Empirical Methods in Law

by Robert M. Lawless, Thomas Ulen, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

Today's legal profession demands that lawyers understand and engage in dialogue about basic empirical research techniques. Empirical Methods in Law teaches law students to recognize when empirical research needs to be applied in legal practice. It provides the vocabulary with which to communicate with scientific experts, and an awareness of the type of questions to ask about empirical findings. Hailing from diverse backgrounds, authors Lawless, Robbennolt, and Ulen bring practical experience and insight to this accessible research methods text that
- A consistent focus on basic principles and concepts, explained in an intuitive style requiring no prerequisite knowledge of math or statistics;
- Clear explanations geared to students new to empirical techniques;
- Optional problem sets and footnotes that will challenge more experienced students who are eager to explore specific topics in depth;
- Generous use of examples that show how empirical techniques are applied in a range of substantive areas;
- Coverage of different stages of empirical research, from formulating research questions and testable hypotheses, to data collection, sampling, coding, statistical analysis, and presenting data;
- Discussion of the connections among the different stages of empirical research;
- Sidebars with in-depth views of particular topics that provide flexible options for teaching;
- Learning-by-doing exercises at the end of each chapter. Combining expertise and an exceptionally student-friendly approach, Empirical Methods in Law is suited for a stand-alone course on empirical methods in law or as a supplement for a course or seminar that includes an empirical component.

446 pages, Hardcover

First published December 22, 2009

Reviews

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible guide to how to collect and analyse data in legal contexts. Mostly deals with quantitative approaches, but a few parts might also be useful for qualitative empirical research. Given the book's age, one should also supplement it with more recent materials on specific computational methods.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A two week seminar (6 lectures) by the authors made the book come a live even more (as far as you can ever expect from a book dealing with statistical methods for people trained in legal subjects!)