Course Location: Loeb B454

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is a required course in the M.A. in Legal Studies. We will examine issues associated with methodology, research design, the research process (including strategies, choices of methods, research as knowledge creation). This is a seminar course. Wherever possible, we will use a discussion-based format through a combination of instructor-led discussion, small group work and reports back and interaction with guests.

The course itself is built around ideas about research in legal studies. Its main objective is to help you ask and answer some questions about your proposal thesis research in terms of approach (methodology) and to be able to prepare a research proposal. You must identify your thesis supervisor early in the semester (if you haven’t already done so) and include them in your thinking processes.

REQUIRED READING

The assigned text is David Madsen, Successful Dissertations and Theses, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1992). This book provides specific and useful guidance for each phase of your work. You would be well served to find at least one other book on the topic of graduate research theses: you may find it helpful to browse a wider array of tips, techniques and approaches.

Other articles associated with particular classes will be placed in the course drawer in the Graduate Students Office. Where possible, I will try to put them online at the web site for your convenience. There will be some Handouts in class as well.

You might also find it helpful to consult standard legal research books or online guides. For more information consult: http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/courses/LIS/2133/biblio.htm or http://library.queensu.ca/law/lederman/ (very good resource for law research)

A list of recommended readings is appended to this course outline.

EVALUATION

Evaluation in the course is tailored to develop skills that will be useful to you in finalizing your research proposal. A separate Evaluation Sheet outlines these details.

	Value %	Component	Due Date
Thoughtpieces	25	Research Question	Discussion Draft (4 copies): Jan 30. Revised: Feb 13 (in class)
	25	Literature Review and Notes on Methods	Discussion Draft (4 copies): Feb 27. Revised: March 13 (in class)
	25	Research Plan (theory and methods proposed etc)	Discussion Draft (4 copies): March 20. Revised: April 03 (in class)
Research Proposal	10	Research Proposal	April 20 2007 Submit by email.
Class Participation	15	Attendance, preparation, participation and contribution to quality of discussion.
Total:	100

Details

THOUGHTPIECES

The purpose of the Thoughtpieces is to have you gather your thoughts in a step-by-step way through the semester. Refer to the more detailed handouts that correlate to each Thoughtpiece (Research Question; Relation to Existing Research; Research Plan).

Length: Aim for around five pages. If you refer to literature, make sure you cite it correctly. Try to be succinct as the discipline will focus you on the key points and help you sift out the dross.

You will first prepare a draft (Bring four copies to class. One for the Professor and the others for people in your small group) which will be discussed in small groups. You will then be able to revise your work prior to submitting it for marking.

The purpose of the draft, small group discussion and revision process is to get you working on the element of the research proposal and to provide an opportunity to ‘try out ideas’ and receive feedback.

It is important to balance ‘open thinking’ in the exercise with hard work and preparation so that the thoughtpieces become substantive and well developed.

1. Research question

Include some discussion of your proposed topic area of interest, particular problem that draws your attention, possible research question (what don’t you know that you want to find out), proposed scope of research and why you think it’s relevant or important to explore this area.

2. Relation to Existing Research/Literature Review

The purpose of reviewing existing literature within a Research Proposal is to talk about ‘existing knowledge’ as it relates to, informs, and suggests the need for the research that you propose to undertake. As Clement notes, you need to be able to “give some shape to the paradigm you are adopting and situate it vis a vis its main competitors. Key here are the assumptions and claims made by others and the extent you concur or differ. ...The key is to locate your project, not reproduce all your homework. …You may wish to follow, closely or loosely, the views of others. Regardless, you must be conscious of your 'place' in the field.” Use this Thoughtpiece to lay out some ideas and explore some of the parameters or issues in the existing literature.

3. Research Plan

An outline of research (the research plan) should include an account “of the theory (ies) that will be considered and the method(s) that will be employed in selecting, organizing and analyzing the material that will make up the main body of the thesis.” (Graduate Handbook). Use this Thoughtpiece to lay out some of your ideas about theoretical approach and method in relation to your research problem. How are you thinking of ‘doing the research’ for the thesis?

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

About 15 pages; email to me and provide a copy to your supervisor. Further develop and finalize it in consultation with your supervisor after the course.

The purpose of submitting the research proposal is to have you draw together the work you have done in the semester into a coherent whole.

If you are spending the summer on your thesis research, having the proposal ready will enable you to get right to work. If you are planning to resume your thesis work after the summer, having the proposal ready will remind you where you left off and get you going again quickly.

I will mark the research proposal on the extent to which you have pulled your ideas together, presented a coherent account of your proposed research (addressing questions of theory and method) and addressed the necessary elements for a research proposal. Formats will vary but generally follow Madsen and the guidelines provided in Class and the Graduate Handbook.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

It is implicit in the course design that students will prepare for, attend and participate actively in class. Class participation grades will be assigned based on Attendance, preparation, participation and contribution to quality of discussion.

Submission Requirements

Submission: Keep a copy of your papers as submitted. Hand your assignments during class time or through the essay drop chute outside the law office at Loeb C473. Do not put your paper under my door! Papers will be returned to your mail box in the Graduate Room or by email.

Cover page: Include your name, student number, course name and number, title of your assignment and name of the instructor.

Presentation: Typed, double-spaced on white paper. The font should be 12 point, preferably times new roman. Essays must be stapled in the top left-hand corner. Use page numbering. Absolutely no use of colour or graphics on the cover or elsewhere; no plastic covers or spiral binding. Do not enclose in a folder.

Extensions: If you need me to consider whether to grant you an extension, see or email me as soon as possible before the due date with the reason and have documentation to support any medical extension.

Penalties: Papers submitted after the due date and without an extension, will be considered late and may be subject to a grade penalty of one third of a grade per day including weekend days.

Citation: All sources must be fully and accurately cited. Use a recognized style guide. You can also refer to the law style sheet: http://www.carleton.ca/law/style.htm. All direct quotes from other sources must be enclosed in quotation marks. All paraphrases from sources must be credited to their source. A string of quotations or paraphrases, even if attributed, is not acceptable. Make sure that when you take notes you identify their source and whether you are copying verbatim. Be very careful not to so closely track your notes from sources (or quotes) that you inadvertently copy the source without appropriate attribution. These situations may be regarded as potential plagiarism and/or not original. Quotes of more than 50 words should be indented and single-spaced.

Originality: Plagiarism is an academic offence. All papers must be fully original and may not be submitted in more than one course; all sources must be fully and accurately cited. Be particularly careful that you do not hand in overly similar work if you discuss your ideas or work in conjunction with a classmate in the course of developing your paper. Without exception or discussion, I will refer suspected cases of plagiarism immediately to the Dean. Refer further to the University Calendar.

Completion: All components of evaluation must be completed to receive a passing mark in the course.

RECOMMENDED READING

The following might be of interest:

Joyce McCarl Nielson, “Introduction” in Feminist Research Methods: Exemplars from the Social Sciences (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990), 1-37 (focus on material related to legal method and Kuhn.)

T.S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3^rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).

Dava Sobel, Gallileo’s Daughter, (Toronto: Viking/Penguin, 1999)

Shimon Malin, Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and Nature of Reality, A Western Perpective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

W. Booth, G. Colomb, J. Williams, The Craft of Research (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).

Lee Harvey, Critical Social Research (London: Unwin Hyman, 1990).

Jonathan Simon, “Review Essay: The Wisconsin Influence on Sociological Scholarship”(1999) 24 Law & Soc. Inquiry 143.

Stuart Macaulay, "Law and the Behavioural Sciences: Is there any 'There' there?" (1984) 6 Law & Policy 156-187)

A. Sarat, M. Constable, D. Engel, Valerie Hans and S. Lawrence, Crossing Boundaries: Traditions and Transformations in Law and Society Research, (Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press and American Bar Association, 1998)

John Hagan, "The New Legal Scholarship: Problems and Prospects" (1986) 1 Canadian Journal of Law and Society 35

Harry Arthurs, Without the Law (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985)

L. Alcoff and Elizabeth Potter, Feminist Epistemologies (New York: Routledge, 1993).

Linda Holler, "Thinking with the Weight of the Earth: Feminist Contributions to an Epistemology of Concreteness" (1990) 5 Hypatia 1-23

Mary E. Hawkesworth, "Knowers, Knowing, Known: Feminist Theory and Claims of Truth" (1989) 14 Signs 533-557.

Frank Munger and Carol Seron, "Critical Legal Studies v. Critical Legal Theory: A Comment on Method" (1984) 6 Law and Policy 257.

Journals

You might find it helpful to become familiar with journals in the field which include:

Canada:

· Canadian Journal of Law and Society

· Canadian Journal of Women and the Law

· Windsor Yearbook of Access to Ju stice

UK/International:

· Social and Legal Studies

· Journal of Law and Society

· Crime, Law and Social Change

· International Journal of the Sociology of Law

· Theoretical Criminology

USA:

· Law and Social Inquiry

· Journal of Law and Society

· Law and Society Review

· Law and Policy

Other sources to review include the general law journals (eg. University of British Columbia Law Journal, Osgoode Hall Law Journal; Harvard Law Journal, Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Journal), criminology journals (eg., Canadian Journal of Criminology).

Legal Subject Indexes, Databases, Primary Sources

Subject indexes to law journals include: Index to Legal Periodicals, Current Law Index, Index to Canadian Legal Literature (and LegalTrac: a CD-ROM held in the Ottawa U Law Library). Quick Law (online data base); Lexis-Nexis (on-line database) are excellent sources for primary legal sources and also periodical literature.

Legal Method Texts

Further guidance on law sources can be found by consulting any guide to legal research with the caveat that most are written for the positivist, doctrinal law methodology characteristic in law schools. Any of the following will guide you to ‘law’ sources.

Edmund Kwaw, The Guide to Legal Analysis, Legal Methodology and Legal Writing (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 1992)

Maureen Fitzgerald, Legal Problem Solving (Toronto: Butterworths, 1996)

John Yogis and Innis Christie, Legal Writing and Research Manual, 3d ed., by Michael Iosipescu (Toronto: Butterworths, 1988).

Douglas MacEllvan, Legal Research Manual, 3d ed. (Toronto: Butterworths, 1987).

Banks and Foti, Banks on Using a Law Library, 6th ed. (Scarborough: Carswell, 1994):

Castel and Latchman, The Practical Guide to Legal Research, 2^nd ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 1998)

Suzanne Gordon and Sherifa Eikhadem, The Law Workbook (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2002)

Alexandra Zivanovic, Guide to Electronic Legal Research (Markham: Butterworths, 2001)

Legal Citation

The Canadian guide to Uniform Legal Citation is the recognized standard for legal research. Even if you use another ‘social science style’, this guide will assist you in how to cite statutes, cases, and other government materials.