Legal Studies Research Methods (227-0-20)
Instructors
Robert Nelson
Robert L. Nelson is Professor of Sociology and Law at Northwestern University and theMacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession at the American Bar Foundation (where hewas Director 2004-2015). He holds a J.D. and Ph.D. in sociology, both from Northwestern.He is a leading scholar in the fields of the legal profession and discrimination law. He hasauthored or edited 10 books and numerous articles, including The Making of Lawyers'Careers: Inequality and Opportunity in the American Legal Profession (U Chicago Press2023), Legalizing Gender Inequality, Cambridge University Press 1999, which won the prizefor best book in sociology in 2001, Urban Lawyers: The New Social Structure of the Bar,University of Chicago Press 2005, and Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination LawPerpetuates Inequality, University of Chicago Press 2017. His current research is a socio-legal analysis of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
Legal Studies Research Methods introduces students to research methods used in interdisciplinary legal studies, including jurisprudence and legal reasoning, qualitative and quantitative social science methods, and historical and textual analysis. The course is a prerequisite for the Advanced Research Seminar in Legal Studies, 398-1,- 2, and is intended to prepare students for the design of their own research project to be conducted in 398-1, -2. Through exposure to and engagement with interdisciplinary research methods on law and legal processes, the course will provide students with a deeper understanding of law in its historical and social context. The course will provide students with a set of research tools with which to conduct research on legal institutions. The course builds on content from Legal Studies 206/Sociology 206, a prerequisite for this course. While part of the Legal Studies major sequence, the course will enrich the analytic skills of students from many fields who are interested in law or in interdisciplinary research methods.
Prerequisite: LEGAL_ST 206/SOCIOL 206.
Taught with LEGAL_ST 207; may not receive credit for both courses.
The topical focus of the course will be violence by the police and capital punishment in the United States. These topics will be explored with interdisciplinary readings and relevant legal cases. Students will be exposed to several research tools and research processes, as they also engage with material on police violence and capital punishment. In addition to shorter assignments, students will develop a research proposal on a topic of their choosing.
Learning Objectives
Once you complete Legal Studies Research Methods, you should be able to:
o Read and analyze diverse primary legal and political sources carefully and accurately, with attention to the author's perspective, position, and credibility, and to the source's general context.
o Be familiar with research methods and best practices regarding qualitative and quantitative data, written materials, and electronic databases.
o Read, evaluate, summarize, and engage with scholarly works by others, and be able to analyze authors' arguments for evidence, context, strength, and credibility.
o Generate original research questions regarding the relationship of law and society and devise research strategies for answering research questions.
o Make clearly written and organized arguments that are well supported by primary sources.
o Critically assess how courts and other authorities use social science in their decisions and policymaking
Teaching Method
Two classroom meetings a week, with discussions led by students on a rotating basis, several written assignments, a final research proposal, and a class presentation on the research proposal.
Evaluation Method
Assignments [total: 138 points not counting extra credit opportunities—subject to modification]
• Active and informed participation in class discussions - 10 points
• Attendance - 2 points per (actual) class up to maximum of 28 points
• Assignment One - Case Brief - 10 points
• Assignment Two - Research Questions and Bibliography - 10 points
• Assignment Three - Lexis/Nexis Uni-Zotero exercise - 10 points
•Assignment Four through Ten - Choose four out of six - 10 points each, subtotal 40 points
•Assignment Eleven - Film Analysis Reflection Paper (one page) - 10 points
•Assignment Twelve - Research Proposal on topic of Student's choice - 20 points
•Assignment Thirteen - Class Presentation on Research Proposal - 10 points
Class Materials (Required)
We will read one book and selections from another book, several articles, and a few Supreme Court opinions. Although all required chapters will be available online, the books are available for purchase through Amazon.com or your favorite online vendor. Other readings will be available through Canvas or e-reserve. You can print them all at once, print them each day, or read them in electronic format. But you must keep up with these readings and we require you to bring the scheduled readings, in some format, to each class. Some additional short texts (e.g., timely news articles) may be added to Canvas during the course.
Sarat, When the State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition (2002, Princeton University Press), isbn 0-691-10261-9. Available through NU Library at https://search.library.northwestern.edu/permalink/01NWU_INST/h04e76/alma9981609666602441
Epp, Maynard-Moody, and Haider-Markel, Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship (University of Chicago Press, 2014), isbn-13:978-0-226-11399-9;. We will read two chapters that will be available through course reserves. The underlying study maintains a website: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/8544. We will read some elements of the website.
Class Materials (Suggested)
The following recommended readings will be available via Canvas and various NU library databases.
Other Requirements/Recommendations -
• also recommend the following books (available through NU library or on reserve at the library):
o Luker, Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Info-Glut (2008, Harvard University Press) isbn 978-0-674-04821. Available through NU Library at https://web-s-ebscohost-com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzI4MjUzNV9fQU41?sid=469c04d1-52d5-49ac
o Kitty Calavita, Invitation to Law and Society: An Introduction to the Study of Real Law (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010) - A great introduction to law and society questions
o Loreen Wolfer, Real Research: Conducting and Evaluating Research in the Social Sciences (New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2006) - A useful guide to different kinds of research techniques (crafting surveys, designing interviews, etc.).
o Earl Babbie, The Practice of Social Research (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth 2013) - Similar to above, perhaps leading text on methods in sociology. Most recent edition contains material on web-surveys and web-based experiments.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area