Socio-Legal Research: Practical issues in planning and doing research

This short online course aims to introduce students to an array of important issues when planning undertaking research, especially empirical research projects.  These issues are usually practical considerations and must be built into doing the actual research, and you will have the opportunity to discuss these issues in relation to your own tesina research project. 
In undertaking research, often we rely on others to supply material that we require, or would like to have, as part of the data – whether this be primary data such as interviews or surveys, documents which might be archived, or part of an organisation’s record keeping, various statistics, or other material such as photographs, objects in museums, or private collections.  The list is almost infinite.  If our research is ethnographic, or relies on (participant) observation, then researchers typically need permission to access those social settings. When using material produced by someone else – eg photographs, pictures, objects, cartoons, music, videos, and so on – another set of issues is the permission to use those items, and questions of copyright. Questions of ethics, permission and consent are essential for undertaking empirical research. 
This course also looks at research funding, in particular for doctoral studies.  We will discuss identifying sources of funding, including scholarships, post-docs or other fellowships, as well as grant funding.  Writing successful applications is an art, and these sources of funding are usually highly competitive.