‘In a very accessible format, Law Dissertations: A Step-by-Step Guide takes the mystery out of the process of dissertation writing. Thoroughly covering all aspects of law dissertations, from planning to implementation, the book is an essential tool for law dissertation students and those teaching legal research and writing skills.’ – Dr Ryan Hill, Senior Lecturer in Law, Anglia Law School ‘This book is an invaluable tool that I would recommend to any law student writing a dissertation or assessed essay. It is written in a clear, accessible style and covers all aspects of the dissertation including: how to do research; how to know which are the best sources; and how present your knowledge in an essay so as to achieve the best results.’ – Laura Giachardi, 42 Bedford Row ‘I would advise any student who aspires to writing a law dissertation to read this book before starting their work. Then, see what happens: a step closer to a good job.’ – Dr Alessandro Spano, Senior Research Associate, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London Law Dissertations Law Dissertations: A Step-by-Step Guide provides you with all the guidance and information you need to complete and succeed in your LLB, LLM or law-related dissertation. Written in a simple, clear format and with plenty of tools to help you to put the theory into practice, Laura Lammasniemi will show you how to make writing your law dissertation easy, without compromising intellectual rigour. As well as explaining the process of research and outlining the various legal methodologies, the book also provides practical, step-by-step guidance on how to formulate a proposal, research plan, and literature review. Unlike other law research skills books, it includes a section on empirical research methodology and ethics for the benefit of students who are studying for a law-related degree. Packed full of exercises, worked examples, and tools for self-evaluation, this book is sure to become your essential guide, supporting you on every step of your journey in writing your law dissertation. Dr Laura Lammasniemi is an Assistant Professor at School of Law, University of Warwick. She specialises in legal research skills, criminal law, and public law. She has previously convened Dissertation modules in a number of institutions and developed Dissertation module materials for the University of London (International Academy). Lammasniemi’s research focuses on law, gender, and crime from historical perspective. Law Dissertations A Step-by-Step Guide Laura Lammasniemi First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Laura Lammasniemi The right of Laura Lammasniemi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lammasniemi, Laura, author. Title: Law dissertations: a step-by-step guide/Laura Lammasniemi. Description: New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017049855 | ISBN 9781138240674 (hbk) | ISBN 9781138240681 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315282831 (epub) | ISBN 9781315282824 (kindle) Subjects: LCSH: Law—Study and teaching—Great Britain. | Legal composition. | Dissertations, Academic—Great Britain. | Law—Study and teaching. | Dissertations, Academic. Classification: LCC KD442. L36 2018 | DDC 808.06/634—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017049855 ISBN: 978-1-138-24067-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-24068-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-28285-5 (ebk) Typeset in Joanna MT by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 Why read this book? 1 What will you find in this book? 1 How to do well 5 Summary 5 2 Finding and perfecting your topic 6 2.1 Key questions to consider when choosing a dissertation topic 7 2.2 Inspiration for finding a topic for research 8 2.3 Brainstorming 12 Summary 14 3 From a topic to a question 15 3.1 Narrowing down your topic to a question 16 3.2 What is a compelling research question? 20 3.3 Tasks on evaluating and strengthening research questions 21 3.4 Tools for self-evaluation 24 Summary 25 4 Creating a good research proposal 26 4.1 What is a research proposal? 27 4.2 Proposal as a ‘running document’ 29 4.3 Evaluate sample proposals 29 4.4 Evaluate your proposal 33 Summary 34 5 Planning the project 35 5.1 Scheduling and working effectively 36 5.2 Creating a research journal 40 Summary 42 viii Contents 6 Creating a research plan 43 6.1 Formulating research aim and objectives 44 6.2 Creating a research plan 46 Summary 52 7 Online research 53 7.1 Online sources: the good, the bad, and the ugly 54 7.2 How to locate different legal databases 57 7.3 How to use different databases 59 7.4 How to use publicly available resources 63 Summary 68 8 Methodology 69 8.1 Introduction to methodology 70 8.2 Blackletter law methodology 72 8.3 Socio-legal methodology 74 8.4 Theory as a methodology 75 8.5 Comparative law methodology 76 8.6 How to engage with methodology 78 8.7 Reflexivity 80 Summary 82 9 Empirical research 83 9.1 What is empirical research in law? 84 9.2 Examples of empirical legal research 85 9.3 Pros and cons of empirical research 86 9.4 How to conduct empirical research 87 9.5 Presenting research findings 92 9.6 Key principles of research ethics 93 9.7 What is ethics approval? 96 9.8 Other ethical issues 97 Summary 100 10 Processing literature 101 10.1 What is key literature? 102 10.2 Deciding what to read and what not to read 103 10.3 How to create a working bibliography 105 10.4 Quick reading skills 106 10.5 Deep reading skills 109 10.6 Critically analysing a text 110 10.7 A critical and reflective reader 112 Summary 114 Contents ix 11 Literature review 115 11.1 What is a literature review? 116 11.2 Why conduct a literature review? 117 11.3 Sources for literature review 117 11.4 How to conduct a literature review 120 11.5 Highlighting the originality of your research project 123 Summary 123 12 Writing the dissertation 124 12.1 Understanding and improving your writing skills 125 12.2 Writing good paragraphs 127 12.3 How to captivate your audience 132 12.4 Making an argument 135 12.5 How to incorporate evidence into your writing 136 Summary 139 13 Referencing 140 13.1 Why reference? 141 13.2 Plagiarism and academic offences 142 13.3 OSCOLA referencing in a nutshell 144 13.4 Harvard referencing in a nutshell 147 13.5 Exercises to test your referencing skills 150 Summary 154 14 Structuring the dissertation 155 14.1 How to structure the introduction 156 14.2 How to structure the main body 158 14.3 How to structure the conclusion 161 14.4 Signposting 161 14.5 Creating a reverse outline 163 Summary 166 15 Navigating supervision 167 15.1 What are the roles of a supervisor and a supervisee? 168 15.2 Managing your supervision meetings 171 15.3 Supervision guidelines 173 15.4 Feedback cycle 174 15.5 Working with a critical friend 175 15.6 Tools for critical friend and for self-evaluation 176 Summary 177