feel familiar in South India and
South Indian citizens in North India. The same is with the residents of the Indian states of the North East.

Recently, when the central government formulated an education policy, it was recommended to include Hindi in
primary education. There was a sharp reaction in the South Indian states. The Center had to clarify that this was
not mandatory. This attitude is towards Maharashtra's Marathi, West Bengal's Bengali, Odisha's Oriya. There is
also linguistic radicalism in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Assamese linguistic states. Because of this, India could
never be integrated into linguistic unity.
7. NAXALISM
Naxalism is deeply affected in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh adjoining
Chhattisgarh and Chhattisgarh. Till now thousands of people have lost their lives in Naxal attacks. It is a socio-
economic and legal dispute. Naxalites do not believe in the Constitution of India even while living in the country.
They demand that full rights of water, forest and land should be given to the people living there. Make decisions
there. They should have power there. The tribals in particular should be empowered to govern and control the
natural resources. It is against the Constitution of India. Because of this, the Government of India has deployed
about 50 thousand paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh itself. Apart from this, more than 30 thousand soldiers are
deployed in border states. But this tension has not ended because of disagreements with the law. This social legal
issue remains a major obstacle in India's development.

8. SEPARITISM AND TERRORISM

Similarly, terrorist attack in Kashmir is also a social legal issue. A group of citizens there challenge the power of
India. He keeps demanding the independence of his kingdom. However, because of the abolition of Article 370
recently, terrorism in Kashmir has reduced considerably. But it is yet to be fully controlled. In many states of the
Northeast, small groups clash with governments because of hostility. Their demands are local. And socially they
keep demanding complete independence. Organizations like United Liberation Front of Assam, National
Democrat Front of Bodoland in Assam keep demanding separate statehood. In many states like Manipur, Tripura,
Nagaland, extremist organizations are active about their demands. These organizations see their existence as a
separate country on linguistic, cultural and geographical basis. However, the central government has always kept
open the way for limited power usage and dialogue with these organizations. Because of this, many extremist
organizations have formed a mindset to fulfill their demands while staying in India. But these still remain stressful
social legal issues for the country.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Social issues are a problem that influences the common citizen of a country and as Justice is a fundamental pillar
of Indian Democracy and Constitution, the law makers and law keepers need to be proactive to cater to the social
injustice and inequalities from time to time

Social issue can be a part of our history, traditions and cultural stereotypes. And every country in the world faces
different social issues like racism, illiteracy, inequality etc. so is India. India being an old civilization with multiple
rulers from time to time, has its own social issues.

Lastly, Social issue, if they are not solved can lead to dissatisfactions, disruptions and violence. As we all move
towards a new millennial with technology as a new normal, social legal issues will take newer forms and shapes.
We have to prepared to tackle the same as always.

DOCTRINAL AND NON-DOCTRINAL RESEARCH

Introduction
The research basically means searching for something again and again until we reach an unequivocal conclusion.
It is a systematic investigation that entails the collection of data, critical information, arranging it all and then
analyzing it to deduce something meaningful. The word “research” is derived from the French word “recherché”
which means to investigate thoroughly. So whenever research is being conducted, be it in any field, it involves
going into the depth of the topic and making sense of it.
Legal research in particular dives deeper into the legal ocean. It is all about searching and researching laws, their
origin, their application and everything else that can have the slightest nexus with the legal sphere. We try to search
and analyze the effect of all the legal and non-legal variables on the process of legal decision-making. Black’s law
dictionary defines legal research as “the finding and assembling of authorities that bear on a question of law”.(How
to do legal research in 3 steps n.d.) Legal research is a constant companion of people involved in the legal world,
be it the attorneys, judges, jurists, law researchers, law students and academicians. To possess the legal prowess
and accumulate knowledge to effectively contribute in this arena, research is important for all of them.

Now, to conduct research different pathways can be adopted. These pathways are known as “research
methodologies”. Methodology in research is defined as the systematic method to resolve a research problem
through data gathering using various techniques, providing an interpretation of data gathered and drawing
conclusions about the research data.(Bouchrika 2021) The two words method and methodology should not be used
interchangeably. Method signifies the process of collecting the required information and the technique that is
employed to achieve this objective.
Whereas, on the other hand, methodology implies not only the procedures involved to collect data but also how to
analyze and interpret it. The methodology is a comprehensive term and is wider than the method. It is a compass
that determines the direction of the research.
Two prominent methodologies that are employed in legal research are doctrinal and non-doctrinal. The former
one is more inclined towards theoretical aspects and academics, hence also known as “library” or “arm-chair”
research. While the latter is more practical and takes an interdisciplinary approach to observation. Hence it is also
called “empirical” research.
Doctrinal research
Meaning and definition
Dr S.R. Myneni has defined, “A doctrinal research means a research that has been carried out on a legal proposition
or propositions by way of analyzing the existing statutory provisions and cases by applying the reasoning power.”
(Tiwary 2020)
Doctrinal research has the root word “doctrine” which means a principle or a basic governing tenet. That means,
the legal doctrine would include legal principles and tenets that would govern the legal world. Therefore, it implies
that doctrinal legal research would involve digging deeper into the legal principles and concepts from various
sources like cases, precedents, statutes and others; to analyze them and reach valid conclusions.
The focal point of doctrinal research is answering the question “What is law?”. It is library-based research, i.e. we
try to find out definite answers to legal questions through a thorough investigation from the law books, statutes,
legislation, commentaries and other legal documents. All of these sources fall under the category of “Secondary
Sources”. As stated earlier, it is theoretical research that does not involve any kind of experimentation or
fieldwork.
Here, we are basically checking the validity of existing laws in light of a changing society. It begins with one or
more legal propositions taken as a starting point and the entire research is directed in finding the validity of that
hypothesis. It simply means reviewing and studying different legal documents and other sources and then deducing
a complete answer to the question asked at the beginning by the means of rational interpretation and logical
reasoning. Most often, the starting point in any research is doctrinal, i.e. library-based and then we move forward
to other methodologies once our base is set by doctrinal research. This is the reason that doctrinal research is very
famous among students and academicians.

History
The roots of doctrinal research can be traced to the positivist or the analytical school of law which was objective
and value-free. It is more epistemologically oriented and does not concern itself with people or society. Though
the law itself is normative, doctrinal research does not study it in a normative sense. It does not take into
consideration the human aspects of law and how it affects people in society. In this type of research, we just
concern ourselves with existing laws in the present state as they are. Its emergence can be traced parallel to the
rise of common law in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Common law has been developed by the efforts of
jurists and the Court’s decisions. The doctrine of precedents also developed around the same time. All of these
developments are linked to doctrinal research as without it the other parallel developments would have been
incomplete. It is when judges and attorneys investigated laws from various above-mentioned sources, that they
could set the stage for the progress of common law.
And we all know, common law is the basis of legal development in several other countries. At a similar time, the
law had entered the academic field in Europe and doctrinal research picked up pace as it became a popular tool of
academic legal research. (Tiwary 2020) This is the reason why doctrinal research is also known as traditional
research.

Purpose
One of the main purposes of conducting doctrinal research is solving the legal problems of bringing laws. For
example, if the government decides to bring umbrella legislation for all the crimes committed against women, it
may initiate doctrinal research by some jurists and experts in the field.
They may have to go through all the existing laws in this field, previous case laws, precedents, international trends,
legal commentaries, articles by scholars, dictionaries, encyclopedias, journals, treatises, textbooks and other
sources of legal information. Going through this sea of information, they would be able to answer all the questions
related to this legislation and will be successful in bringing out comprehensive legislation.
It can be utilized for several other purposes as well like to help lawmakers develop meaningful and effective laws,
develop fresh legal doctrines, aid courts in reaching effective and legally accurate judgments, help lawyers to
interpret statutes and prepare their suits, help students in academia to set a base and many others.

Methodology
The methodology in doctrinal research starts with setting a proposition as the starting point. A legal provision in
question or an existing law could be chosen for the purpose. The next step could be to analyze the purpose behind
bringing that particular law. For example, for a provision of the constitution, Constituent Assembly Debates could
give great insight.
The law then can be studied in greater detail. A course of action must be selected. Alternative courses can be
explored. Different models need to be studied and finally, the consequences and approximated effects have to be
weighed in order to accurately make predictions about the proposition set at the beginning. In all these stages,
secondary sources talked about in the above paragraphs are utilized.
But one must be very careful in the selection of these sources. Searching for reliable and accurate sources demands
time and effort. Useful information must be separated from the chaff as the presence of unreliable information
could lead to misleading and inaccurately skewed results. The efficiency of this method also depends on the
question that is asked in the beginning. Asking the right question is the first step towards concrete research. Setting
the right proposition and then relying on the right sources is the key to successful doctrinal research.

Advantages and disadvantages

To begin with the advantages, doctrinal research forms the base of legal research in the academic field of law.
Law students at the graduate and post-graduate levels usually venture into the world of legal research with the
help of doctrinal methodology. This is the starting point for them where they can analyze sources available in the
library and logically deduce their findings. The students are not well equipped at this particular stage to get
involved with empirical research and to consider the law in the context of society. It is easier for them to study
law “as it is” from secondary sources and it acts as a good starting point.
In addition, it gives the judges and lawyers the flexibility to approach law from different aspects and make its
interpretation. It may not be wrong to say that the amorphous mass of the present-day statutory provisions takes
concrete shape and form in the great laboratories of the law courts. (Jain 1982) Judges have over time developed
law from their deep knowledge and investigation into the field. Law of torts is one great example as it is a “judge-
made law”. Therefore, doctrinal research being the traditional methodology has helped in the development of legal
research by giving it a base. It has been a close companion of law academicians, students, judges, advocates and
jurists.
However, doctrinal research has its own shortcomings as well. Availability and choice of right and reliable sources
is the bottleneck in doctrinal research. Logical deduction is also an uphill task. Furthermore, it is highly theoretical
and restricted. Without the right direction, it may become highly objective and too mechanical. Moreover, it can
be further highlighted that it studies law individually and does not consider it in the backdrop of society which is
the playground of law. Without studying its normative and practical aspects, it’s like studying law in darkness and
seems incomplete.

Non-doctrinal research

Meaning and definition

Non-doctrinal research, also known as social-legal research, is research that employs methods taken from other
disciplines to generate empirical data that answers research questions. (Salim Ibrahim Ali 2017)
Non-doctrinal research takes a multi-disciplinary approach towards legal research. It employs methods and
information available from other disciplines to make a comprehensive approach towards law. It employs primary
sources of legal information to reach a conclusion. Primary sources may include observations, experiments,
questionnaires, surveys, etc. With the help of these sources, we analyze the practical aspects of law like the effect
of its implementation in non-legal fields and society as a whole. Basically, we take a legal variable which could
be a law along with a non-legal variable like economic, social, political, etc. and study their relationship by data
collected, which could be qualitative or quantitative. Its area of focus is how the law works in the real world.

History
After World War II, there was a growing emphasis on empiricism. Hence, the realist school of thought developed.
The realist school of thought brings to the forefront, the concern that laws are made for the benefit and regulation
of society. Laws are there to fulfil society’s needs. Therefore, they cannot be studied in isolation and must be
developed as per society’s requirements. Society is dynamic and so should be the law. Law should be suited to the
needs of the real world.
Non-doctrinal research developed out of the growing need of bringing the law into the realm of realism. It was felt
that legal research should deal more with its practical application and how it functions and affects the life of people
in real-world; and less with the theoretical aspect of studying written law.
Moreover, we have also seen that towards the same time, there was a growing emphasis on the welfare state model.
It was believed that the state was meant to serve the society and all the laws that it brings must cater to this need
of welfare of the citizens. In this background, there was a huge lift received by non-doctrinal research that helped
in this direction. Governments have also encouraged this field of research to bring out legislation that truly help
people and also to judge how well they have performed.

Purpose and methodology

The purpose of non-doctrinal research is to check the utility of a law that has been brought or how it impacts the
non-legal aspects of society. Also, non-legal factors affect the implementation of the law. Sometimes, a very
comprehensive law is brought but sometimes the environment is such that its effectiveness is shielded by those
circumstances. For example, a law brought to open the market for foreign players to liberalize the economy may
be considered very destructive at a time like that of a pandemic when the domestic market is hard hit by lockdown
and would be considered devastating.
While in normal circumstances the same law might have been proved very useful for the economy. Now research
may be sponsored by the government to check whether circumstances are conducive to bringing such a law. The
research may include collecting data about the condition of the domestic market and how it will affect it if the law
becomes a reality. Research after implementing the law can also be conducted to check its consequences and
effects that it had actually brought. For this purpose, the help of other behavioural sciences can be taken. It relies
on observation more than theory because under different circumstances theory remains the same but its practical
application changes and it is important to keep a track of these changes to keep the law updated and effective.
The methodology adopted is that of empirical research, i.e. different modes of experimentation and observation
like collecting data by means of case studies, questionnaires, surveys, etc. These are the primary sources that give
us first-hand information that can be then analyzed. This data collected can then be arranged in pie charts, bar
graphs or other forms to reach a conclusion.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of non-doctrinal research are many but the prime one remains its utility in practical purposes. It
helps in gauging the practical effectiveness of laws in various non-legal fields. It is an effective tool to judge the
performance of law in society. Legal issues are better analyzed when studied in a comprehensive manner by taking
into consideration all the factors that might affect it. Moreover, when the data is quantified, it becomes rationally
more appealing and authentic. Also, since it relies on primary sources of information, it is more reliable.
Developing welfare policies for people has become the major function of the state. But it is not possible without
any data that reveals the actual circumstances of society. Non-doctrinal research tells us what actually the society
needs, where the laws are lacking and what are the responses of people on whom those laws are imposed. All of
this information which can be obtained by non-doctrinal research makes policymaking a better and easier task.
Moreover, there is a gap between the law in books and law in action. Law transforms to a certain extent when it
comes to implementation. Many variables exert their influence to cause this transformation. Knowledge of these
factors that can be obtained by non-doctrinal research can help us in understanding this gap and in working towards
eliminating it.
However, it also has its fair share of pitfalls. Non-doctrinal research is very time-consuming. It requires a lot of
time and resources. Availability of funds poses another challenge. The collection of data can be a daunting task.
And more than that, collecting the right pool of information from society can be full of errors. People have different
understanding and amounts of information. They have their own biases. That means the information collected,
like from questionnaires and surveys can be skewed and misleading. Also, collecting primary data about some
sensitive issues can be a dangerous task for the researcher. The research may also be blurred by the researcher’s
personal prejudices and biases.

Comparison between doctrinal and non-doctrinal research

• Doctrinal research is theoretical research, while on the other hand, non-doctrinal research is more
practical.
• Doctrinal research has its roots in the analytical or positivist school of thought. But non-doctrinal
research comes from the realist school of thought.
• Doctrinal research is based on secondary sources of information, like articles, commentaries,
textbooks, etc. But non-doctrinal research is based on primary sources like surveys and case studies.
• Non-doctrinal research includes fieldwork but doctrinal research is library-based arm-chair research
that does not involve going to the field.
• Doctrinal research is more concerned with the question “What is law” and studying law exclusively.
But non-doctrinal research studies law in connection with society and various non-legal aspects that
affect the law. It is socio-legal research.
 • The scope of doctrinal research is narrower concerning the law in isolation. But non-doctrinal research
has a wider scope and studies law in comprehensive terms.
Conclusion
Both forms of legal research have their own share of advantages and disadvantages. This means that none of them
is infallible or complete in itself. One is rooted in theory while the other in practicality and as theory cannot be
sacrificed for practicality alone and vice versa, both of them have their separate roles in the field of legal research.
Doctrinal research has helped in developing a basic awareness of legal issues among the people. It has immensely
helped judges and attorneys in legal suits to develop valid arguments and reach an effective judgment. The
development of tort law is a prime example. Doctrinal research by focusing on “law as it is” has helped in
percolating a greater awareness about legal issues among the masses. It has also helped in pointing out the
loopholes in existing laws and statutes. As another side of the same coin, non-doctrinal research focuses on law in
action in its playing field i.e. the society. It could be of great help for analyzing the effects of laws on people and
how to bring out legal reforms. It helps the law to catch up with this ever-changing society. Judicial activism is a
great product of non-doctrinal research.
Therefore, both these forms are complementary to each other. Doctrinal research forms the foundation, on which
the structure of non-doctrinal research can be constructed. They need to and must support each other. They can be
used alternatively or in a hybrid form for effective and meaningful legal research.

Relevance of empirical research

Calfee & Chambliss (2005) (UofM login required) describe empirical research as a "systematic approach for
answering certain types of questions." Those questions are answered "through the collection of evidence under
carefully defined and replicable conditions".
The evidence collected during empirical research is often referred to as "data."

Characteristics of Empirical Research

Emerald Publishing's guide to conducting empirical research identifies a number of common elements to empirical
research:
8. A research question, which will determine research objectives.
9. A particular and planned design for the research, which will depend on the question and which will find
ways of answering it with appropriate use of resources.
10. The gathering of primary data, which is then analysed.
11. A particular methodology for collecting and analysing the data, such as an experiment or survey.
12. The limitation of the data to a particular group, area or time scale, known as a sample [emphasis added]:
for example, a specific number of employees of a particular company type, or all users of a library over a
given time scale. The sample should be somehow representative of a wider population.
13. The ability to recreate the study and test the results. This is known as reliability.
14. The ability to generalize from the findings to a larger sample and to other situations.
If you see these elements in a research article, you can feel confident that you have found empirical research.
Emerald's guide goes into more detail on each element.
Empirical research methodologies can be described as quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both (usually called
mixed-methods).
Ruane (2016) (UofM login required) gets at the basic differences in approach between quantitative and qualitative
research:
Both quantitative and qualitative methods are empirical. If you can recognize that a research study is
quantitative or qualitative study, then you have also recognized that it is empirical study.
Below are information on the characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research. This video from Scribbr also
offers a good overall introduction to the two approaches to research methodology:
documents, photographs, etc. The researcher is a key instrument and must be reflective of their background,
culture, and experiences as influential of the research.
What is empirical evidence?
Empirical evidence is any information you can collect through the processes of observation or investigation. You
might use your five senses, measure data or design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Acquiring empirical
evidence is a vital step in the scientific method, as it allows researchers to collect, organize and study data that
results from their work. Empirical evidence is necessary for validating or disproving a claim, statement or
hypothesis. A scientist usually begins their investigation by forming a hypothesis and then searching for empirical
evidence that aligns with their educated guess.
It's important for scientists and researchers to correctly recognize instances of empirical evidence, as this lends
credibility to the research project or experiment. To ensure that you can accurately identify empirical evidence in
an experiment or observation, ask yourself the questions below. If the answers to these questions are "yes," you
can conclude that the evidence in the experiment or research study is empirical.
Uses for empirical evidence
Research and experimentation are the most common ways to find and use empirical evidence. The thorough testing
of scientific theories and the subsequent collection of empirical evidence has provided data for the creation of
various technologies, including common safety features like seatbelts, airbags, air ventilation and fire
extinguishers. Although scientists commonly use empirical evidence in their work, it appears in other disciplines
such as:
Engineering
Research and development
Psychology
Sociology
Marketing
Finance
Types of empirical evidence
There are two main types of empirical evidence you can use when conducting the scientific method:

Quantitative evidence refers to any sort of data represented through numbers and provides measurements that
other scientists can replicate by using the same tools. A researcher can then analyze this data to make scientific
conclusions. Quantitative evidence is present in nearly all kinds of research, and it's typically less susceptible to
bias since the evidence can prove or disprove the hypothesis using mathematics and statistics. Quantitative
evidence is more common in experiments than it is in observations.

Qualitative evidence is data that a researcher cannot measure numerically. You can collect qualitative evidence
through observations of human and animal behavior. While scientists often gather qualitative research as part of
their experiments, these observations are also common in social science, marketing and financial research, as these
three fields address human behavior. Qualitative research is sometimes less reliable than its quantitative
counterpart, as there are more opportunities for bias in qualitative reporting. Because of this, scientists may prefer
to use qualitative research in observations rather than in experiments.
Empirical evidence examples
To better understand the different types of empirical evidence and how researchers can engage with them, it may
be helpful to view the following examples:
Example one: quantitative cosmetic research
Here's an example to help you better understand quantitative empirical evidence:
West Palm Beauty is a cosmetics company that wants to create a new under-eye moisturizer to reduce wrinkles.
The company has spent a year researching various ingredients that can potentially improve skin quality when
applied to the under-eye area. Using its research, it creates a formula that reduces wrinkles in its intended target
demographic of women over the age of 50.
To support its theory that the ingredients in the product can produce smooth skin, the company conducts an
experiment and measures the changes in under-eye texture over intervals of time. To measure the product's success,
researchers measure the test subjects' skin elasticity in the under-eye area every day for 60 days. The researchers'
findings from this type of experiment are quantitative empirical evidence.
Example two: qualitative wildlife research
This example can help you better understand how to collect and use qualitative evidence:
A wildlife research team at Willow University is studying the nocturnal hunting patterns of gray wolves in a
wildlife preserve. For years, the team has attempted to track gray wolves during the night with no success. Because
wolves avoid areas where humans are present, the team decides to create an alternative observation plan. For them
to identify the times that the wolves prefer to hunt, the team decides to use observational techniques to better
understand the wolves' behaviors.
The researchers collect data by setting up multiple night vision cameras in the areas of the preserve where they
know the wolves hunt. The cameras are solar-powered and programmed to begin filming at sundown every night
for 30 days. The resulting observational footage is qualitative empirical evidence.
What are other types of evidence?
Empirical evidence is not the only form of evidence that exists. It's helpful to know about two other types of
evidence you may encounter:
Anecdotal evidence
You can collect anecdotal evidence through personal stories or reported experiences from an individual. For
example, a person who says that they've talked to ghosts is proof of the paranormal is anecdotal evidence. Because
it's virtually impossible to prove or disprove these claims, anecdotal evidence is uncommon in scientific research.
Logical evidence
Logical evidence uses reasoning and universal truths to prove or disprove theories. Deductive reasoning can help
a researcher make conclusions with logical evidence. For example, deductive reasoning can help determine the
following:
All dogs are canines. Fido is a dog. Therefore, Fido is a canine.
Theoretical evidence
Theoretical evidence analyzes empirical studies and forms connections between them. This type of evidence
advances a theoretical position that doesn't necessarily have proof behind it but can use effective reasoning.
Consider a simple example of a pharmaceutical company testing a new drug. Empirical studies reveal that the drug
is effective in lowering blood pressure. Though the empirical studies didn't have subjects wearing hoodies, the
researcher can confidently say that the drug is just effective for lowering blood pressure when people wearing
hoodies take it.
Induction and Deduction methods of research

The terms “inductive” and “deductive” are often used in logic, reasoning, and science. Scientists use both inductive
and deductive research methods as part of the scientific method.
Famous fictional detectives like Sherlock Holmes are often associated with deduction, even though that’s not
always what Holmes does (more on that later). Some writing classes include both inductive and deductive essays.
But what’s the difference between inductive vs deductive research? The difference often lies in whether the
argument proceeds from the general to the specific or the specific to the general.
Both methods are used in different types of research, and it’s not unusual to use both in one project. In this article,
we’ll describe each in simple yet defined terms.
Content Index:

7. What is inductive research?

8. Stages of inductive research process
9. What is deductive research?
10. Stages of deductive research process
11. Difference between inductive vs deductive research
12. Conclusion
What is inductive research?
Inductive research is a method in which the researcher collects and analyzes data to develop theories, concepts, or
hypotheses based on patterns and observations seen in the data.
It uses a “bottom-up” method in which the researcher starts with specific observations and then moves on to more
general theories or ideas. Inductive research is often used in exploratory studies or when not much research has
been done on a topic before.

Stages of inductive research process

The three steps of the inductive research process are:

2. Observation:
The first step of inductive research is to make detailed observations of the studied phenomenon. This can be done
in many ways, such as through surveys, interviews, or direct observation.

3. Pattern Recognition:
The next step is to look at the data in detail once the data has been collected. This means looking at the data for
patterns, themes, and relationships. The goal is to find insights and trends that can be used to make the first
categories and ideas.
4. Theory Development:
At this stage, the researcher will start to create initial categories or concepts based on the patterns and themes from
the data analysis. This means putting the data into groups based on their similarities and differences to make a
framework for understanding the thing being studied.

These three steps are often repeated in a cycle, so the researcher can improve their analysis and understand the
phenomenon over time. Inductive research aims to develop new theories and ideas based on the data rather than
testing existing theories, as in deductive research.

What is deductive research?

Deductive research is a type of research in which the researcher starts with a theory, hypothesis, or generalization
and then tests it through observations and data collection.
It uses a top-down method in which the researcher starts with a general idea and then tests it through specific
observations. Deductive research is often used to confirm a theory or test a well-known hypothesis.
Stages of deductive research process
The five steps in the process of deductive research are:

2. Formulation of a hypothesis:
The first step in deductive research is to develop a hypothesis and guess how the variables are related. Most of the
time, the hypothesis is built on theories or research that have already been done.

3. Design of a research study:

The next step is designing a research study to test the hypothesis. This means choosing a research method, figuring
out what needs to be measured, and figuring out how to collect and look at the data.

4. Collecting data:
Once the research design is set, different methods, such as surveys, experiments, or observational studies, are used
to gather data. Usually, a standard protocol is used to collect the data to ensure it is correct and consistent.

5. Analysis of data:
In this step, the collected data are looked at to see if they support or disprove the hypothesis. The goal is to see if
the data supports or refutes the hypothesis. You need to use statistical methods to find patterns and links between
the variables to do this.

6. Drawing conclusions:
The last step is drawing conclusions from the analysis of the data. If the hypothesis is supported, it can be used to
make generalizations about the population being studied. If the hypothesis is wrong, the researcher may need to
develop a new one and start the process again.
The five steps of deductive research are repeated, and researchers may need to return to earlier steps if they find
new information or new ways of looking at things. In contrast to inductive research, deductive research aims to
test theories or hypotheses that have already been made.

Identification of Research Problem

Identification of research problem
Identification of research problem refers to the sense of awareness of a prevalent social problem, a social
phenomenon or a concept that is worth study – as it requires to be investigated to understand it. The researcher
identifies such a research problem through his observation, knowledge, wisdom and skills.
Types of research Problem: There are four general conceptualizations of a research problem in the social
sciences:
1. Casuist Research Problem -- this type of problem relates to the determination of right and wrong in questions
of conduct or conscience by analyzing moral dilemmas through the application of general rules and the careful
distinction of special cases.
2. Difference Research Problem -- typically asks the question, “Is there a difference between two or more groups
or treatments?” This type of problem statement is used when the researcher compares or contrasts two or more
phenomena. This a common approach to defining a problem in the clinical social sciences or behavioral sciences.
3. Descriptive Research Problem -- typically asks the question, "what is...?" with the underlying purpose to
describe the significance of a situation, state, or existence of a specific phenomenon. This problem is often
associated with revealing hidden or understudied issues.
4. Relational Research Problem -- suggests a relationship of some sort between two or more variables to be
investigated. The underlying purpose is to investigate specific qualities or characteristics that may be connected
in some way.

Sources of Problems
The identification of a problem to study can be challenging, not because there's a lack of issues that could be
investigated, but due to the challenge of formulating an academically relevant and researchable problem which is
unique and does not simply duplicate the work of others. To facilitate how you might select a problem from which
to build a research study, consider these sources of inspiration:
Deductions from Theory This relates to deductions made from social philosophy or generalizations embodied in
life and in society that the researcher is familiar with. These deductions from human behavior are then placed
within an empirical frame of reference through research. From a theory, the researcher can formulate a research
problem or hypothesis stating the expected findings in certain empirical situations. The research asks the question:
“What relationship between variables will be observed if theory aptly summarizes the state of affairs?” One can
then design and carry out a systematic investigation to assess whether empirical data confirm or reject the
hypothesis, and hence, the theory.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives Identifying a problem that forms the basis for a research study can come from
academic movements and scholarship originating in disciplines outside of your primary area of study. This can be
an intellectually stimulating exercise. A review of pertinent literature should include examining research from
related disciplines that can reveal new avenues of exploration and analysis. An interdisciplinary approach to
selecting a research problem offers an opportunity to construct a more comprehensive understanding of a very
complex issue that any single discipline may be able to provide.
Interviewing Practitioners The identification of research problems about particular topics can arise from formal
interviews or informal discussions with practitioners who provide insight into new directions for future research
and how to make research findings more relevant to practice. Discussions with experts in the field, such as,
teachers, social workers, health care providers, lawyers, business leaders, etc., offers the chance to identify
practical, “real world” problems that may be understudied or ignored within academic circles. This approach also
provides some practical knowledge which may help in the process of designing and conducting your study.
Personal Experience Don't undervalue your everyday experiences or encounters as worthwhile problems for
investigation. Think critically about your own experiences and/or frustrations with an issue facing society, your
community, your neighborhood, your family, or your personal life. This can be derived, for example, from
deliberate observations of certain relationships for which there is no clear explanation or witnessing an event that
appears harmful to a person or group or that is out of the ordinary.
Relevant Literature The selection of a research problem can be derived from a thorough review of pertinent
research associated with your overall area of interest. This may reveal where gaps exist in understanding a topic
or where an issue has been understudied. Research may be conducted to: 1) fill such gaps in knowledge; 2) evaluate
if the methodologies employed in prior studies can be adapted to solve other problems; or, 3) determine if a similar
study could be conducted in a different subject area or applied in a different context or to different study sample
[i.e., different setting or different group of people].Also, authors frequently conclude their studies by noting
implications for further research; read the conclusion of pertinent studies because statements about further research
can be a valuable source for identifying new problems to investigate. The fact that a researcher has identified a
topic worthy of further exploration validates the fact it is worth pursuing.

Survey of available literature and bibliographical research

A bibliography is a list of books, scholarly articles, speeches, private records, diaries, interviews, laws, letters,
websites, and other sources you use when researching a topic and writing a paper. The bibliography appears at the
end.

The main purpose of a bibliography entry is to give credit to authors whose work you’ve consulted in your
research. It also makes it easy for a reader to find out more about your topic by delving into the research that you
used to write your paper. In the academic world, papers aren’t written in a vacuum; academic journals are the way
new research on a topic circulates and previous work is built upon.

Literature broadly is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically
considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has
expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. We can say that Available literature
means literature which available.

Once the research problem is formulated, the researcher needs to undertake an extensive survey of literature
connected with, related to, and/or having bearing on, his research problem. This is the process whereby the
researcher locates and selects the references that are relevant for his inquiry. A scholar of law, at this stage, is
expected to cautiously outline his work and then survey around to lay his hands on standard material. Some
important reference material he can look into can be as follows,
1. Standard textbooks: such as those written by reputed authors,
2. Reference books: dealing with or having bearing on the research problem,
3. Legal periodicals: so that he locate research articles written, or authoritative comments made, on the subject or
its allied subjects,
4. Case reports: so that he get familiarize with the judicial exposition of the problem,
5. conference/symposium/seminar proceedings: to become accustomed to different proportions highlighted in,
investigate into, or appear from, the conference/symposium/seminars,
6. Government or Committee Reports: so as to appreciate and understand perspectives of the ideas or intention of
the law-makers and the experts in the field (when by delegated legislation) , and
7. General web pages: so that to know latest emerging perspectives and illustrative examples. There are many
good materials (writings) available on the net. One can subscribe to a good online library etc.
8. Earlier studies done: The researcher has also to take special care to locate earlier studies done on the problem
and to have a quick reading thereof. Many leading journals and other published information from recognized
sources are now available on the Web.

Survey of available literature and bibliography helps the researcher to know and to have his preliminary
impressions about:
1. The investigated and un-investigated aspects/dimensions of the problem,
2. The explanations offered or issues rose with and without offering solutions thereof
3. The lacuna, if any, in the offered explanations of the problem/its dimensions and their inter-relationship.
4. Competence of previous authors/ researchers in explaining the problem/its dimensions
5. Conceptual issues raised, with or without offering suggesting and/or solutions thereof
6. The operational framework of previous researcher and
7. Research techniques used in the previous research, and their correctness.
Survey of available literature and bibliography enables the researcher to know what kind of data has been used,
what methods have been used to obtain the data, and what difficulties the earlier researchers in collecting and
analyzing the data have faced.

Legislative materials including subordinate legislation, notifications and policy

statements

7.0.2. Survey of available literature and bibliographical research:

Once the research problem is formulated, the researcher needs to undertake
an extensive survey of literature connected with, related to, and/or having bearing
on, his research problem. This is the process whereby the researcher locates and
selects the references that are relevant for his inquiry. A scholar of law, at this stage,
is expected to cautiously outline his work and then survey around to lay his hands
on standard material. Some important reference material he can look into can be as
follows,
 1. Standard textbooks: such as those written by reputed authors,
2. Reference books: dealing with or having bearing on the research problem,
3. Legal periodicals: so that he locate research articles written, or
authoritative comments made, on the subject or its allied subjects,
4. Case reports: so that he get familiarize with the judicial exposition of the
problem,
5. conference/symposium/seminar proceedings: to become accustomed to
different proportions highlighted in, investigate into, or appear from, the
conference/symposium/seminars,
6. Government or Committee Reports: so as to appreciate and understand
perspectives of the ideas or intention of the law-makers and the experts in
the field (when by delegated legislation) , and
7. General web pages: so that to know latest emerging perspectives and
illustrative examples. There are many good materials (writings)available
on the net. One can subscribe to a good online library etc.
8. Earlier studies done: The researcher has also to take special care to locate
earlier studies done on the problem and to have a quick reading thereof.
Many leading journals and other published information from recognized
sources are now available on the Web.
Literature review helps the researcher to know and to have his preliminary
impressions about:
8. The investigated and un-investigated aspects/dimensions of the problem,
9. The explanations offered or issues rose with and without offering solutions
thereof,
 10. The lacuna, if any, in the offered explanations of the problem/its dimensions
and their inter-relationship,
11. Competence of previous authors/ researchers in explaining the problem/its
dimensions,
12. Conceptual issues raised, with or without offering suggesting and/or
solutions thereof,
13. The operational framework of previous researcher and
14. Research techniques used in the previous research, and their correctness.

Literature review enables the researcher to know what kind of data has been used,
what methods have been used to obtain the data, and what difficulties the earlier
researchers in collecting and analyzing the data have faced.

Main purposes of literature review can be summarised as follows:

11. depict the work done on the particular or similar topic in the past,
12. calculate/estimate the limitations of the work,
13. get familiar with research techniques used,
14. make out the kind of material/data used and its sources.
15. appreciate (even criticize) competence of the data used for drawing the
conclusions,
16. know the vital arguments advanced and the concepts exposed and discussed
earlier.
17. acquaint with the patterns of presentation of previous arguments and the
concepts and
18. established relationship between these arguments and the concepts
 19. in the light of the earlier studies and findings the researcher can rephrase his
research problem/question, and
20. to formulate appropriate research techniques for smooth function of his
inquiry.

7.2.2.1. Legislative materials including subordinate legislation,

notification and policy statements:

Legislative materials:
Legislations:
Legislation or “statutory law” is law which has been promulgated or “enacted” by
a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it. Before an item of
legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to
as “legislation” while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other
business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to prescribe,
to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict.
Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the Parliament or State Legislature,
whereupon it is debated by members of the Parliament or State Legislature and is
often amended before passage. Legislation is regarded as one of the three main
functions of government, which are often distinguished under the doctrine ofthe
separation of powers. For a researcher it is one of the most authentic sources of law.
Delegated legislation (also referred to as secondary legislation or subordinate
legislation or subsidiary legislation) is law made by an executive authority under
powers given to them by primary legislation in order to implement and administer
the requirements of that primary legislation. It is law made by a person or body other
than the legislature but with the legislature’s authority.
Often, a legislature passes statutes that set out broad outlines and principles, and
delegates authority to an executive branch official to issue delegated legislation that
flesh out the details (substantive regulations) and provide procedures for
implementing the substantive provisions of the statute and substantive regulations
(procedural regulations). Delegated legislation can also be changed faster than
primary legislation so legislatures can delegate issues that may need to be fine- tuned
through experience.

Notification:
Several meaning can be given to the word notification according to its use/ utility
6. Notice given in words or writing, or by signs.
7. The act of notifying, or giving notice; the act of making known; especially,
the act of giving official notice or information to the public or to individuals,
corporations, companies, or societies, by words, by writing, or by other
means.
8. The writing which communicates information; an advertisement, or citation,
etc.
9. The act of notifying, or giving notice; the act of making known; especially,
the act of giving official notice or information to the public or to individuals,
corporations, companies, or societies, by words, by writing, or by other
means.
10. The writing which communicates information; an advertisement, or citation,
etc.
A student of law has to look into the notifications related with his studies issued by
the government or any concerned authority so that he shall be able to draw the
importance of the ‘subject’ notified in the said notice as well as the ‘object’ of the
said notification.

Policy statements:
The policy statement serves three important purposes.
4. First, it allows the delegate an opportunity to think his/her policy out more
thoroughly;
5. Secondly, it serve the greater need of his/her delegation to have a document
which contains the country’s policy on all the issues at the conference so that
there will be consistency in policy among the various members of the
delegation. Ideally, each delegate should have some familiarity with all the
issues so that he/she is comfortable in representing his country’s view.
6. The third important function of the policy statement is to act as an outline for
the draft resolution.
Five basic components of a policy statement:
6. An explanation and definition of the issue and its key terms as they appear on
the agenda.
7. A background summary of recent international events related to the action
in question.
8. Some reference to key documents relating to the issue (underlined).
9. A general statement of the country’s position on the issue.
10. Specific suggestions for a solution to the question (to serve as the first draft for
the operative clauses of a resolution).
 Decisional materials including foreign decisions; methods of discovering the
“rule of the case” tracing the history of important cases and ensuring
that these have not been over-ruled; discovering judicial conflict in
the area pertaining to the research problem and the reasons thereof.
(4) For example, A.K. Gopalan case is overruled by Bank Nationalisation and
finally in Maneka Gandhi case by the Honourable Supreme Court.

(5) Section 6 of Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, (by interpreting the
word ‘after’ as not after the life time but if father is non-functioning) gave mother a
right of being a Natural Guardian of her legitimate son or daughter.

(6) Sajjan Singh and Sampath Kumar cases are overruled in Golak Nath case by
saying that Parliament has no power to curtail or abridge fundamental rights and no
power to amend the basic structure of the Constitution. The Court has introduced
various changes in the areas of labour law, criminal law, property law, etc. Now death
penalty is an exception, life imprisonment is the rule.
Thus in these cases Judges played and are playing the role of researcher by giving
concrete shape and stability to the legal principles by applying the principles of
review, revision or overruling.
 7.1. Let us sum up
Through this unit we are able to understand what a research problem is. We also are
acquainted with how to survey the available literature and do the bibliographical
research and make use of legislative materials including subordinate legislation,
notification and policy statements. We come to know that decisional materials
including foreign decisions; methods of discovering the “rule of the case” tracing
the history of important cases and ensuring that these have not been over-ruled;
discovering judicial conflict in the area pertaining to the research problem and the
reasons thereof are also important for the researcher.

7.2. Glossary:
Research problem: the word problem must not comprehend as “Problem”
literally on the contrary it must be ‘why particular research has to be conducted’
and then to work on this question arising in the mind of the researcher, he
formulates a research problem.
 UNIT-4
Objectives:

To enable student to understand Formulation of the Research problem.

To enable student to understand the tools and techniques for collection ofdata
To enable student to understand the process of Classification andtabulation of
data
To enable student to understand the process Analysis of data

8.1 Introduction:

A research design is the arrangement of circumstances for collection and

analysis of data in a manner that aims to merge relevance to the research purpose in
procedure. Research design, in fact, has a great bearing on the reliability of the
results arrived at and as such constitutes the firm foundation of the entire edifice of
the research work. We need a research design, a plan, in advance of data collection
and analysis for our research project.

8.2. Topic Explanation

8.2.1 .Contents of the Research design
Research design must, at least, contain —
(a) a clear statement of the research problem;
 (b) object of research;
(c) procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;
(d) the population to be studied; and
(e) methods to be used in processing and analysing data

Keeping in view the above stated design decisions; one may split the overall research
design into the following parts:
(a) the sampling design which deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study;
(b) the observational design which relates to the conditions under which the
observations are to be made;
(c) the statistical design which concerns with the question or how many items are
to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be analysed;
and
(d) the operational design which deals with the techniques by which the
procedures specified in the sampling, statistical and observational designs can
be carried out.
8.2.2. Formulation of the Research problem:

There are several issues /problems arising in the society. We have to

understand and select some important issues or problems so that our work supply a
solution on that issue or it can be used as a guideline for the preparing the solution.
Research must be carried out with a motive/ object. We will have to decide the
‘universe’ of our study. There is plethora of information but only the relevant
material has to be taken into consideration. Only the required category has to be
selected. The researcher gets the timeline to work. Hence a stipulated time period
 has to be fixed. Data as we know one has to collect from various sources- primary
and secondary sources. Analysis of content is a central activity whenever one is
concerned with the study of the nature of the verbal materials. After the data have
been collected, the researcher has to sum up the collected data and organize it in such
a manner that will yield answers to the research questions

8.2.3. Devising tools and techniques for collection of data: Methodology:

The data available for the researcher are primary and secondary form. The
primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus
happen to be original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those
which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been
passed through the statistical process.
Generally primary data is collected during the experiments in anexperimental
research. Also we can obtain primary data either through observation or through
direct communication with respondents in one form or another or through personal
interviews. This, in other words, means that there are several methods of collecting
primary data, particularly in surveys and descriptive researches. Important ones are
observation method, interview method,questionnaires, through schedules, content
analysis.

8. 2.3. 1. Methods for the collection of statutory and case materials and juristic
literature

Material source of law is that from which the law is composed. Material sources are
immediate sources and can be divided into two types
 I- Historical i.e. Conventional: law having source in conventions, historical
Codifications, and Customary: law having source in customs; and
II- Legal i.e. enacted law made by the Parliament, the precedent declared by
Supreme Court, and Statutory Interpretations.
The law coming through the legal source can be divided further as follows:
I – Historical source:-
(1) Conventional law having source in conventions:
Conventions govern the agreeing parties. It can also be called as treaties. Such
conventions are binding. There are hundreds of such conventions and are good
source of research material.
(2) Historical Codifications:
Such as the Manu Smriti, the Yajnvalkya Smriti, Narada Smriti etc, then the Kuran,
and holy scriptures such as Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and may other writings.
The modern historical sources are the Constitutional Assembly debates, the Law
Commission drafts of CPC and various amendments suggested to the law through
its reports, the reports of various commissions set up at various times such as the
Mandal Commission report, the Shri Krishna Commission report etc.
(3) Customary law having source in customs:
Customs are one of the important source of law. The customs diminish of their use
but some of them are still prevailing because the society has accepted them and
hence such customs are considered as the sources of law.
 II- legal

1. Enacted law: The supreme law is made by the sovereign power of the nation,
in case of India it is the Parliament. The subordinate legislations are made by
the State. The Constitution of India provides for the same and has lists the
powers in the three list of Schedule VII (Art. 246). The Sovereign power can
also delegate the power to make law. Also the local bodies coming under the
concept of ‘State’ can also make law for the specified jurisdiction.
2. Precedent declared by Supreme Court: (Case law having source in
precedent): Precedent is a previous case which may be taken as an example
in subsequent cases, wherein there is some similar act or circumstances which
may be supported or justified. In judiciary it serves as guidance forthe
decisions of the new cases. As per Art. 141. Law declared by Supreme Court
to be binding on all courts.—The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be
binding on all courts within the territory of India. Thus the law declared by
the supreme court becomes a source.
3. Statutory Interpretations:
The law enacted by the parliament is called as statute. It is for the court to ascertain
the meaning to the letters and expression of the law. This is called as “interpretation”.
The words of the law then get real life. The judges then either interpret in literal way
i.e. interpretation with-in-the-frame or they may go beyond the ‘letters’ to the ‘sprit’
of the law and interpret liberally ascertaining the true intention of the legislators to
the given law e.g. the case of Maneka Gandhi v. union of India, cases filled by adv.
M.C. Mehta for environmental cause. etc. Such interpretation can be good source of
research.
 8. 2.3. 2. Use of historical and comparative research materials

A student of law has to stick to the historical developments of a law only or a legal
system its development etc. the comparative research material must be also relating
to law, e.g. the comparative study between the Parliament of Great Britain and India,
the comparative study between the Fundamental Rights in India and US, the
comparative study between the institution of Ombudsmen in India and Sweden, in
this way there can be several issues where one will be able to study the comparative
study between any similar issues which can become a source of material for the
researcher.

. Use of observation studies:

One great asset of the observational technique is that it is possible to record

behaviour as it occurs. Many other research techniques depend entirely on people’s
retrospective or anticipatory reports of their own behaviour. The observational
techniques yield data that pertain directly to typical behavioural situations.
Observation is independent of people’s willingness to report. Many a time, a
researcher meets with resistance from persons being studied. People may not have
the time or they may be unwilling to be interviewed or tested. Studies may deal with
subjects who are not capable of giving verbal reports of their behavior. Observation
may make available a variety of research purposes. It may be used to explore the
given area of subject-matter or to gain insight into the research problem and provide
a basis for development of hypotheses
Observational techniques also have limitations.
1. Observation of regular/ daily occurrences sometimes becomes difficult because
of the possibility that unforeseen factors may interfere with the observational
task. It is often impossible to predict the occurrence of an event exactly enough
to be able to be present to observe it.
2. The practical possibility of applying observational techniques is limited by the
duration of events. Besides, some occurrences that people may not be willing
and able to report are rarely accessible to direct observation (for example,
private behavior).
3. It is often held that observational data cannot be quantified. This, however, is
a gross misconception. Social researchers will do well to bear in mind that
observational data like other data are not incapable of being calculated.

Use of questionnaires/interview:

Questionnaire method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case

of big enquiries. It is being adopted by private individuals, research workers, private
and public organizations and even by government departments. In this method a
questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons concerned with a request to
answer the questions and return the questionnaire.
Quite often questionnaire is considered as heart of a survey operation. Hence
it should be very carefully constructed. If it is not properly set up, then the survey is
bound to fail. This fact requires studying the main aspects of a questionnaire such as
the general form, question formulation and wording.
A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed or typed in a
definite order on a form or set of forms. The questionnaire is mailed to respondents
who are expected to read and understand the questions and write down the reply in
the space meant for the purpose in the questionnaire itself. The respondents have to
answer the questions on their own.
The method of collecting data by mailing the questionnaires to respondents
is most extensively employed in various economic and business surveys. The merits
claimed on behalf of this method are as follows:
1. It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondent’s own
words,
2. Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers,
3. Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached
conveniently,
4. Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more
dependable and reliable.

The demerits of this system can be:

1. Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due to non-
response is often undetermined,
2. It can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating,
3. The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent. There is inbuilt
inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the approach once
questionnaires have been dispatched,
4. There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of replies
altogether to certain questions; interpretation of omissions is difficult,
5. It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative,
6. This method is likely to be the slowest of all.
The interview method:
The interview method of collecting data involves presentation of oral-verbal
motivation and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses. This method can be used
through personal interviews and, if possible, through telephonic interviews.
(a) Personal interviews: Personal interview method requires a person known as the
interviewer asking questions generally in a face-to-face contact to the other
person or persons.
(b) In the case of direct personal investigation, the interviewer has to collect the
information.
(c) There is greater flexibility under this method as the opportunity to restructure
questions is always there, especially in case of unstructured interviews,
(d) Observation method can as well be applied to recording verbal answers to
various questions,
(e) Personal information can as well be obtained easily under this method,
(f) Samples can be controlled more effectively as there arises no difficulty of the
missing returns; non-response generally remains very low.
(g) The interviewer can usually control which person(s) will answer the questions.
This is not possible in mailed questionnaire approach. If so desired, group
discussions may also be held.
(h) The interviewer may catch the informant off-guard and thus may secure the
most spontaneous reactions than would be the case if mailed questionnaire is
used.
(i) The language of the interview can be adapted to the ability or educational level
of the person interviewed and as such misinterpretations concerning
questions can be avoided,
 (j) The interviewer can collect supplementary information about the respondent’s
personal characteristics and environment which is often of great value in
interpreting results.

Demerits of interview method:

1. It is a very expensive method, especially when large and widely spread
geographical sample is taken.
2. There remains the possibility of the bias of interviewer as well as that of the
respondent Certain types of respondents such as important officials or
executives or people in high income groups may not be easily approachable.
3. This method is relatively more-time-consuming, especially when the sample
is large and re-calls upon the respondents are necessary.
4. The presence of the interviewer on the spot may over-stimulate the
respondent.
5. Interviewing at times may also introduce systematic errors.
6. Effective interview presupposes proper rapport with respondents that would
facilitate free and frank responses. This is often a very difficult requirement.

8. 2.3. 5. Use of case studies

The case study method is a very popular form of qualitative analysis and involves a
careful and complete observation of a social unit. This unit can be a person, a family,
an institution, a cultural group or even the entire community. It is a method of study
in depth rather than breadth. Thus, case study is essentially an intensive investigation
of the particular unit under consideration. The object of case study
method is to locate the factors that account for the behavior patterns of the given unit
as an integrated totality.

Advantages of the case study method:

The important advantages can be :
1. Being an exhaustive study of a social unit, the case study method enables
us to understand fully the behavior pattern of the concerned unit.
2. Through case study a researcher can obtain a real and enlightened record
of personal experiences along with the forces that direct him to adopt a
certain pattern of behavior.
3. This method enables the researcher to trace out the natural history of the
social unit and its relationship with the social factors and the forces
involved in its surrounding environment
4. It helps in formulating relevant hypotheses along with the data which may
be helpful in testing them.
5. Information collected under the case study method helps a lot to the
researcher in the task of constructing the appropriate questionnaire or
schedule for the said task requires thorough knowledge of the concerning
universe.
6. The researcher can use one or more of the several research methods under
the case study method depending upon the prevalent circumstances. In
other words, the use of different methods such as depth interviews,
questionnaires, documents, study reports of individuals, letters, and the
like is possible under case study method.
7. Case data are quite useful for diagnosis, therapy and other practical case
problems.
 Limitations of the case study method:
1. Case situations are seldom comparable and therefore the information gathered
in case studies is often not comparable.
2. The case data as significant scientific data since they do not provide knowledge
of the “impersonal, universal, non-ethical, non-practical, repetitive aspects of
phenomena”.
3. The danger of false generalization is always there in view of the fact that no
set rules are followed in collection of the information and only few units are
studied.
4. It consumes more time and requires lot of expenditure.
5. Case study method is based on several assumptions which may not be very
realistic at times, and as such the usefulness of case data is always subject to doubt.
6. Case study method can be used only in a limited sphere; it is not possible to
use it in case of a big society. Sampling is also not possible under this method.
7. Response of the investigator is an important limitation of this method. He often
thinks that he has full knowledge of the unit and can answer about it. In case the
same is not true, then a consequence follows. In fact, this is more the fault of the
researcher rather than that of the case study method.
Despite the above stated limitations, we find that case studies undertaken in several disciplines, particularly in
sociology, as a tool of scientific research in viewof the several advantages indicated earlier. Most of the
limitations can be removed if researchers are always conscious of these and are well trained in the modern
methods of collecting data

The concept of sampling and its scope is as important as it is basic as a market

research technique. The chosen samples must be representative of the universe with
the precision as required. It sounds difficult until you learn the different techniques
involved in sampling.

This article will provide useful insights into the common sampling methods in market
research. But, before describing these methods, let us introduce some important
concepts in this context

What is Sampling?
Sampling is the set of techniques and steps to be taken to carry out the process of
selecting the sample in an investigation. The basic function of sampling is to
determine which part of a population should be examined to make inferences about
that population

Does Sampling Have Benefits?

• The sampling costs are cheaper and more practical than reaching every
member of a target population. It saves you money and time.

• With sampling, you have a higher degree of control with less complexity.
• A sample can be more accurate as it eliminates exposure to non-sampling
errors like non-response-bias.

• It is applied when there is difficulty in having censuses.

The sampling objective is to characterize the population under study through
specific parameters, which can be means, totals, and proportions. You must also
consider the sampling errors since information is obtained from the sample that
probably would not coincide precisely if another alternative sample from the same
population were selected.

What to Consider When Sampling?

When designing research that includes writing survey questions and considering
sampling methods for online survey research, online focus groups, or other types of
data collection methods that will likely prompt sampling methods related
questions…

At a general level, with the market research sample, you should make decisions
based on:

• The sample unit to be used? And with whom will sampling be used.

• What should be the size of the sample? How big should that sample be? How
many people will be included?
• What sampling frames are available? What procedures will be used, and how

will the people be selected for sampling?

having
What information is needed to choose the correct sampling
method in research?
Choosing a sampling method requires stating the problem you are solving first.
Practically speaking, this requires identifying the target population and being clear on
the hypothesis or, instead, null hypothesis you are testing.

Begin with understanding the who, what, why, where, when, and how questions.
Answers to the following example queries can help you determine the target
population to sample and identify a source or sample frame:

• To whom should I market my product or service, and how will they respond?

• What impact is my candidate’s message having on moving the needle?

• How will my employees react to a compensation change?

• Which fundraising campaign will be most accepted, or where will dollars be

most impactful.

These and many similar questions typically drive an organization’s desire to conduct
market research, political research, or organizational research. Thus, you can be
confident in designing the proper test and picking a sampling methodology to support
your research goals.

What types of sampling methods are appropriate for online

research?
When using internet data collection tools and deciding upon a sampling
methodology, there is fundamentally no difference in your range of choices (whether
probability or non-probability sampling). The theory (basic methods) is not applied
differently from other methodologies, such as phone or mail surveys. It will be up to
your ability to create a sample frame using the online medium that supports the
sampling plan.

For example, if you want to do a simple random sample using an invite sequence to
members selected from a list of email addresses of all members of a professional
association, then you can accomplish this.

Another example of a non-probability sample would be using a list of all customers

that serviced their Subaru Legacy in the past three years, sending out 100,000
invitations to take the survey, asking them about their satisfaction, and closing it after
the first 100 responses. This methodology would be considered convenience
sampling.

For decades into the internet research age, many research professionals still rely on
offline data collection methods despite their high cost, non-response bias, and other
inefficiencies. Yet, there are still legitimate use cases for these tools today.

With the popularity of online research, principally due to its speed, relatively lower
costs, and access to targeted audiences, many research practitioners ask:

What kind of sampling method is an online survey?

The answer to this question highlights the main point of what this sampling article
seeks to address, regardless of data collection medium: internet, phone, mail, door to
door, or telepathy – it is the way you sample and not the data collection medium that
is important.
All mediums have limitations and also strengths with regard to each sampling
method for each given use case.

Please consider if you are doing online qualitative interviews in:

• China,

• Cincinnati or,

• Katmandu,

or quantitative online surveys with,

• N=100 Alaskan crab fishers or,

• Brand tracking with N=7000 13 to 39-year-old millennials every month,

any of the project samples for the examples mentioned above may be a good fit
for online research, and independently each of those may be different sampling
methods. The panel provider you work with should address how they design and
select sample frames for your specific research.

What types of sampling methods for research should you

consider for your study design?
The principal methods used by market research experts are probability and non-
probability sampling.

Within both of these categories are subgroups that define how to obtain your sample
more clearly, each carrying its own advantages and disadvantages for the researcher
seeking the data.
 What are probability sampling methods, and how are they
used?
The sample units are selected through random processes in probability sampling. In
this type of sampling, each element of the population has the same probability of
being chosen. It is based on the equal probability principle, that is, all individuals are
equally likely to be chosen to form part of a sample, and consequently all possible
sample sizes have the same probability of being chosen.

Probability sampling methods ensure that the samples drawn are representative of the
population, and, therefore, they are recommended. It is possible to know the margin
of error and the level of confidence.

Four probability sampling methods used in market research

Simple Random Sampling Method

There are generally two principal ways to make a random selection when building a
sampling frame. When the sample size is smaller, one standard method is to use
simple random sampling, which gives every individual in the target population an
equal chance of being selected by generating a series of random numbers.

This is one of the most common sampling methods in market research in which all
the elements (people, organizations, etc.) of the population to be investigated have
the same chance of being selected for the sample.

For example, let’s say we have 10,000 members of our hiking club, and we want to
survey them to explore new trail destinations (but we don’t want to read 10,000
reviews). We can decide to send the survey to a simple random sample of 400 “fans”
to make sure that we will have a response from all types of members.

Simple random sampling is commonly used to identify customer satisfaction (opinion

surveys), members of organizations (general exploratory surveys), etc.

When you have a larger population, deploy a systematic approach described below or
use cluster or stratified methods.

Cluster Sampling

Cluster sampling involves two stages. In stage one, the market researcher selects a
certain number of groups or clusters of people to question or interview. In stage two,
a random sample within each cluster is selected for the actual study.

Cluster sampling works best when a random sampling method of an entire population
is too expensive, impossible, or extremely complicated. This method is a less
expensive and faster way to collect market research information. However, since it’s
not a completely random sampling, you are more likely to generate a sampling error.

Unlike strata sampling, where each stratum has a unique characteristic (sex, age,
region, organization size, etc.), clusters or groups are the opposite. It is about making
groups similar to each other. This method is used when we have technical difficulty
in accessing all types of subjects in our population.

A cluster or a conglomerate is a “typical” group of our population; (that is, we could

divide the population into X very similar groups, and then study only one or some of
the groups exhaustively (all its subjects or making a random sample within the
group).

One example of good use for this research sampling method may involve collecting
customer preferences for a large, national hotel chain. It would be difficult,
expensive, and time-consuming to collect information about every customer visiting
every location of a hotel chain.

However, you can select a dozen locations around the country in stage one of a
cluster sample and then randomly select guests at each of those 12 locations over the
course of a month for your B2B research.

Perhaps you are collecting insights about new hotel services you’re thinking about
adding. Customer preferences shared through such a cluster sample would probably
be reasonably representative and usable for making such decisions.

Precision is not extremely important in this case, and therefore, the cost and time
savings would outweigh the need for conducting a completely randomized survey.

Stratified Sampling

Stratified sampling is where the overall population is divided into mutually exclusive
groups before a random sample is selected. You might want to subdivide your group
by gender, race, income level, or age. Each person can only belong to one stratum or
group.

For example, we see that among our clients, there are 60% women and 40% men. If
we want to survey a sample with these proportions, we will design the sample
carefully, for example, by investigating 600 women and 400 men in a total sample of
1000 people.
Businesses or organizations looking for a high level of precision or the ability to
analyze information within smaller subgroups and the overall population may want to
invest in stratified sampling. Since a representative group will be selected from each
stratum, the actual sample can be smaller, saving time and money.

Customer Experience and Brand Tracking Studies are most often stratified to ensure
representation from all customer segments. However, they may be defined.

Depending on your population and research goals, you’ll want to decide if you will
use a proportionate or disproportionate stratification. Proportionate stratification can
increase your precision because the actual sampling fraction of people will be
proportionate to your entire population, which may not be the case in a completely
randomized sample.

Disproportionate stratification can help market researchers when there are significant
variances among the strata. You may gain precision for a particular survey measure;
however, this precision may not carry across other components of the research.

Systematic Sample

Systematic sampling is an easy version of probability sampling because researchers

select every nth individual on a population list. It is the technique that focuses on
choosing a random selection of the first element for the sample.

Then later components are selected using fixed or systematic intervals until the
desired sample size is obtained. As long as the population list does not contain any
pre-organized groups, the resulting sampling should be representative.

This method of sampling is simple, fast, and effective in most market research
situations. All that is necessary is a list of the population, a starting point, and a
sampling interval.

For example, if you want to collect data from a trade association with 10,000
members, you can select every 100th person (sampling interval) on a membership
roster to create a survey group of 100.
One example of a potential problem with systematic sampling would be a list that is
organized before the sample is selected.

For instance, if you are questioning coaches and players of an adult sporting league
about tournament locations, and the list is made up of team sub-lists that always
place two coaches followed by 20 team members, you run the risk of either soliciting
feedback from all coaches or no coaches depending on your interval selection.

What are non-probability sampling methods, and when are

they used?
Non-probability sampling is, obviously, the opposite of probability sampling. Often
referred to as purposive sampling collectively, the selection process within the
various methods is not random, and therefore, subject to research to greater bias and
more sampling errors.

The results of non-probability sampling are often helpful before or after a market
research project involving probability sampling. For instance, the ideas generated can
be used to create a quantitative survey for a randomized sample of your population.
A non-probability sample can help flesh out and clarify topics that come out of a
randomized survey.

Three non-probability sampling methods used in market

research

Convenience Sampling Method

Convenience sampling is a quick and easy way to select your research subjects.
Because they are the ones most convenient for your particular research project, this
factor means that it’s faster, easier, and cheaper to conduct your research.

The major disadvantage is that, (depending on the type of convenience sampling you
are using) you can introduce significant bias or sampling errors using this method.
One common example of convenience sampling is in a university setting, where
graduate students use volunteer undergraduate students as experiments. In other
cases, a researcher may select the people who happen to shop at a particular store on
one day, mall shoppers, or the first dozen clients on a business’ customer list.

There are hybrids for convenience samples in online research where you draw
random samples from a universe of participants with certain characteristics using
behavioral data and other targeting methods. It’s a targeted convenience sample, but
still random.

The question becomes low incidence categories: is it really better to screen through
10,000 people to get 100 people who qualify for a one percent incidence study? Most
likely, it’s cost and time-prohibitive if you consider all the pros and cons.

Quota Sampling

In quota sampling, the researcher identifies groups that meet certain conditions, for
example, age, sex, socio-economic level, depending on which feature is considered
the basis of the quota. The number of individuals in each of the cells is defined.
These types of cells are called quotas.

Categorized as a non-probability sampling technique, quota sampling enlists study

participants until a relevant research category (or quota) has recruited
enough respondents to reach holistic conclusions.

Unlike random sampling strategies, where every member of a target population has
an equal chance of being selected, quota sampling relies more on convenience
sampling. This means that researchers use their own judgment regarding how many
people they need to survey to acquire reasonable and authentic results.

Snowball Sampling
Snowball sampling is generally carried out when there is a very small population. In
this type of sampling, the researcher asks the first subject to identify another potential
subject who also meets the research criteria. It is also known as chain sampling.

For example, a researcher decides to investigate samples made up of individuals with

a rare disease. In this way, when finding an individual with these characteristics, the
researcher asks for help finding other people with these conditions to make up the
sample.

Judgmental Sampling

Judgmental sampling is a technique where researchers use their own rationale to

select a sample based on personal knowledge and expertise. This produces a bias in
the sample, but purposive sampling research methods can be useful when studying
particular groups within the population.

If a researcher collects insights on patients suffering from a rare disease, it would

make more sense to find those individuals directly. For an investigation of dog food,
the researcher will select as a sample people accompanied by a dog. Another example
is research on the behavior of parents with their children. In such a case, you will
select people who have children as your sample.

The advantage of judgmental sampling is that you can question the exact type of
person you’re seeking for your research project.

The major disadvantage is that you will most likely introduce human error and
researcher bias into the results. As a result, it would be unwise to make
generalizations about a larger population based on the results of a judgmental sample
study.

Sampling methods conclusions

The concept of sampling or sampling techniques serves to extrapolate the data

obtained to the population under study in market research. The objective of sampling
is to obtain a sample from a population of interest most efficiently and reliably. You
can use any of the sampling methods based on the nature of your research and the
time and budget you have to conduct that research.

Once you’ve determined your market research project’s goals and objectives, you can
make a smarter decision about which type of sampling methodology to use. As you
can see from this primer, you need to balance your requirements for precision against
the cost and time requirements of each sampling method.

If you’re seeking quantitative results, it’s best to use one of the probability sampling
methods or hybrids.

If you are looking to conduct qualitative data analysis, one of the non-probability
sampling methods may deliver the sample you need at a much lower cost and time
investment. Working with a market research expert will help you better match your
research requirements to the research sampling method and give you the greatest
return on your investment.

Measurement of Variables is an integral part of research and an important aspect of

research design. The characteristic of individual and business vary from individual to
individual and from entity to entity. In the case of human beings, there are certain physical
or quantitative characteristics like height, weight and there are certain abstract or qualitative
characteristics like intelligence, integrity, attitude creativity, etc., In case of business
organization also there are physical characteristics like employees, sales, profit, etc. which
are easily measureable. However, there are certain abstract characteristics like reputation,
image of the entity, motivation, customer perceptions. The perceptions and feelings of
customers and employees are extremely important because they help the company to stay
afloat and grow.

Measurement means assigning numbers or symbols to the characteristics of certain objects.

We do not measure the object but some characteristics of it. Therefore in research people or
consumers are not measured; what is measured only are their perceptions, attitude or any
other relevant characteristics. There are two reasons for which numbers are usually assigned.
First of all, numbers permit statistical analysis of the resulting data and secondly, they
facilitate the communication of measurement results. The assignment of numbers to the
characteristics must be isomorphic. Scaling is an extension of measurement. It involves
creating a continuum on which measurement of objects are located. Suppose you want to
measure the satisfaction level towards coffee day and scale of 1 to 11 is used for the said
purpose. This scale indicates the degree of dissatisfaction, with 1=extremely dissatisfied and
11=extremely satisfied. Measurement is the actual assignment of a number from 1 to 11 to
each respondent. Scaling describes the procedures of assigning numbers to various degrees
of opinion, attitude and other concepts. This can be done in two ways viz, (i) making a
judgment about some characteristic of an individual and then placing him directly on a scale
that has been defined in terms of thatcharacteristic (ii) Constructing questionnaires in such a
way that the score of individual’s responses assigns him a place on a scale.

2. Characteristics or goodness of instruments / measurement scales

A measurement scale has to have certain desirable characteristic or criteria to judge its
“goodness” so that one could have faith or trust in the scale that it will measure what it is
intended to measure. The following are the main characteristics of measurement scales. They
are

• Accuracy and Precision

• Reliability
• Validity
• Practicality

2.1 Accuracy and Precision

The characteristics of accuracy in measurement scale means it should be a true

representative of the observation of underlying characteristic. The precision, however, means
the power to discriminate/distinguish and indicate the extent of accuracy that can be achieved
with the measurement scale.

Eg: The examination is conducted to measure the knowledge and understanding of the
student. The marks scored out of say 100, would provide better accuracy and precision than
simply grading the students A+, A, B+, B and C

2.2 Reliability

Reliability indicates the confidence one could have in the measurement obtained with a
scale. It tests how consistently a measuring instrument measures a given
characteristic/attitude is measured again and again, leading to about the same conclusion.
However, it may be emphasized that reliability does not necessarily imply that the measuring
instrument is also accurate. All it means is consistency in drawing conclusion.

2.3 Validity
 The validity of a measuring instrument indicates the extent to which an instrument scale
tests or measures what it is intended to measure. For example, if we intent to
measure intelligence, the instrument, say question paper, ought to be such that it results in
measuring true intelligence; if the paper tests only general knowledge, the instrument is not
valid.

2.3.1 Types of validity

• Content validity
• Criterion validity
• Construct validity

￭Content validity

It indicates the extent to which a measuring instrument provides adequate coverage of the
issues that are under study.

￭Criterion validity

These are two types. One indicates the success of the measuring instrument used for
predicting. The other, also called concurrent validity, is used to estimate the present status.

￭Construct validity

It is one of the most significant aspects in the development of measurement theory and
practice. It links psychometric notions and practices to theoretical notions. It attempts to
explain the variation observed on several individuals.

Eg: If a test of intelligence is conducted on individuals, and if the test scores obtained by a
measurement scale vary from individual to individual, one would like to know the factors to
construct behind this phenomenon.

2.4 Practicability

From theoretical viewpoint, a measure is ought to be reliable and valid. However, from
practical viewpoint, the measure should be

• Economical
• Convenient
• Interpretable
 The economic consideration leads to a comparison between ideal research project and
availability of budget for a study. Thus, the measuring instrument has to take cognizance this
aspect and designed accordingly.

The convenience implies the ease with which an instrument like questionnaire could be
easily administered to the subjects/participants/respondents. In this one should give due
attention to the proper layout of the measuring instrument. This poses more challenge in the
situation whereas the concepts and constructs are rather difficult to understand.

The interpretability of an instrument, like questionnaire, is the ease with which the
researcher is able to interpret the responses from the subjects/respondents/participants.

3. Properties of scales

• Distinctive classification
• Order
• Equal Distance
• Fixed Origin

3.1 Distinctive classification

A measure that can be used to classify objects or their characteristics into distinctive classes
or categories is said to have this property. This is the minimum requirement for any measure.
Eg: Gender classifies the individuals into two distinctive groups, male and female.

3.2 Order

A measure is set to have an order if the objects or their characteristics can be arranged in a
meaningful order. Eg: Marks of the student can be arranged in an ascending or descending
order.

3.3 Equal Distance

Thedifference between any two consecutive categories of a measured tribute, are equal,
then the measure is said to have equal distance. Eg: The time difference between 2 pm to 3
pm is same as the difference between 3 pm and 4 pm.

3.4 Fixed Origin

 A measurement for measuring a characteristic is said to have a fixed origin if there is a
meaningful zero or “absence” of characteristic. Ex: Income of an individual, Sales of a
Company.

4. CLASSIFICATION OR TYPES OF MEASUREMENT SCALES The most widely

used classification of measurement scales are

• Nominal Scale
• Ordinal Scale
• Interval Scale
• Ratio Scale

4.1 Nominal Scale

The qualitative scale without order is called nominal scale. The nominal scale involves
classification of measure objects into various categories such as ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.
Numeric value is assigned to these classified categories like house number, telephone
number, and roll number of the student. The data collected through a nominal measure scale
is called nominal data.

4.2 Ordinal Scale

A qualitative scale with order is called an ordinal scale, it tells whether an object has more
or less of characteristics than some other objects. It is a scale that does not measure values of
the characteristics but indicates only the order or rank like 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. Some examples
are Ratings of hotels, restaurants, and movies. The data obtained using ordinal scale is termed
as ordinal data.

4.3 Interval Scale

A measurement scale whose successive values represent equal value or amount of

characteristic that is being measured and whose base value is not fixed is called an interval
scale. It provides more powerful measurement than ordinal scales. It also incorporates the
concept of equality of interval. This is a quantitative scale of measure without a fixed or true
zero. It is a quantitative data that can be measured on a numerical scale. However, the zero
point does not mean the absence of the characteristic being measured. Some examples are
temperature, time, longitude, latitude, etc. The data obtained from an interval scale is termed
as interval data.

4.4 Ratio Scale

 This is the highest level of measurement and has all the four properties of a scale. Ratio
scale represents the actual amount of variables. Ratio scales are quantitative measures with
fixed or true zero. The data obtained from ratio scales are referred to as ratio data. Ratio is
also a quantitative data that can be measured on a numerical scale but, here the zero point is
fixed and implies the absence of what is being measured. In fact, if a scale has all the features
of an interval scale, and there is a true zero point, then it is called a ratio scale.

Table 1 Examples of measurement scales

Statistical Analysis based on Scales

Depending on the property of the scales, there is a limitation on the descriptive statistics
one can perform on the scales.

Table 2 summarizes the descriptive statistics that can be used on the type of scales
5. SCALING TECHNIQUES

Several scales formats have been developed to enable a researcher in collecting appropriate
data for conducting a study. The scales are broadly divided into two categories viz.

• Conventional scaling
• Unconventional scaling

The conventional scales are used in the questionnaire format and are most common. The
unconventional scales are used for unconventional collection of data through games, puzzles,
etc.

The conventional scales are of two types viz, Comparative Scaling techniques and Non
comparative techniques.

5.1 COMPARATIVE SCALING TECHNIQUES

 The comparative scale involves direct comparison of the different objects. Comparative
scale data are measured on ordinal scale and interpreted in relative terms and such as they
generate non metric or non-numerical data.

Types of comparative scaling techniques

• Paired comparison
• Rank order
• Constant Sum

5.1.1 Paired Comparison

In paired comparison scales, the respondent is asked to select one object from the list of
two objects, on the basis of some criteria. This forces the respondents to compulsorily select
one of the two. Such scales are used when the study requires to distinguish between the two
specified objects.

Example

In the study of consumer preferences about two brands of glucose biscuits viz, Parl-G and
Tiger.
Select any one of the two brands.
Which Glucose biscuits do you prefer on the basis of ‘Taste’?

1 Parle-G 1 Tiger

Which Glucose biscuit do you prefer on the basis of ‘Price’?

1 Parle-G 1 Tiger

Which Glucose biscuits do you prefer on the basis of ‘Taste’?

1 Parle-G 1 Tiger

This scaling technique is useful when the researcher wants to compare two or more objects.
In the above example we have compared two brands over three factors. Hence the number of
comparison is three.

5.1.2 Rank order scaling

 In the rank order scaling, respondents are presented with several objects simultaneously
and asked to order or rank them according to some criterion. It is also termed as forced
ranking scale. Unlike paired comparison, rank order scaling technique prompts respondents
to rank a given list of objects.

Example
Rank the following services in the order of importance attached by you, while selecting a
new mobile services provider. The most preferred can be ranked 1, the next as 2 and so on.
The least preferred will have the last rank. Do not repeat the ranks.

5.1.3 Constant Sum Rating Scale

When it is to assess the relative importance attached by a respondent to the objects in a list,
the constant sum scaling technique is used. In this technique, a respondent is asked to allocate
certain points, out of a fixed sum of points, for each object according to the
importance attached by him/her to that object. If the object is not so important, the respondent
can allocate zero point, and if an object is most important he/she may allocate maximum
points out of the fixed points. Generally, the total fixed points are 100 for simplicity but it
may be taken as some other value depending on the study.

Example

Allocate the amount you would like to spend on your birthday on the following items, out
of total amount of Rs.10000/- (Please note that total amount allocated should be exactly
Rs.10000).
Check your progress:

State whether the following statements are true or false

• Nominal scale can only involve the assignment of numbers. Alphabets or symbols
cannot be assigned
• A comparative rating scale attempts to provide a common frame of reference to all
respondents

5.2 NON-COMPARATIVE SCALES

In the non-comparative scales, the respondents do not make use of any frame of reference
before answering the questions. The resulting data is generally assumed to be interval or ratio
scale.

For eg: The respondent may be asked to evaluate the quality of food in a restaurant on a
five point scale (1=very poor, 2=poor and 5=very good).

TYPES OF NON-COMPARITIVE SCALES

• Graphic rating scales

• Itemized rating scales:
• Likert scale
• Semantic differential scale
• Stapel scale
5.2.1 Graphic rating scale

This is a continuous scale, also called graphic rating scale. In the graphic rating scale the
respondent is asked to tick his preference on a graph.

Eg: Please put a tick mark on the following line to indicate your preference for fast food.

To measure the preference of an individual towards the fast food, one has to measure the
distance from the extreme left to the position where the tick mark has been put. Higher the
distance, higher would be the individual preference for fast food. The basic assumption in
this scale is that the respondents can distinguish the fine shade in differences between the
preference or attitude which need not be the case. Further, the coding, editing and tabulation
of data generated through such a procedure is a very tedious task and the researchers would
try to avoid using it.

Another version of graphic scale could be:

Eg: Please put a tick mark on the following line to indicate your preference for fast food.

This is a slightly better version than the one discussed earlier. For eg: if a respondent had
earlier ticked between 5 and 6, it is likely that he would remember the same and the second
time, he would tick very close to where he did earlier. This means that the difference in the
two response could be negligible.

5.2.2 Itemized rating scale

In the Itemized rating scale, the respondents are provided with a scale that has a number of
brief descriptions associated with each of the response categories. It is widely used in survey
research. There are certain issues that should be kept in mind while designing the itemized
rating scale. These issues are:

Number of categories to be used

There is no hard and fast rule as to how many categories should be used in an itemized
rating scale. However, it is a practice to use five or six categories. It is a fact that the additional
categories need not increase the precision with the attitude of being measured.

Odd or even number of categories

By using even number of categories the scale would not have a neutral category and the
respondent will be forced to choose either the positive or the negative side of the attitude. If
the odd numbers of categories are used, the respondent has the freedom to be neutral if he
wants to be so.

Balanced versus unbalanced scales

A balanced scale is the one which has equal number of favorable and unfavorable
categories.

Example for balanced scale:

How important is price to you in buying a new car? Very important

Relatively important

Neither important nor unimportant Relatively unimportant

Very unimportant

Example for unbalanced sale:

How important is price to you in buying a new car? More important than any other
factor Extremely important Important Somewhat important Unimportant

Nature and degree of verbal description

Verbal descriptions must be clearly and precisely worded so that the respondents are able
to differentiate between them.
 Forced versus Non-forced scales

In a forced scale, the respondent is allowed to take a stand, whereas in the non- forced
scale, the respondent can be neutral if he/she so desires. Paired comparison scale, rank order
scale and constant sum rating scales are examples of forced scales.

Physical Form

There are many options that are available for the presentation of the scales. It could be
presented vertically or horizontally. The categories could be expressed in boxes, discrete lines
or as units on a continuum. They may or may not have numbers assigned to them. The
numerical values, if used, may be positive, negative or both.

Eg: Suppose we want to measure the perception about Jet airways using a multi-item scale.

i) Likert scale

The Likert scale is the most frequently used variations of the summated rating scale
commonly used in the studies relating to attitudes and perceptions. Summated rating scales
comprise statement that expressed either a favorable or an unfavorable attitude toward the
objective of interest on a 5 point, 7 point ot on any other numerical value. The respondents
are given a certain number of items (statements) on which they are asked to express their
degree of agreement or disagreement. Likert scale is also called a summated scale because
the scores on individual items can be added together to produce a total score for the
respondent.
 Likert scale statements to measure the image of the company

Likert scale has several advantages that make it more popular. It is relatively easy and quick
to compute. Further, it is more reliable and provides more data for a given amount of
respondent’s time, as compared to other scales. The data gathered is interval data.

ii)Semantic differential scale

This scale is widely used to compare the images of competing brands, companies or
services. In semantic differential scale, a respondent is required to rate each attitude object
on a number of five-or-seven point rating scales. The difference between likert and semantic
differential scale is that, in a likert scale, a number of statements are presented to the
respondents to express their degree of agreement or disagreement. However, in semantic
differential scale, bipolar adjectives or phrases are used. The advantage of semantic
differential scale is that it is versatile and gives multi dimension advantage. It is widely used
to compare image of brands, products, services and companies. The data generated from this
scale can be considered as numeric in some cases, and can be summed to arrive total scores.
 iii) Stapel scale

Stapel scale is used to measure the direction and intensity of an attitude. The scale generally
has 10 categories involving numbering -5 to +5 without a neutral point and is usually
presented in a vertical form.

Eg: Suppose a restaurant is to be evaluated on quality of food and quality of service, and
then the staple scale would be presented as:

• The data generated in staple scale is interval data.

• It can be used to collect data through telephonic interview.
• This method is most applicable were evaluative responses are to be rated on a single
dimension.
• The scale is most economical were several items are all to be rated on the same
dimension.

Conclusion:

Different types of measurement scales and scaling techniques are presented in a lucid
manner and in a simple language. I hope the module on scaling techniques will help you to
frame your questionnaire suitably to get the required primary data.
he difference between Classification and Tabulation lies in their respective processes of handling data. Classification
entails grouping data according to specific characteristics or attributes, while Tabulation involves presenting data in a
clear and organized manner, typically through tables or charts. In essence, Classification is all about organizing data
into distinct categories based on certain criteria, whereas Tabulation focuses on presenting the data in a structured
format for easy interpretation.

To elaborate further, Classification entails sorting data into distinct groups or classes based on predefined criteria such
as age, gender, or location. This process enables data analysts to draw conclusions and make predictions based on the
observed patterns within each group. On the other hand, Tabulation involves arranging data in a systematic manner to
facilitate comparison and analysis. By presenting data in tables or charts, analysts can easily visualize patterns, trends,
and relationships within the data.

Classification Tabulation
The process of grouping data into classes or The process of organizing data into rows and
categories based on certain criteria or columns in a table. This makes it easier to read,
characteristics. This helps in understanding understand and compare the data. The rows
the data better and making meaningful represent individual observations or data points and
comparisons between different groups. the columns represent the different variables or
features.
Used to represent data in a way that is easy to Used to represent data in a way that is easy to read
understand and analyze. It helps in identifying and compare. It allows for quick and easy
patterns, trends and relationships within the visualization of the data and facilitates the
data. identification of patterns, outliers and other
important information.
The classes or categories are usually mutually The rows and columns may not be mutually
exclusive and exhaustive. This means that exclusive. This means that a data point may appear
each data point belongs to one and only one in multiple rows or columns.
class and there are no gaps or overlaps
between the classes.
Key Differences Between Classification and Tabulation
o Purpose: Classification is used to group similar data into categories, while tabulation is used to present data
in a structured and organized manner.
o Method: Classification involves grouping data based on certain criteria, while tabulation involves organizing
data into rows and columns.
o Output: The output of classification is a set of categories, while the output of tabulation is a table of data.
o Analysis: Classification is used for exploratory data analysis, while tabulation is used for descriptive data
analysis.
o Flexibility: Classification is more flexible as it can be used for both continuous and categorical data, while
tabulation is typically used for categorical data.
o Dimensionality: Classification is typically used to reduce the dimensionality of data, while tabulation is used
to increase the dimensionality of data.
o Visualization: Classification results can be visualized using a variety of techniques, such as tree diagrams
and scatter plots, while tabulation results are typically visualized using tables.
o Tools: There are a variety of classification techniques, such as decision trees, logistic regression, and neural
networks, while tabulation is typically done using spreadsheet software or programming libraries.

What is Classification?
Classification is a process of categorizing a given set of data into classes. It is a supervised learning technique where
the model is trained on a labeled dataset, and the goal is to predict the class of new, unseen data. Common
classification algorithms include decision trees, logistic regression, and support vector machines. The accuracy of the
model is typically evaluated using metrics such as precision, recall, and F1 score.

Advantages of Classification:-

o It allows for the efficient organization and categorization of large amounts of data.
o It can be used to predict the class or category of new, unseen data points.
o It can be used to identify patterns and trends in the data that may not be immediately apparent.
o It can be used in a variety of fields, including natural language processing, computer vision, and
bioinformatics.
o It can be easily integrated with other machine learning techniques, such as regression and clustering.
o It can be used to make decisions or take actions based on the class or category of the data, such as in spam
detection or medical diagnosis.

Disadvantages of Classification:-
o It can be sensitive to the choice of features used for classification, and the performance of the classifier can
be affected by irrelevant or redundant features.
o It can be sensitive to the distribution of the training data, and may not generalize well to new, unseen data.
o It can be sensitive to the choice of classifier, and different classifiers may perform better or worse depending
on the specific dataset and task.
o It can be sensitive to the parameter settings of the classifier, and may require careful tuning to achieve good
performance.
o It can be sensitive to class imbalance, where one class has many more examples than another class.
o It can be sensitive to noise or outliers in the data, which can negatively affect the performance of the
classifier.

What is Tabulation?
Tabulation is a method of organizing and presenting data in a clear and organized way, often using rows and columns.
It allows for easy comparison and analysis of the information. Tabulation can be used in various fields such as
statistics, business, and research.

Advantages of Tabulation:-

o Simplicity: Tabulation is a simple method of organizing and presenting data in an easy-to-read format. It can
be understood by people with little or no training in statistics.
o Flexibility: Tabulation can be used to present data in a variety of ways, such as frequency distributions,
cross-tabulations, and percentages.
o Comprehension: Tabulation allows for easy comparison and interpretation of data, as the data is presented in
a clear and organized manner.
o Data Reduction: Tabulation can be used to condense large amounts of data into manageable chunks, making
it easier to analyze and understand.
o Precision: Tabulation can be used to provide a high level of precision in the presentation of data, such as
with exact counts or percentages.
o Comparability: Tabulation makes it easy to compare data across different groups or time periods, which can
be useful for identifying trends or patterns in the data.
Disadvantages of Tabulation:-

o Limited Data Representation: Tabulation can only represent data in a limited number of ways, such as
frequencies and percentages. More complex data relationships may not be fully captured.
o Lack of Context: Tabulation can be misleading if the data is not presented in the proper context, such as not
including important information about the data or the population being studied.
o Limited Accuracy: Tabulation can be less accurate than other methods, such as statistical analysis, as it does
not take into account the full range of data or the underlying distribution of the data.
o Limited Inferences: Tabulation can only make limited inferences about the data, such as basic descriptive
statistics, and cannot be used to make predictions or identify causality.
o Bias: Tabulation can be biased if the data is not properly collected or if the sample is not representative of the
population.
o Complex Data: Tabulation can become difficult to interpret when working with complex data sets or when
trying to represent multiple variables at once.

Similarities Between Classification and Tabulation

o Both classification and tabulation involve grouping and organizing data into categories or groups.
o Both techniques are used to simplify and make data more understandable.
o Both techniques can be used to identify patterns and trends in the data.
o Both techniques can be used to make predictions or draw conclusions about the data.
o Both techniques can be used to visualize data through the use of charts and tables.
o Both techniques can be used for both qualitative and quantitative data.
o Both techniques can be used as a preprocessing step in data analysis, such as machine learning.

In summary, classification and tabulation are two distinct methods of organizing and presenting data. Classification
involves grouping data based on specific criteria, enabling the identification of patterns and relationships. On the
other hand, tabulation focuses on summarizing data in a tabular format, facilitating comparisons and providing a clear
overview. While classification emphasizes categorization, tabulation emphasizes presentation and summarization.
Both methods play crucial roles in data analysis and decision-making, helping researchers and analysts derive
meaningful insights from data

In our data-rich age, understanding how to analyze and extract true meaning from our business’s digital
insights is one of the primary drivers of success.

Despite the colossal volume of data we create every day, a mere 0.5% is actually analyzed and used
for data discovery, improvement, and intelligence. While that may not seem like much, considering the
amount of digital information we have at our fingertips, half a percent still accounts for a vast amount
of data.

With so much data and so little time, knowing how to collect, curate, organize, and make sense of all of
this potentially business-boosting information can be a minefield – but online data analysis is the
solution.

In science, data analysis uses a more complex approach with advanced techniques to explore and
experiment with data. On the other hand, in a business context, data is used to make data-driven
decisions that will enable the company to improve its overall performance. In this post, we will cover
the analysis of data from an organizational point of view while still going through the scientific and
statistical foundations that are fundamental to understanding the basics of data analysis.

To put all of that into perspective, we will answer a host of important analytical questions, explore
analytical methods and techniques, while demonstrating how to perform analysis in the real world with
a 17-step blueprint for success.

What Is Data Analysis?

Data analysis is the process of collecting, modeling, and analyzing data using various statistical and
logical methods and techniques. Businesses rely on analytics processes and tools to extract insights that
support strategic and operational decision-making.

All these various methods are largely based on two core areas: quantitative and qualitative research.

To explain the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research, here’s a video for your
viewing pleasure:

Gaining a better understanding of different techniques and methods in quantitative research as well as
qualitative insights will give your analyzing efforts a more clearly defined direction, so it’s worth
taking the time to allow this particular knowledge to sink in. Additionally, you will be able to create a
comprehensive analytical report that will skyrocket your analysis.

Apart from qualitative and quantitative categories, there are also other types of data that you should be
aware of before dividing into complex data analysis processes. These categories include:

• Big data: Refers to massive data sets that need to be analyzed using advanced software to reveal
patterns and trends. It is considered to be one of the best analytical assets as it provides larger volumes
of data at a faster rate.
• Metadata: Putting it simply, metadata is data that provides insights about other data. It summarizes key
information about specific data that makes it easier to find and reuse for later purposes.
• Real time data: As its name suggests, real time data is presented as soon as it is acquired. From an
organizational perspective, this is the most valuable data as it can help you make important decisions
based on the latest developments. Our guide on real time analytics will tell you more about the topic.
• Machine data: This is more complex data that is generated solely by a machine such as phones,
computers, or even websites and embedded systems, without previous human interaction.

Why Is Data Analysis Important?

Before we go into detail about the categories of analysis along with its methods and techniques, you
must understand the potential that analyzing data can bring to your organization.
 1. Informed decision-making: From a management perspective, you can benefit from analyzing your data
as it helps you make decisions based on facts and not simple intuition. For instance, you can understand
where to invest your capital, detect growth opportunities, predict your income, or tackle uncommon
situations before they become problems. Through this, you can extract relevant insights from all areas in
your organization, and with the help of dashboard software, present the data in a professional and
interactive way to different stakeholders.
2. Reduce costs: Another great benefit is to reduce costs. With the help of advanced technologies such as
predictive analytics, businesses can spot improvement opportunities, trends, and patterns in their data
and plan their strategies accordingly. In time, this will help you save money and resources on
implementing the wrong strategies. And not just that, by predicting different scenarios such as sales and
demand you can also anticipate production and supply.
3. Target customers better: Customers are arguably the most crucial element in any business. By using
analytics to get a 360° vision of all aspects related to your customers, you can understand which
channels they use to communicate with you, their demographics, interests, habits, purchasing behaviors,
and more. In the long run, it will drive success to your marketing strategies, allow you to identify new
potential customers, and avoid wasting resources on targeting the wrong people or sending the wrong
message. You can also track customer satisfaction by analyzing your client’s reviews or your customer
service department’s performance.

When we talk about analyzing data there is an order to follow in order to extract the needed
conclusions. The analysis process consists of 5 key stages. We will cover each of them more in detail
later in the post, but to start providing the needed context to understand what is coming next, here is a
rundown of the 5 essential steps of data analysis.

• Identify: Before you get your hands dirty with data, you first need to identify why you need it in the
first place. The identification is the stage in which you establish the questions you will need to answer.
For example, what is the customer's perception of our brand? Or what type of packaging is more
engaging to our potential customers? Once the questions are outlined you are ready for the next step.
• Collect: As its name suggests, this is the stage where you start collecting the needed data. Here, you
define which sources of data you will use and how you will use them. The collection of data can come in
different forms such as internal or external sources, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, and focus
groups, among others. An important note here is that the way you collect the data will be different in a
quantitative and qualitative scenario.
• Clean: Once you have the necessary data it is time to clean it and leave it ready for analysis. Not all the
data you collect will be useful, when collecting big amounts of data in different formats it is very likely
that you will find yourself with duplicate or badly formatted data. To avoid this, before you start
working with your data you need to make sure to erase any white spaces, duplicate records, or
formatting errors. This way you avoid hurting your analysis with bad-quality data.
• Analyze: With the help of various techniques such as statistical analysis, regressions, neural networks,
text analysis, and more, you can start analyzing and manipulating your data to extract relevant
conclusions. At this stage, you find trends, correlations, variations, and patterns that can help you answer
the questions you first thought of in the identify stage. Various technologies in the market assist
researchers and average users with the management of their data. Some of them include business
intelligence and visualization software, predictive analytics, and data mining, among others.
• Interpret: Last but not least you have one of the most important steps: it is time to interpret your results.
This stage is where the researcher comes up with courses of action based on the findings. For example,
here you would understand if your clients prefer packaging that is red or green, plastic or paper, etc.
Additionally, at this stage, you can also find some limitations and work on them.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the key data analysis steps, let’s look at the top 17
essential methods.

17 Essential Types Of Data Analysis Methods

Before diving into the 17 essential types of methods, it is important that we go over really fast through
the main analysis categories. Starting with the category of descriptive up to prescriptive analysis, the
complexity and effort of data evaluation increases, but also the added value for the company.

a) Descriptive analysis - What happened.

The descriptive analysis method is the starting point for any analytic reflection, and it aims to answer
the question of what happened? It does this by ordering, manipulating, and interpreting raw data from
various sources to turn it into valuable insights for your organization.

Performing descriptive analysis is essential, as it enables us to present our insights in a meaningful

way. Although it is relevant to mention that this analysis on its own will not allow you to predict future
outcomes or tell you the answer to questions like why something happened, it will leave your data
organized and ready to conduct further investigations.

b) Exploratory analysis - How to explore data relationships.

As its name suggests, the main aim of the exploratory analysis is to explore. Prior to it, there is still no
notion of the relationship between the data and the variables. Once the data is investigated, exploratory
analysis helps you to find connections and generate hypotheses and solutions for specific problems. A
typical area of application for it is data mining.

c) Diagnostic analysis - Why it happened.

Diagnostic data analytics empowers analysts and executives by helping them gain a firm contextual
understanding of why something happened. If you know why something happened as well as how it
happened, you will be able to pinpoint the exact ways of tackling the issue or challenge.

Designed to provide direct and actionable answers to specific questions, this is one of the world’s most
important methods in research, among its other key organizational functions such as retail analytics,
e.g.

c) Predictive analysis - What will happen.

The predictive method allows you to look into the future to answer the question: what will happen? In
order to do this, it uses the results of the previously mentioned descriptive, exploratory, and diagnostic
analysis, in addition to machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). Through this, you can
uncover future trends, potential problems or inefficiencies, connections, and casualties in your data.

With predictive analysis, you can unfold and develop initiatives that will not only enhance your various
operational processes but also help you gain an all-important edge over the competition. If you
understand why a trend, pattern, or event happened through data, you will be able to develop an
informed projection of how things may unfold in particular areas of the business.

e) Prescriptive analysis - How will it happen.

Another of the most effective types of analysis methods in research. Prescriptive data techniques cross
over from predictive analysis in the way that it revolves around using patterns or trends to develop
responsive, practical business strategies.

By drilling down into prescriptive analysis, you will play an active role in the data consumption
process by taking well-arranged sets of visual data and using it as a powerful fix to emerging issues in
a number of key areas, including marketing, sales, customer experience, HR, fulfillment,
finance, logistics analytics, and others

As mentioned at the beginning of the post, data analysis methods can be divided into two big
categories: quantitative and qualitative. Each of these categories holds a powerful analytical value that
changes depending on the scenario and type of data you are working with. Below, we will discuss 17
methods that are divided into qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Without further ado, here are the 17 essential types of data analysis methods with some use cases in the
business world:

A. Quantitative Methods
To put it simply, quantitative analysis refers to all methods that use numerical data or data that can be
turned into numbers (e.g. category variables like gender, age, etc.) to extract valuable insights. It is
used to extract valuable conclusions about relationships, differences, and test hypotheses. Below we
discuss some of the key quantitative methods.

1. Cluster analysis
The action of grouping a set of data elements in a way that said elements are more similar (in a
particular sense) to each other than to those in other groups – hence the term ‘cluster.’ Since there is no
target variable when clustering, the method is often used to find hidden patterns in the data. The
approach is also used to provide additional context to a trend or dataset.

Let's look at it from an organizational perspective. In a perfect world, marketers would be able to
analyze each customer separately and give them the best-personalized service, but let's face it, with a
large customer base, it is timely impossible to do that. That's where clustering comes in. By grouping
customers into clusters based on demographics, purchasing behaviors, monetary value, or any other
factor that might be relevant for your company, you will be able to immediately optimize your efforts
and give your customers the best experience based on their needs.

2. Cohort analysis
This type of data analysis approach uses historical data to examine and compare a determined segment
of users' behavior, which can then be grouped with others with similar characteristics. By using this
methodology, it's possible to gain a wealth of insight into consumer needs or a firm understanding of a
broader target group.

Cohort analysis can be really useful for performing analysis in marketing as it will allow you to
understand the impact of your campaigns on specific groups of customers. To exemplify, imagine you
send an email campaign encouraging customers to sign up for your site. For this, you create two
versions of the campaign with different designs, CTAs, and ad content. Later on, you can use cohort
analysis to track the performance of the campaign for a longer period of time and understand which
type of content is driving your customers to sign up, repurchase, or engage in other ways.

A useful tool to start performing cohort analysis method is Google Analytics. You can learn more
about the benefits and limitations of using cohorts in GA in this useful guide. In the bottom image, you
see an example of how you visualize a cohort in this tool. The segments (devices traffic) are divided
into date cohorts (usage of devices) and then analyzed week by week to extract insights into
performance.

3. Regression analysis
Regression uses historical data to understand how a dependent variable's value is affected when one
(linear regression) or more independent variables (multiple regression) change or stay the same. By
understanding each variable's relationship and how it developed in the past, you can anticipate possible
outcomes and make better decisions in the future.

Let's bring it down with an example. Imagine you did a regression analysis of your sales in 2019 and
discovered that variables like product quality, store design, customer service, marketing campaigns,
and sales channels affected the overall result. Now you want to use regression to analyze which of
these variables changed or if any new ones appeared during 2020. For example, you couldn’t sell as
much in your physical store due to COVID lockdowns. Therefore, your sales could’ve either dropped
in general or increased in your online channels. Through this, you can understand which independent
variables affected the overall performance of your dependent variable, annual sales.

If you want to go deeper into this type of analysis, check out this article and learn more about how you
can benefit from regression.
4. Neural networks
The neural network forms the basis for the intelligent algorithms of machine learning. It is a form of
analytics that attempts, with minimal intervention, to understand how the human brain would generate
insights and predict values. Neural networks learn from each and every data transaction, meaning that
they evolve and advance over time.

A typical area of application for neural networks is predictive analytics. There are BI reporting
tools that have this feature implemented within them, such as the Predictive Analytics Tool from
datapine. This tool enables users to quickly and easily generate all kinds of predictions. All you have to
do is select the data to be processed based on your KPIs, and the software automatically calculates
forecasts based on historical and current data. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, anyone in your
organization can manage it; there’s no need to be an advanced scientist.

5. Factor analysis
The factor analysis also called “dimension reduction” is a type of data analysis used to describe
variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved
variables called factors. The aim here is to uncover independent latent variables, an ideal method for
streamlining specific segments.

A good way to understand this data analysis method is a customer evaluation of a product. The initial
assessment is based on different variables like color, shape, wearability, current trends, materials,
comfort, the place where they bought the product, and frequency of usage. Like this, the list can be
endless, depending on what you want to track. In this case, factor analysis comes into the picture by
summarizing all of these variables into homogenous groups, for example, by grouping the variables
color, materials, quality, and trends into a brother latent variable of design.

If you want to start analyzing data using factor analysis we recommend you take a look at this practical
guide from UCLA.

6. Data mining
A method of data analysis that is the umbrella term for engineering metrics and insights for additional
value, direction, and context. By using exploratory statistical evaluation, data mining aims to identify
dependencies, relations, patterns, and trends to generate advanced knowledge. When considering how
to analyze data, adopting a data mining mindset is essential to success - as such, it’s an area that is
worth exploring in greater detail.

An excellent use case of data mining is datapine intelligent data alerts. With the help of artificial
intelligence and machine learning, they provide automated signals based on particular commands or
occurrences within a dataset. For example, if you’re monitoring supply chain KPIs, you could set an
intelligent alarm to trigger when invalid or low-quality data appears. By doing so, you will be able to
drill down deep into the issue and fix it swiftly and effectively.

In the following picture, you can see how the intelligent alarms from datapine work. By setting up
ranges on daily orders, sessions, and revenues, the alarms will notify you if the goal was not completed
or if it exceeded expectations.

7. Time series analysis

As its name suggests, time series analysis is used to analyze a set of data points collected over a
specified period of time. Although analysts use this method to monitor the data points in a specific
interval of time rather than just monitoring them intermittently, the time series analysis is not uniquely
used for the purpose of collecting data over time. Instead, it allows researchers to understand if
variables changed during the duration of the study, how the different variables are dependent, and how
did it reach the end result.

In a business context, this method is used to understand the causes of different trends and patterns to
extract valuable insights. Another way of using this method is with the help of time series forecasting.
Powered by predictive technologies, businesses can analyze various data sets over a period of time and
forecast different future events.

A great use case to put time series analysis into perspective is seasonality effects on sales. By using
time series forecasting to analyze sales data of a specific product over time, you can understand if sales
rise over a specific period of time (e.g. swimwear during summertime, or candy during Halloween).
These insights allow you to predict demand and prepare production accordingly.

8. Decision Trees
The decision tree analysis aims to act as a support tool to make smart and strategic decisions. By
visually displaying potential outcomes, consequences, and costs in a tree-like model, researchers and
company users can easily evaluate all factors involved and choose the best course of action. Decision
trees are helpful to analyze quantitative data and they allow for an improved decision-making process
by helping you spot improvement opportunities, reduce costs, and enhance operational efficiency and
production.

But how does a decision tree actually works? This method works like a flowchart that starts with the
main decision that you need to make and branches out based on the different outcomes and
consequences of each decision. Each outcome will outline its own consequences, costs, and gains and,
at the end of the analysis, you can compare each of them and make the smartest decision.

Businesses can use them to understand which project is more cost-effective and will bring more
earnings in the long run. For example, imagine you need to decide if you want to update your software
app or build a new app entirely. Here you would compare the total costs, the time needed to be
invested, potential revenue, and any other factor that might affect your decision. In the end, you would
be able to see which of these two options is more realistic and attainable for your company or research.

9. Conjoint analysis
Last but not least, we have the conjoint analysis. This approach is usually used in surveys to understand
how individuals value different attributes of a product or service and it is one of the most effective
methods to extract consumer preferences. When it comes to purchasing, some clients might be more
price-focused, others more features-focused, and others might have a sustainable focus. Whatever your
customer's preferences are, you can find them with conjoint analysis. Through this, companies can
define pricing strategies, packaging options, subscription packages, and more.

A great example of conjoint analysis is in marketing and sales. For instance, a cupcake brand might use
conjoint analysis and find that its clients prefer gluten-free options and cupcakes with healthier
toppings over super sugary ones. Thus, the cupcake brand can turn these insights into advertisements
and promotions to increase sales of this particular type of product. And not just that, conjoint analysis
can also help businesses segment their customers based on their interests. This allows them to send
different messaging that will bring value to each of the segments.

10. Correspondence Analysis

Also known as reciprocal averaging, correspondence analysis is a method used to analyze the
relationship between categorical variables presented within a contingency table. A contingency table is
a table that displays two (simple correspondence analysis) or more (multiple correspondence analysis)
categorical variables across rows and columns that show the distribution of the data, which is usually
answers to a survey or questionnaire on a specific topic.

This method starts by calculating an “expected value” which is done by multiplying row and column
averages and dividing it by the overall original value of the specific table cell. The “expected value” is
then subtracted from the original value resulting in a “residual number” which is what allows you to
extract conclusions about relationships and distribution. The results of this analysis are later displayed
using a map that represents the relationship between the different values. The closest two values are in
the map, the bigger the relationship. Let’s put it into perspective with an example.

Imagine you are carrying out a market research analysis about outdoor clothing brands and how they
are perceived by the public. For this analysis, you ask a group of people to match each brand with a
certain attribute which can be durability, innovation, quality materials, etc. When calculating the
residual numbers, you can see that brand A has a positive residual for innovation but a negative one for
durability. This means that brand A is not positioned as a durable brand in the market, something that
competitors could take advantage of.
11. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)
MDS is a method used to observe the similarities or disparities between objects which can be colors,
brands, people, geographical coordinates, and more. The objects are plotted using an “MDS map” that
positions similar objects together and disparate ones far apart. The (dis) similarities between objects are
represented using one or more dimensions that can be observed using a numerical scale. For example,
if you want to know how people feel about the COVID-19 vaccine, you can use 1 for “don’t believe in
the vaccine at all” and 10 for “firmly believe in the vaccine” and a scale of 2 to 9 for in between
responses. When analyzing an MDS map the only thing that matters is the distance between the
objects, the orientation of the dimensions is arbitrary and has no meaning at all.

Multidimensional scaling is a valuable technique for market research, especially when it comes to
evaluating product or brand positioning. For instance, if a cupcake brand wants to know how they are
positioned compared to competitors, it can define 2-3 dimensions such as taste, ingredients, shopping
experience, or more, and do a multidimensional scaling analysis to find improvement opportunities as
well as areas in which competitors are currently leading.

Another business example is in procurement when deciding on different suppliers. Decision makers
can generate an MDS map to see how the different prices, delivery times, technical services, and more
of the different suppliers differ and pick the one that suits their needs the best.

A final example proposed by a research paper on "An Improved Study of Multilevel Semantic Network
Visualization for Analyzing Sentiment Word of Movie Review Data". Researchers picked a two-
dimensional MDS map to display the distances and relationships between different sentiments in movie
reviews. They used 36 sentiment words and distributed them based on their emotional distance as we
can see in the image below where the words "outraged" and "sweet" are on opposite sides of the map,
marking the distance between the two emotions very clearly.

B. Qualitative Methods
Qualitative data analysis methods are defined as the observation of non-numerical data that is gathered
and produced using methods of observation such as interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and more.
As opposed to quantitative methods, qualitative data is more subjective and highly valuable in
analyzing customer retention and product development.

12. Text analysis

Text analysis, also known in the industry as text mining, works by taking large sets of textual data and
arranging them in a way that makes it easier to manage. By working through this cleansing process in
stringent detail, you will be able to extract the data that is truly relevant to your organization and use it
to develop actionable insights that will propel you forward.
Modern software accelerate the application of text analytics. Thanks to the combination of machine
learning and intelligent algorithms, you can perform advanced analytical processes such as sentiment
analysis. This technique allows you to understand the intentions and emotions of a text, for example, if
it's positive, negative, or neutral, and then give it a score depending on certain factors and categories
that are relevant to your brand. Sentiment analysis is often used to monitor brand and product
reputation and to understand how successful your customer experience is. To learn more about the
topic check out this insightful article.

By analyzing data from various word-based sources, including product reviews, articles, social media
communications, and survey responses, you will gain invaluable insights into your audience, as well as
their needs, preferences, and pain points. This will allow you to create campaigns, services, and
communications that meet your prospects’ needs on a personal level, growing your audience while
boosting customer retention. There are various other “sub-methods” that are an extension of text
analysis. Each of them serves a more specific purpose and we will look at them in detail next.

13. Content Analysis

This is a straightforward and very popular method that examines the presence and frequency of certain
words, concepts, and subjects in different content formats such as text, image, audio, or video. For
example, the number of times the name of a celebrity is mentioned on social media or online tabloids.
It does this by coding text data that is later categorized and tabulated in a way that can provide valuable
insights, making it the perfect mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis.

There are two types of content analysis. The first one is the conceptual analysis which focuses on
explicit data, for instance, the number of times a concept or word is mentioned in a piece of content.
The second one is relational analysis, which focuses on the relationship between different concepts or
words and how they are connected within a specific context.

Content analysis is often used by marketers to measure brand reputation and customer behavior. For
example, by analyzing customer reviews. It can also be used to analyze customer interviews and find
directions for new product development. It is also important to note, that in order to extract the
maximum potential out of this analysis method, it is necessary to have a clearly defined research
question.

14. Thematic Analysis

Very similar to content analysis, thematic analysis also helps in identifying and interpreting patterns in
qualitative data with the main difference being that the first one can also be applied to quantitative
analysis. The thematic method analyzes large pieces of text data such as focus group transcripts or
interviews and groups them into themes or categories that come up frequently within the text. It is a
great method when trying to figure out peoples view’s and opinions about a certain topic. For example,
if you are a brand that cares about sustainability, you can do a survey of your customers to analyze
their views and opinions about sustainability and how they apply it to their lives. You can also analyze
customer service calls transcripts to find common issues and improve your service.
Thematic analysis is a very subjective technique that relies on the researcher’s judgment. Therefore, to
avoid biases, it has 6 steps that include familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes,
defining and naming themes, and writing up. It is also important to note that, because it is a flexible
approach, the data can be interpreted in multiple ways and it can be hard to select what data is more
important to emphasize.

15. Narrative Analysis

A bit more complex in nature than the two previous ones, narrative analysis is used to explore the
meaning behind the stories that people tell and most importantly, how they tell them. By looking into
the words that people use to describe a situation you can extract valuable conclusions about their
perspective on a specific topic. Common sources for narrative data include autobiographies, family
stories, opinion pieces, and testimonials, among others.

From a business perspective, narrative analysis can be useful to analyze customer behaviors and
feelings towards a specific product, service, feature, or others. It provides unique and deep insights that
can be extremely valuable. However, it has some drawbacks.

The biggest weakness of this method is that the sample sizes are usually very small due to the
complexity and time-consuming nature of the collection of narrative data. Plus, the way a subject tells a
story will be significantly influenced by his or her specific experiences, making it very hard to replicate
in a subsequent study.

16. Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis is used to understand the meaning behind any type of written, verbal, or symbolic
discourse based on its political, social, or cultural context. It mixes the analysis of languages and
situations together. This means that the way the content is constructed and the meaning behind it is
significantly influenced by the culture and society it takes place in. For example, if you are analyzing
political speeches you need to consider different context elements such as the politician's background,
the current political context of the country, the audience to which the speech is directed, and so on.

From a business point of view, discourse analysis is a great market research tool. It allows marketers to
understand how the norms and ideas of the specific market work and how their customers relate to
those ideas. It can be very useful to build a brand mission or develop a unique tone of voice.

17. Grounded Theory Analysis

Traditionally, researchers decide on a method and hypothesis and start to collect the data to prove that
hypothesis. The grounded theory is the only method that doesn’t require an initial research question or
hypothesis as its value lies in the generation of new theories. With the grounded theory method, you
can go into the analysis process with an open mind and explore the data to generate new theories
through tests and revisions. In fact, it is not necessary to collect the data and then start to analyze it.
Researchers usually start to find valuable insights as they are gathering the data.

All of these elements make grounded theory a very valuable method as theories are fully backed by
data instead of initial assumptions. It is a great technique to analyze poorly researched topics or find the
causes behind specific company outcomes. For example, product managers and marketers might use
the grounded theory to find the causes of high levels of customer churn and look into customer surveys
and reviews to develop new theories about the causes.

Data Analysis Limitations & Barriers

Analyzing data is not an easy task. As you’ve seen throughout this post, there are many steps and
techniques that you need to apply in order to extract useful information from your research. While a
well-performed analysis can bring various benefits to your organization it doesn't come without
limitations. In this section, we will discuss some of the main barriers you might encounter when
conducting an analysis. Let’s see them more in detail.

• Lack of clear goals: No matter how good your data or analysis might be if you don’t have clear goals or
a hypothesis the process might be worthless. While we mentioned some methods that don’t require a
predefined hypothesis, it is always better to enter the analytical process with some clear guidelines of
what you are expecting to get out of it, especially in a business context in which data is utilized to
support important strategic decisions.
• Objectivity: Arguably one of the biggest barriers when it comes to data analysis in research is to stay
objective. When trying to prove a hypothesis, researchers might find themselves, intentionally or
unintentionally, directing the results toward an outcome that they want. To avoid this, always question
your assumptions and avoid confusing facts with opinions. You can also show your findings to a
research partner or external person to confirm that your results are objective.
• Data representation: A fundamental part of the analytical procedure is the way you represent your data.
You can use various graphs and charts to represent your findings, but not all of them will work for all
purposes. Choosing the wrong visual can not only damage your analysis but can mislead your audience,
therefore, it is important to understand when to use each type of data depending on your analytical goals.
Our complete guide on the types of graphs and charts lists 20 different visuals with examples of when to
use them.
• Flawed correlation: Misleading statistics can significantly damage your research. We’ve already
pointed out a few interpretation issues previously in the post, but it is an important barrier that we can't
avoid addressing here as well. Flawed correlations occur when two variables appear related to each other
but they are not. Confusing correlations with causation can lead to a wrong interpretation of results
which can lead to building wrong strategies and loss of resources, therefore, it is very important to
identify the different interpretation mistakes and avoid them.
• Sample size: A very common barrier to a reliable and efficient analysis process is the sample size. In
order for the results to be trustworthy, the sample size should be representative of what you are
analyzing. For example, imagine you have a company of 1000 employees and you ask the question “do
you like working here?” to 50 employees of which 49 say yes, which means 95%. Now, imagine you ask
the same question to the 1000 employees and 950 say yes, which also means 95%. Saying that 95% of
employees like working in the company when the sample size was only 50 is not a representative or
trustworthy conclusion. The significance of the results is way more accurate when surveying a bigger
sample size.
 • Privacy concerns: In some cases, data collection can be subjected to privacy regulations. Businesses
gather all kinds of information from their customers from purchasing behaviors to addresses and phone
numbers. If this falls into the wrong hands due to a breach, it can affect the security and confidentiality
of your clients. To avoid this issue, you need to collect only the data that is needed for your research and,
if you are using sensitive facts, make it anonymous so customers are protected. The misuse of customer
data can severely damage a business's reputation, so it is important to keep an eye on privacy.
• Lack of communication between teams: When it comes to performing data analysis on a business
level, it is very likely that each department and team will have different goals and strategies. However,
they are all working for the same common goal of helping the business run smoothly and keep growing.
When teams are not connected and communicating with each other, it can directly affect the way general
strategies are built. To avoid these issues, tools such as data dashboards enable teams to stay connected
through data in a visually appealing way.
• Innumeracy: Businesses are working with data more and more every day. While there are many BI
tools available to perform effective analysis, data literacy is still a constant barrier. Not all employees
know how to apply analysis techniques or extract insights from them. To prevent this from happening,
you can implement different training opportunities that will prepare every relevant user to deal with
data.

Key Data Analysis Skills

As you've learned throughout this lengthy guide, analyzing data is a complex task that requires a lot of
knowledge and skills. That said, thanks to the rise of self-service tools the process is way more
accessible and agile than it once was. Regardless, there are still some key skills that are valuable to
have when working with data, we list the most important ones below.

1. Critical and statistical thinking: To successfully analyze data you need to be creative and think out of
the box. Yes, that might sound like a weird statement considering that data is often tight to facts.
However, a great level of critical thinking is required to uncover connections, come up with a valuable
hypothesis, and extract conclusions that go a step further from the surface. This, of course, needs to be
complemented by statistical thinking and an understanding of numbers.
2. Data cleaning: Anyone who has ever worked with data before will tell you that the cleaning and
preparation process accounts for 80% of a data analyst's work, therefore, the skill is fundamental. But
not just that, not cleaning the data adequately can also significantly damage the analysis which can lead
to poor decision-making in a business scenario. While there are multiple tools that automate the cleaning
process and eliminate the possibility of human error, it is still a valuable skill to dominate.
3. Data visualization: Visuals make the information easier to understand and analyze, not only for
professional users but especially for non-technical ones. Having the necessary skills to not only choose
the right chart type but know when to apply it correctly is key. This also means being able to design
visually compelling charts that make the data exploration process more efficient.
4. SQL: The Structured Query Language or SQL is a programming language used to communicate with
databases. It is fundamental knowledge as it enables you to update, manipulate, and organize data from
relational databases which are the most common databases used by companies. It is fairly easy to learn
and one of the most valuable skills when it comes to data analysis.
5. Communication skills: This is a skill that is especially valuable in a business environment. Being able
to clearly communicate analytical outcomes to colleagues is incredibly important, especially when the
information you are trying to convey is complex for non-technical people. This applies to in-person
communication as well as written format, for example, when generating a dashboard or report. While
 this might be considered a “soft” skill compared to the other ones we mentioned, it should not be
ignored as you most likely will need to share analytical findings with others no matter the context.

Data Analysis In The Big Data Environment

Big data is invaluable to today’s businesses, and by using different methods for data analysis, it’s
possible to view your data in a way that can help you turn insight into positive action.

To inspire your efforts and put the importance of big data into context, here are some insights that you
should know:

• By 2026 the industry of big data is expected to be worth approximately $273.4 billion.
• 94% of enterprises say that analyzing data is important for their growth and digital transformation.
• Companies that exploit the full potential of their data can increase their operating margins by 60%.
• We already told you the benefits of Artificial Intelligence through this article. This industry's financial
impact is expected to grow up to $40 billion by 2025.

Data analysis concepts may come in many forms, but fundamentally, any solid methodology will help
to make your business more streamlined, cohesive, insightful, and successful than ever before.

Key Takeaways From Data Analysis

As we reach the end of our data analysis journey, we leave a small summary of the main methods and
techniques to perform excellent analysis and grow your business.

17 Essential Types of Data Analysis Methods:

1. Cluster analysis
2. Cohort analysis
3. Regression analysis
4. Factor analysis
5. Neural Networks
6. Data Mining
7. Text analysis
8. Time series analysis
9. Decision trees
10. Conjoint analysis
11. Correspondence Analysis
12. Multidimensional Scaling
13. Content analysis
14. Thematic analysis
15. Narrative analysis
16. Grounded theory analysis
17. Discourse analysis
Top 17 Data Analysis Techniques:

1. Collaborate your needs

2. Establish your questions
3. Data democratization
4. Think of data governance
5. Clean your data
6. Set your KPIs
7. Omit useless data
8. Build a data management roadmap
9. Integrate technology
10. Answer your questions
11. Visualize your data
12. Interpretation of data
13. Consider autonomous technology
14. Build a narrative
15. Share the load
16. Data Analysis tools
17. Refine your process constantly

1. OVERVIEW OF THE STEPS IN RESEARCH

2. In every research process, following are the general steps involved: Defining problem
Reviewing the available literature Formulation of hypothesis or research questions
Creating a research design Collection of data with the help of various research tools
Processing of the data collected Analysis and interpretation of the data Report writing 2.
MEANING OF A REPORT
3. Every research leads to the creation of a research report. Report is the formal logical
presentation of the research that has been conducted. The purpose of research report is to
convey to the interested persons the whole result of study in sufficient detail and

to determine the validity of the conclusions.1 The culmination of research is in the

form of the research report which explains with clarity the various steps that have
been undertaken to come to the conclusion. Writing of a research report requires not
only technical skill but also thorough knowledge of the subject matter, perseverance
and the right perspective on every aspect of the research problem. The ability to
write effective report is one of the most useful skills a researcher can acquire. The
arrangement of ideas and interpretations of the findings is of utmost importance. In
this regard Briwn observes: “we say it as simply as we possibly can, and this that is,
that a report is a communication from someone to another who wants to use that
information. The report may be elaborately formal, it may be a letter, in great many
organizations, it is memorandum; but it is always planned for use.” 2 3.
SIGNIFICANCE / OBJECTIVES OF A REPORT
 A well written report helps in knowledge building in the concerned area but also
helps in future research. While all the necessary information is presented in the
appropriate manner so that the targeted readers may be able to understand and utilize
the same. The objectives of a research report are: 1. Conveying of knowledge to the
concerned people in the field of research 2. Proper presentation of the findings for
further utilization of the recommendations. 3. Give impetus to research in the
concerned knowledge area. 4. To re-examine the validity of generalizations drawn by
the researcher after the report has been submitted. 4. TYPES OF REPORT Reports
are of different types depending upon its area, purpose and the approach. Following
are some illustrations of the various types of reports3: Business report Project
report Dissertation Enquiry report of a commission Thesis 5. LEGAL
RESEARCH REPORT A report which deals specifically with a legal problem is said
to be a legal research report. Such a report is not a complete description of the work
done by the researcher. It is only a brief statement of the most significant facts that
are necessary for the understanding the generalizations drawn by the investigator. 4
Once all the data has been analyzed and interpreted, the last step to the entire
research process is to write a research report. This report must be comprehensive and
written in simple yet clear language so that it is adequately communicated to the
concerned readers.
1 Technique of Marketing Research, American Marketing Society
. 2 S Gupta , Research Methodology and Statistical Techniques, Deep & Deep
Publications Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi , 2007. 380.
3 Supra note no 2. 4 R. Singh, Legal Research Methodology, Lexisnexis 2013 ed , p
170. 6. GENERAL
GUIDELINES FOR REPORT WRITING After the research process is over, many
researchers face the difficulty of writing down the research. It is advisable that before
starting the report writing, the entire research time frame, planning and organizing of
the study material is done on the basis of the objectives and the hypothesis made.
Following are some of the basic guidelines that a researcher may follow throughout
the research so that report writing becomes lucid and manageable. 1. Knowledge of
the research material The comprehensive and adequate knowledge of the research
area by the researcher cannot be understated. It forms the backbone of the entire
research process and is of vital importance at the time of analysis, interpretation and
report writing. 2. Organizing of research material Material collected must be
organized and the notes made on them manageable and properly arranged with
sufficient information which may be required. The research information must be
logically analyzed and represented in the correct sequence of time or occurrence. 3.
Continuous report reflective thinking Researcher constantly reflects on the material
and data collected for a more comprehensive legal research report. 4. Rough drafts
Prepare rough drafts which will help him with research interpretation and
generalizations to be more accurate and relevant to the research questions or
hypothesis. 5. Rewrite and polish the rough drafts Careful revision of the drafts
helps in checking the development of the arguments in the report, representation of
the material as well as the cohesiveness of the entire report. 6. Preparation of the
final bibliography It is essential that from the very beginning of the research, the
researcher must maintain a bibliography of the literature read, consulted and
incorporated in the research process. This bibliography is generally appended to the
research project. It should be arranged alphabetically and be divided into various
parts like name of the books, articles, reports and legislations consulted. 7. Footnotes
and head notes The researcher must whenever citing another author’s work make due
footnotes or endnotes to add authenticity and reference to the report. There are
various methods of writing bibliography and footnotes like the blue book method,
OSCOLA method etc. 7. STRUCTURE OF A REPORT
Pauline V. Young summarized the contents of a good report as following: A.
Introduction (i) Clear cut statements as to the nature of the study, (ii) Aims, (iii)
Sources of information (iv) Scope of study B. Brief statement of the working
hypothesis which guided the study. C. Explicit definitions of the units of study D.
Brief statements of techniques used in study: (i) Types of observations used and
conditions under which observations were made; (ii) Types of schedules formulated
and conditions under which information was secured; (iii) Types of case history data
secured, their sources , manner of presentation, and preliminary analysis made; (iv)
Sampling procedures and conditions of selection and testing for appropriateness ,
representativeness, arte errors; (v) Statistical procedures, sources of statistical data
conditions under which they were obtained; (vi) Types of scaling techniques used. E.
Brief description of experimental treatment of data and techniques in experiments. F.
Major findings. G. Major conclusions reached about findings. H. Special remarks: (i)
Problems encountered in gathering the data, classifying them, analyzing them; (ii)
Possible discrepancies in the data collected; (iii) Suggestions to subsequent
investigators on same topics in same context. (iv) Bibliographical references found
useful in study (with annotations). (v) Appendixes might include sample
questionnaires, transcription sheets, sample interviews and the like. A sound
legal report must contain the following parts. They are discussed in detail henceforth:
7.1 Preliminary In a legal report before the main content of the research report,
certain preliminary sections are to be added:
Title page The title page is the cover of the report and the first thing that the
targeted reader come in contact with. It indicates the main theme or the title of the
study. The title should be appropriate and attractive. The title page may also contain
the name of the researcher and date. Preface/ Acknowledgement This may contain
the acknowledgement to all the people whom the writer is indebted for guidance and
assistance.
Foreword The foreword involves a brief synopsis and importance of the content.
Table of cases
Contains the list of cases cited within the report
List of abbreviations Embodies all the abbreviations used in the report
subsequently with their full form Table of contents This mentions the major
division of the report and their respective page numbers. Table of maps, diagrams,
figures etc if required. 7.2 Main Body Of The Report The main text provides the
complete outline of the research report along with all details. Title of the research
study is repeated at the top of the first page of the main text and then follows the
other details on pages numbered consecutively, beginning with the second page.
Each main section of the report should begin on a new page5. The main text of the
report should have the following sections: (i) Introduction
The purpose of an introduction is to give a background so as to make clear to the
reader why the problem was considered worth investigating. (ii) Methodology This
represents the research design and method used in carrying out the research. It should
give exact meaning of measurements or terms or variables used, selection of
sampling, universe selected, tools of data collection , hypothesis etc. (iii) Review of
literature Here the report writer assesses the important and relevant already existing
literature on the problem. The rationale of the review is to develop upon the
conceptual framework and background of research which will become the source for
formulation of the hypothesis. (iv) Analysis and interpretation This is the most
crucial part of the report. In it the data which has been collected is processed,
analyzed and interpreted and various generalizations and inferences are drawn.
There must be clarity and continuity in the presentation of the text and result. (v)
Findings and recommendations A detailed presentation of the findings of the study,
with supporting data in the form of tables and charts together with a validation of
results, is the next step in writing the main text of the report. This generally
comprises the main body of the report extending over several chapters. All relevant
results must find a place in the report. Toward the end of the main text, the
researcher should again put down the results of his research clearly and precisely. He
should, state the implications that flow from the results of the study.6 It should then
state the recommendations. 5 C.R.Kothari,
Research Methodology- Methods And Tecniques, p349, new age international
limited publisher, 2nd ed. 6 Supra note no 5.
(vi) Conclusion/ summary The main text of the report must end with a summary of
the report or the conclusions drawn from the findings. 7.3 References Appendices
should also be enlisted in respect of all technical data such as questionnaires, sample
information, mathematical derivations and the like ones. A single appendix should be
headed APPENDIX and centered on the page in capitals without punctuation and
three single spaces below the heading. Each appendix is numbered and started on a
new page. Appendices should be listed in the table of contents together with page
numbers. Appendices may be placed between the final chapter and the bibliography
or immediately after bibliography.7 At the end of a legal research report , all the
consulted sources of data whether primary or secondary, reference books, articles,
reports, unpublished material etc must be listed in a bibliography. The purpose of a
bibliography is to provide cross reference and authenticity to the report. It should be
in alphabetical order. The style of writing the bibliography depends upon whether
there is already a prescribed form (as in the case of a dissertation and thesis) or the
researcher can adopt any style. Some of the common ones are the bluebook and
OSCOLA. Following are some of the common rules followed while writing the
bibliography. They may be further read in THE BLUEBOOK: A uniform system of
citation. A. For an authored book 1. By a single author Jain M.P., Indian
constitutional law, Nagpur, LexisNexis Butterworth’s Wadhwa, 2011 2. By two
authors Goode W.G & P.K, Hatt, Methods in Social Research, New York, Mc Graw-
Hill, 1952. 3. By more than two authors Stanely, William O, et. al., Social
Foundations of Education; New York,the Dryden Press Inc, 1956. 4. By a woman
author Pauline V. Young, Scientific Social Surveys and Research; New Delhi,
Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd, 1984. B. For an article Sujatha V, & Abraham L.,
Medicine, State and Society, Economic and Political Weekly Vol XLIV(16) ( April
2009) , p.35–43., available at http://www.epw.in( Last visited on Jan 3rd, 2013). C.
For unpublished works Pandey, S.K., An analysis of the tribal laws of India,
unpublished doctoral thesis, Punjab University, Patiala, 2008.
7 S.R. Myneni., Legal Research Methodology, Allahabad Law Agency, Faridabad.
2007. p297. D. For
citation of case laws Kesavnanda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1962 SC 933 E.
For websites Information Technology Act 2000, India, available at:
http://www.mit.gov.in/it- bill.asp (Visited on July 29, 2003).
8. PROOF READING OF THE FINAL DRAFT OF THE RESEARCH REPORT
After the final report is ready, it is imperative to read each page carefully. The typing
errors are best detected by this method. All corrections must be made after checking
not only sentences but also formatting, spaces, spellings, grammar, symbols and
numbering used. Once all has been proof read, the researcher should only then move
ahead with printing and submission of the research report.
9. PRECAUTIONS IN REPORT WRITING
Writing a research report is a form of communication to the readers the research
findings in the most crisp and attractive manner. Following are certain precautions
which the researcher must bear in mind while writing the report: i. Length of the
report The length of a report varies depending upon the nature and type of report.
However, the researcher must keep in mind that the report must not be too long
otherwise the readers may lose interest in it. ii. Report must be interesting and
engaging The style and language of the report must be simple yet able to maintain
the interest of the readers. iii. Diagrammatic representations Graphs, charts, tables
must be used to represent various findings so that the reader is able to quickly discern
them. iv. Pre-planning of the report Keeping the objectives of the research in mind,
the researcher must pre plan the layout and the structure of the report for it to be in
accordance with the nature, scope and findings of the research. v. Grammatically
sound The report must be free from grammatical and punctuation errors. All
footnotes, abbreviations etc must be clearly mentioned. vi. Maintain logical flow
throughout the report It is necessary for the clarity and better communication of the
report that there must be logical flow of the subject matter in the report without
which it will be difficult for the readers to decipher it. vii. Must be original Every
report must strive to be as original in its research findings, style of presentations and
knowledge building. This contributes greatly to the further researcher work in the
same field. viii. Mention future implications of the report
Towards the end of the report, the researcher must mention the future implications of
the said work like in the policy implementation, jurisprudential contribution etc. ix.
Bibliography must be comprehensive Exhaustive bibliography must be mentioned at
the end of the report. x. Objectives, nature, techniques and limitations stated In the
introduction part of the report, the researcher must mention the objectives, scope,
nature, techniques, tools as well as limitations of the research conducted. This makes
the report more wholesome and accurate.
10. CONCLUSION
As mentioned above the entire research process culminates into report which
communicates to the readers the research conducted by the investigator. The form of
research varies depending upon the nature and field of research. In this module we
have discussed the most basic components of a legal research report along with how
the report must be made with certain point kept in the mind while doing the research
as well as writing the final report. A legal report must be simple, coherent as well as
adequately justify the area of research and the findings of the researche
economic transformation
 UNIT -IV

Objectives:
To enable student to understand Formulation of the Research problem.
To enable student to understand the tools and techniques for collection ofdata
To enable student to understand the process of Classification andtabulation
of data
To enable student to understand the process Analysis of data

Introduction:

A research design is the arrangement of circumstances for collection and

analysis of data in a manner that aims to merge relevance to the research purpose in
procedure. Research design, in fact, has a great bearing on the reliability of the
results arrived at and as such constitutes the firm foundation of the entire edifice of
the research work. We need a research design, a plan, in advance of data collection
and analysis for our research project.
 (f) object of research;
(g) procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;
(h) the population to be studied; and
(i) methods to be used in processing and analysing data

Keeping in view the above stated design decisions; one may split the overall research
design into the following parts:
(e) the sampling design which deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study;
(f) the observational design which relates to the conditions under which the
observations are to be made;
(g) the statistical design which concerns with the question or how many items
are to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be
analysed; and
(h) the operational design which deals with the techniques by which the
procedures specified in the sampling, statistical and observational designs can
be carried out.

Formulation of the Research problem:

There are several issues /problems arising in the society. We have to

understand and select some important issues or problems so that our work supply a
solution on that issue or it can be used as a guideline for the preparing the solution.
Research must be carried out with a motive/ object. We will have to decide the
‘universe’ of our study. There is plethora of information but only the relevant
material has to be taken into consideration. Only the required category has to be
selected. The researcher gets the timeline to work. Hence a stipulated time period
 has to be fixed. Data as we know one has to collect from various sources- primary
and secondary sources. Analysis of content is a central activity whenever one is
concerned with the study of the nature of the verbal materials. After the data have
been collected, the researcher has to sum up the collected data and organize it in such
a manner that will yield answers to the research questions

Devising tools and techniques for collection of data: Methodology:

The data available for the researcher are primary and secondary form. The
primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus
happen to be original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those
which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been
passed through the statistical process.
Generally primary data is collected during the experiments in anexperimental
research. Also we can obtain primary data either through observation or through
direct communication with respondents in one form or another or through personal
interviews. This, in other words, means that there are several methods of collecting
primary data, particularly in surveys and descriptive researches. Important ones are
observation method, interview method,questionnaires, through schedules, content
analysis.

Methods for the collection of statutory and case materials and juristicliterature

Material source of law is that from which the law is composed. Material sources are
immediate sources and can be divided into two types
 III- Historical i.e. Conventional: law having source in conventions, historical
Codifications, and Customary: law having source in customs; and
IV- Legal i.e. enacted law made by the Parliament, the precedent declared
bySupreme Court, and Statutory Interpretations.

The law coming through the legal source can be divided further as follows:
I – Historical source:-
(4) Conventional law having source in conventions:
Conventions govern the agreeing parties. It can also be called as treaties. Such
conventions are binding. There are hundreds of such conventions and are good
source of research material.
(5) Historical Codifications:
Such as the Manu Smriti, the Yajnvalkya Smriti, Narada Smriti etc, then the Kuran,
and holy scriptures such as Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and may other writings.
The modern historical sources are the Constitutional Assembly debates, the Law
Commission drafts of CPC and various amendments suggested to the law through
its reports, the reports of various commissions set up at various times such as the
Mandal Commission report, the Shri Krishna Commission report etc.
(6) Customary law having source in customs:
Customs are one of the important source of law. The customs diminish of their use
but some of them are still prevailing because the society has accepted them and
hence such customs are considered as the sources of law.
 III- legal

1. Enacted law: The supreme law is made by the sovereign power of the nation,
in case of India it is the Parliament. The subordinate legislations are made by
the State. The Constitution of India provides for the same and has lists the
powers in the three list of Schedule VII (Art. 246). The Sovereign power can
also delegate the power to make law. Also the local bodies coming under the
concept of ‘State’ can also make law for the specified jurisdiction.
2. Precedent declared by Supreme Court: (Case law having source in
precedent): Precedent is a previous case which may be taken as an example
in subsequent cases, wherein there is some similar act or circumstances
which may be supported or justified. In judiciary it serves as guidance for
the decisions of the new cases. As per Art. 141. Law declared by Supreme
Court to be binding on all courts.—The law declared by the Supreme Court
shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India. Thus the law
declared by the supreme court becomes a source.
3. Statutory Interpretations:
The law enacted by the parliament is called as statute. It is for the court to ascertain
the meaning to the letters and expression of the law. This is called as “interpretation”.
The words of the law then get real life. The judges then either interpret in literal way
i.e. interpretation with-in-the-frame or they may go beyond the ‘letters’ to the ‘sprit’
of the law and interpret liberally ascertaining the true intention of the legislators to
the given law e.g. the case of Maneka Gandhi v. union of India, cases filled by adv.
M.C. Mehta for environmental cause. etc. Such interpretation can be good source of
research.
 Use of historical and comparative research materials

A student of law has to stick to the historical developments of a law only or a legal
system its development etc. the comparative research material must be also relating
to law, e.g. the comparative study between the Parliament of Great Britain and India,
the comparative study between the Fundamental Rights in India and US, the
comparative study between the institution of Ombudsmen in India and Sweden, in
this way there can be several issues where one will be able to study the comparative
study between any similar issues which can become a source of material for the
researcher.

Use of observation studies:

One great asset of the observational technique is that it is possible to record

behaviour as it occurs. Many other research techniques depend entirely on people’s
retrospective or anticipatory reports of their own behaviour. The observational
techniques yield data that pertain directly to typical behavioural situations.
Observation is independent of people’s willingness to report. Many a time, a
researcher meets with resistance from persons being studied. People may not have
the time or they may be unwilling to be interviewed or tested. Studies may deal with
subjects who are not capable of giving verbal reports of their behavior. Observation
may make available a variety of research purposes. It may be used to explore the
given area of subject-matter or to gain insight into the research problem and provide
a basis for development of hypotheses
Observational techniques also have limitations.
4. Observation of regular/ daily occurrences sometimes becomes difficult
because of the possibility that unforeseen factors may interfere with the
observational task. It is often impossible to predict the occurrence of an event
exactly enough to be able to be present to observe it.
5. The practical possibility of applying observational techniques is limited by the
duration of events. Besides, some occurrences that people may not be willing
and able to report are rarely accessible to direct observation (for example,
private behavior).
6. It is often held that observational data cannot be quantified. This, however, is
a gross misconception. Social researchers will do well to bear in mind that
observational data like other data are not incapable of being calculated.

Use of questionnaires/interview:

Questionnaire method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big

enquiries. It is being adopted by private individuals, research workers, private and
public organizations and even by government departments. In this method a
questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons concerned with a request to
answer the questions and return the questionnaire.
Quite often questionnaire is considered as heart of a survey operation. Hence
it should be very carefully constructed. If it is not properly set up, then the survey is
bound to fail. This fact requires studying the main aspects of a questionnaire such as
the general form, question formulation and wording.
A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed or typed in a
definite order on a form or set of forms. The questionnaire is mailed to respondents
who are expected to read and understand the questions and write down the reply in
the space meant for the purpose in the questionnaire itself. The respondents have to
answer the questions on their own.
The method of collecting data by mailing the questionnaires to respondents
is most extensively employed in various economic and business surveys. The merits
claimed on behalf of this method are as follows:
1. It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondent’s own
words,
2. Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers,
3. Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached
conveniently,
4. Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more
dependable and reliable.

The demerits of this system can be:

7. Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due to non-
response is often undetermined,
8. It can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating,
9. The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent. There is inbuilt
inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the approach once
questionnaires have been dispatched,
10. There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of replies
altogether to certain questions; interpretation of omissions is difficult,
11. It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative,
12. This method is likely to be the slowest of all.
The interview method:
The interview method of collecting data involves presentation of oral-verbal
motivation and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses. This method can be used
through personal interviews and, if possible, through telephonic interviews.
(k) Personal interviews: Personal interview method requires a person known as
the interviewer asking questions generally in a face-to-face contact to the
other person or persons.
(l) In the case of direct personal investigation, the interviewer has to collect the
information.
(m) There is greater flexibility under this method as the opportunity to
restructurequestions is always there, especially in case of unstructured
interviews,
(n) Observation method can as well be applied to recording verbal answers
tovarious questions,
(o) Personal information can as well be obtained easily under this method,
(p) Samples can be controlled more effectively as there arises no difficulty of the
missing returns; non-response generally remains very low.
(q) The interviewer can usually control which person(s) will answer the questions.
This is not possible in mailed questionnaire approach. If so desired, group
discussions may also be held.
(r) The interviewer may catch the informant off-guard and thus may secure the
most spontaneous reactions than would be the case if mailed questionnaire is
used.
(s) The language of the interview can be adapted to the ability or educational
level of the person interviewed and as such misinterpretations concerning
questions can be avoided.
 The interviewer can collect supplementary information about the respondent’s
personal characteristics and environment which is often of great value in
interpreting results.

Demerits of interview method:

7. It is a very expensive method, especially when large and widely spread
geographical sample is taken.
8. There remains the possibility of the bias of interviewer as well as that of the
respondent Certain types of respondents such as important officials or
executives or people in high income groups may not be easily approachable.
9. This method is relatively more-time-consuming, especially when the sample
is large and re-calls upon the respondents are necessary.
10. The presence of the interviewer on the spot may over-stimulate the
respondent.
11. Interviewing at times may also introduce systematic errors.
12. Effective interview presupposes proper rapport with respondents that would
facilitate free and frank responses. This is often a very difficult requirement.

Use of case studies

The case study method is a very popular form of qualitative analysis and involves a
careful and complete observation of a social unit. This unit can be a person, a family,
an institution, a cultural group or even the entire community. It is a method of study
in depth rather than breadth. Thus, case study is essentially an intensive investigation
of the particular unit under consideration. The object of case study
method is to locate the factors that account for the behavior patterns of the given unit
as an integrated totality.

Advantages of the case study method:

The important advantages can be :
8. Being an exhaustive study of a social unit, the case study method enables
us to understand fully the behavior pattern of the concerned unit.
9. Through case study a researcher can obtain a real and enlightened record
of personal experiences along with the forces that direct him to adopt a
certain pattern of behavior.
10. This method enables the researcher to trace out the natural history of the
social unit and its relationship with the social factors and the forces
involved in its surrounding environment
11. It helps in formulating relevant hypotheses along with the data which
may be helpful in testing them.
12. Information collected under the case study method helps a lot to the
researcher in the task of constructing the appropriate questionnaire or
schedule for the said task requires thorough knowledge of the concerning
universe.
13. The researcher can use one or more of the several research methods
under the case study method depending upon the prevalent
circumstances. In other words, the use of different methods such as depth
interviews, questionnaires, documents, study reports of individuals,
letters, and the like is possible under case study method.
14. Case data are quite useful for diagnosis, therapy and other practical case
problems.
Limitations of the case study method:
8. Case situations are seldom comparable and therefore the
information gathered in case studies is often not comparable.
9. The case data as significant scientific data since they do not provide
knowledge of the “impersonal, universal, non-ethical, non-practical,
repetitive aspects of phenomena”.
10. The danger of false generalization is always there in view of the
fact that no set rules are followed in collection of the information and
only few units are studied.
11. It consumes more time and requires lot of expenditure.
12. Case study method is based on several assumptions which may not
be very realistic at times, and as such the usefulness of case data is
always subject to doubt.
13. Case study method can be used only in a limited sphere; it is not
possible to use it in case of a big society. Sampling is also not possible
under this method.
14. Response of the investigator is an important limitation of this
method. He often thinks that he has full knowledge of the unit and can
answer about it. In case the same is not true, then a consequence
follows. In fact, this is more the fault of the researcher rather than that
of the case study method.
Despite the above stated limitations, we find that case studies undertaken in several disciplines,
particularly in sociology, as a tool of scientific research in viewof the several advantages indicated
earlier. Most of the limitations can be removed if researchers are always conscious of these and are
well trained in the modern methods of collecting data
economic transformation