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Research Design for Empirical Legal and Socio-Legal Studies (LAW-DS-RESDES-25)

LAW-DS-RESDES-25

Description

Empirical legal studies have become popular across the legal academy. Often legal empiricists limit themselves to analyses of quantitative data and rely on data collected by others. However, the term "empirical" properly encompasses qualitative as well as quantitative data, including information derived from interviews, legal documents, survey research and experiments. Moreover, many quantitative datasets were derived from qualitative data collection. Analysts interested in using such data should understand how they were collected, in order to decide what data are best suited to answering different kinds of questions. The best way to develop an understanding of the challenges posed by empirical research design is to develop such a design oneself.

This seminar will introduce students to the wide range of research methods that can be used to answer empirical questions, provide a framework for selecting from a methodological menu, and describe how to apply the most frequently used methods. The course is designed for students who expect to conduct an empirical study sometime soon. It can also provide useful background for those who may never conduct their own empirical study but will have reason to refer to such studies in their scholarship or policy work.
The seminar will comprise discussions of research principles, approaches, and methods and presentations of projects utilizing different approaches. In the last sessions of the quarter, everyone will present his or her preliminary research design for review and comment.
The main text for the course is Deborah Hensler, DESIGNING EMPIRICAL LEGAL RESEARCH: A PRIMER FOR LAWYERS available in the course site. Supplementary reading for some sessions will include journal articles available online and are subject to change.

Attendance is the only requirement. However, the idea is to develop a research proposal (optional) for an empirical legal or socio-legal study, either a master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation or other course project. A proposal like that could be the basis of your December presentation at the EUI, if you are planning a socio-legal project. The length of the research proposal will depend on what type of project you propose but generally proposals are around 8-10 pages in length. 

Course reading list: https://readinglist.eui.eu/leganto/public/39EUI_INST/lists/2930373900008406?auth=SAML&idpCode=SAML_LEGANTO


First, Second & Third Term: registration from 22 to 26 September 2025.
 

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