SECTION A
LEGAL RESEARCH: GENERAL THEMES
Section A of the study guide contains a general discussion of legal research and is
intended to provide you with a general overview of themes which you will apply
practically in section B. The learning outcomes for this module are dependent on
the imple...
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University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
LME3701/1/2019–2021
70710848
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, CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORDv
SECTION A: LEGAL RESEARCH: GENERAL THEMES1
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH 1
1.2 CLASSIFYING LEGAL RESEARCH 4
1.2.1 Defining legal research 4
1.2.2 Elements of legal research 6
1.2.3 Types of research 7
1.2.3.1 Doctrinal legal research9
1.2.3.2 Empirical legal research/socio-legal studies10
1.2.3.3 International and comparative legal research11
1.3 CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN LAW 11
1.4 RESEARCH DESIGN (PLANNING) AND
METHODOLOGY11
1.4.1 Research design (planning) 12
1.4.2 Research methodology 13
1.4.3 Approaches to research/types of research 14
1.4.3.1 Qualitative research vs quantitative research15
1.4.3.2 Legal comparative approach16
1.4.3.3 Legal historical approach17
1.5 ORGANISING THE RESEARCH AND
FORMULATING A WORKING TITLE 17
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTION, PROBLEM OR STATEMENT 18
1.7 SCHOLARSHIP/LITERATURE REVIEW 21
1.8 FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL23
1.9 STYLE AND FORMATTING OF RESEARCH IN
LAW AT CLAW 24
1.9.1 Footnote style 25
1.10 CITATION AND REFERENCING METHODS 25
1.11 RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND PROFESSIONAL
CONDUCT26
1.11.1 Plagiarism26
1.11.1.1 Defining plagiarism27
1.11.1.2 Copying another student’s work is plagiarism27
1.11.2 Copyright and academic writing 28
1.11.2.1 Both copyright infringement and plagiarism28
1.11.2.2 Copyright infringement but not plagiarism29
1.11.2.3 Plagiarism but not copyright infringement29
1.11.3 How to avoid plagiarism 29
SECTION B: LEGAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL: LEARNING UNITS35
Learning unit 1: RESEARCH PROPOSAL36
1.1 INTRODUCTION36
Learning unit 2: PRELIMINARY WORK40
2.1 CONSTRUCTING A RESEARCH JOURNAL 40
2.2 ORGANISING YOUR RESEARCH 41
LME3701/1/2019–2021(iii)
, Learning unit 3: PROPOSED/WORKING TITLE AND
INTRODUCTION43
3.1 PROPOSED/WORKING TITLE 43
3.2 RESEARCH INTRODUCTION 44
Learning unit 4: PROBLEM STATEMENT46
4.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 46
4.1.1 Problem statement examples 47
Learning unit 5: RESEARCH AIM/HYPOTHESIS49
5.1 WHAT IS A HYPOTHESIS 49
Learning unit 6: POINTS OF DEPARTURE AND
ASSUMPTIONS51
6.1 POINT OF DEPARTURE AND ASSUMPTIONS 51
Learning unit 7: CONCEPTUALISATION OF
CENTRAL RESEARCH THEMES52
Learning unit 8: CHAPTER LAYOUT53
Learning unit 9: PROJECTED TIME FRAME56
Learning unit 10: DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH METHOD57
Learning unit 11: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH58
Learning unit 12: EVALUATING YOUR RESEARCH
PROPOSAL59
SECTION C: SCHOOL OF LAW REFERENCING STYLE63
1.1 CLAW REFERENCING STYLE 63
1.2 BASIC RULES OF REFERENCING IN THE
SCHOOL OF LAW63
1.3 SPECIFIC RULES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF
SOURCES64
1.3.1 Books and contributions in books 64
1.3.2 Journal articles 65
1.3.3 Old authorities 65
1.3.4 Internet sources 66
1.3.5 Law reports 66
1.3.6 Legislation 66
1.3.7 International and regional instruments/documents 67
1.4 SUMMARY67
SECTION D: MISCELLANEOUS69
1.1 NOTES ON ACCESSING RELIABLE SOURCES
OF LEGAL INFORMATION 72
1.1.1 Dangers of the internet as a source of information 72
1.1.2 Reliable, authoritative and persuasive sources of law 72
BIBLIOGRAPHY74
(iv)
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