ReSEARCH WORKSHOP

Presented by

Khandaker Farzana Rahman

Sr Lecturer of Law.

Quick review• Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving

information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation”.

• Legal Research objective• Questions• Methodology• Ethical consideration• Timelimit• Sources/Biblography

Objects, subjects or participants?Research ‘on’ people or ‘with’ people ?

In research with people (unlike research with animals, plants, rocks, microbes etc.)we have to decide whether the people we study will be

• ‘objects’ of our research:

(we do research ‘about’ people(?) – we may observe, measure, obtain information about them but we are not interested in their views and perceptions)

• ‘subjects’ in our research: (we do research ‘among’ and ‘with’ our research subjects, not only their behavour but also their views and perceptions are important), or

• ‘participants’ in our research: (people become active collaborators in the research process, more than just sources of information)

Genuine ‘participatory’ research – in which professional researchers surrender part of their control over the research process to the research subjects – is popular in rhetoric, rare in reality

REMEMBER YOUR ‘AUDIENCE(S)’

• Who do you wish your research to inform?

• Who do you want to convince you have made a

contribution to knowledge?

• What do your various readers expect? Are

there conflicting demands needing more than

one document?

COMBINING ARGUMENT AND EVIDENCE TO PRODUCE HIGH

QUALITY ACADEMIC RESEARCH

CLAIM

REASONS

EVIDENCE

Some points.....

• READ GENEROUSLY and THINK CRITICALLY(improve academic writing)

• METHODOLOGY• Qualitative/Quantative data• Primary/secondary data• ParaPhrasing:The restatement of texts in other words as a

studying or teaching device• Summarising:In contrast to quoting directly, by

summarising or paraphrasing an author's ideas you are able to present your interpretation of an author's ideas and to integrate them more fully into the structure of your writing

From ethics to data

INFORMED CONSENT IN THE INTERVIEWS

“Hello. My name is _____________. I am working with Badan Pusat Statistik. We are conducting a national survey of unmarried women and men between age 15 and 24. We are interested in your knowledge of, attitudes toward and practice in health care. This information will be used to help the government in developing plans to provide health services tailored specifically to address the needs of young people. We would very much appreciate your participation in the survey. The survey usually takes about 25 minute to complete. Whatever information you provide will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shown to other persons.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and you can choose not to answer any individual question or all of the questions. However, we hope that you will participate in this survey since your views are important.

At this time, do you want to ask me anything about the survey?

During this interview, how should I address you?

May I begin the interview now?

Signature of interviewer ______________________ Date ________________

RESPONDENT AGREES TO BE INTERVIEWED ….. [Qu.] 1

RESPONDENT DOES NOT AGREE TO BE INTERVIEWED …. 2 END “

A tentative hierarchy of epistemological authority (may be in print or on the web)

• Refereed ‘seminal’ journal articles frequently cited• Refereed recent journal articles• Books published by high prestige university presses• Published ‘independent’ reports of ‘prestigious

agencies’ – e.g. UN, NGO external evaluations• Gov’t statistics, e.g. Population censuses, large

surveys • Web-sites of developmental agencies, e.g. Gov’t

ministries, ‘donors’, NGOs’ annual reports • ‘Popular’ books• ‘Grey’ literature, e.g. mass media materials, social

movement and party political manifestos• Open access web-sites, e.g. Wikipedia and the age of

the artist Titian

Choosing academic quotes• Quoting properly is not only important for avoiding accusations of plagiarism

and economising on time spent paraphrasing , IT IS ALSO ACADEMICALLY VIRTUOUS AND A REALLY GOOD THING TO DO, though like most things not to excess (in my judgement around five percent of the Research Paper is a reasonable target, that is about 850 words in the final version)

• Quoting from academic sources:– Introductions and Conclusions are good places to look for quotes– Good quotes are statements that summarise an author’s position,

preferably in a way that contests implicitly or explicitly with other authors and/or a ‘popular’ consensus

– Quotation marks can be put around short phrases in the text, if the phrase was invented by a particular author, but also aim for more extensive quotes in separate indented paragraphs that develop an argument - however long they are, such quotes do NOT count for plagiarism purposes

The shadow of plagiarism (1)Extracts from Regulations on Fraud, Cheating and Plagiarism  1 In any examination or assessment, the work submitted must be the

student’s own.  2 By handing in work for assessment, students declare that the work

submitted is their own, except for those quotations and references which are derived from other sources, which must be properly acknowledged as such. Lack of standardised referencing and an inadequate or non-existent bibliography are academically unacceptable. Sections in submitted work which have been copied from the published materials of others, without being clearly and unambiguously identified as quotations, or that have been paraphrased inadequately, or that are identical to or copied from the work of another student (or, in some cases, even from the same student’s own work*) are all considered to be cases of academic fraud and/or plagiarism.

3. If fraud or plagiarism is established in regard to the Research paper, the candidate might not be awarded the degree.

 

Referencing

• Book• Journal• Paper presentation• Web link• Report• Law/Act• Book chapter• Unpublished article• Newspaper

BETTER EXAMPLE OF REFERENCING

Burra, Num,. Born to Work. Child Labour in India . New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2004, p.45

Moore,Kar, “Supporting children in their working lives: obstacles and opportunities within the international policy environment” Journal of International Development, 2000, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 531-48.

Mortimer,Jet, and Dion, Finch (eds), Adolescents, Work, and Family, Thousand Oaks: Sage. 1998, pp.45

Muller,Gangl,. (eds)Transitions from Education to Work in Europe, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2003, p.34

Psacharopoulos,Goll,.“Child labour versus educational attainment. Some evidence from Latin America ” Journal of Population Economics, vol.10, no. 5, pp. 377-386.

How you can self-monitor for plagiarism

Using the Work of Other Authors: CEU Writing Centerhttp://web.ceu.hu/writing/sources

Plagiarism.org The Learning Centerhttp://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/educational_tips.html

University of Leeds: Plagiarism: How Do I Not Do It?http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/how.php

University of Indiana: What it is, How to Recognize and Avoid It

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

Ten Top Tipshttp://www.edgehill.ac.uk/ls/HelpSup/guides/avoiding_plagiarism.pdfhttp://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/docs/AVOIDING%20PLAGIARISM.dochttp://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/academic-success-tools/avoiding-plagiarism.html