CONDUCTING LAW AND SOCIETY RESEARCH: REFLECTIONS ON METHODS AND PRACTICES edited by SIMON HALLIDAY AND PATRICK SCHMIDT
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2009.00489.x |
| Published date | 01 December 2009 |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
CONDUCTING LAW AND SOCIETY RESEARCH: REFLECTIONS ON
METHODS AND PRACTICES edited by SIMON HALLIDAY AND
PATRICK SCHMIDT
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, 288 pp., £19.99)
This book contains interviews with well-known law and society researchers
on how they conducted the research for what have become landmark studies.
It is interesting, partly because, as Lyn Mather notes in her endorsement on
the back cover, it `reveals the messiness, serendipity and creativity involved
in research' that is sometimes concealed in published studies. It is also
interesting because it reveals what might be described from a sympathetic
but critical perspective as the methodological and, to some extent, political
conservatism of mainstream law and society research. It also allows one to
reflect on the achievements of a talented generation, but one that does not
necessarily have to be the model for how law and society studies develops in
the future.
There is a tradition in sociology and anthropology of writing about the
practical issues that arise in doing research. A good example is Malinowski's
fieldwork diaries in which he reveals in confessional style how much he
detested his informants and the experience of being in the field.
1
There are
also examples in sociology of researchers who agonize reflexively about
their position in the academy, their political struggles to get published or
their relationship with their research subjects. Although some interviewees
touch on these subjects, there is no soul-searching, and it is noticeable that
few would have done things differently. Perhaps this is inevitable, given that
they are established figures looking back at work conducted some years ago.
They are all professors, and many are professors with prefatory titles. These
senior figures are given suitably respectful treatment by the interviewers. In
fact, the collection as a whole reminded me of a party held to honour your
parents as they near retirement. Neither generation is going to make a risqueÂ
joke, or say anything that might cause offence, at such events.
What is revealed can be found in many methods texts, although it is
interesting to see this in the context of particular studies. Any researcher can
take heart that legendary figures such as Stewart Macauley had never taken
courses on interviewing methods, and learnt by doing (p. 24). It will also
help others to learn how much hard graft is involved in data collection and
analysis. Robert Kagan reports that, after a day observing work in the Office
of Emergency Preparedness, `it always took an hour and a half to two hours,
starting at 9 or 10 at night' to type up his field notes (p. 31). Sally Merry
reminds us how doing field work for a community study, while raising two
young children, is a demanding activity:
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1B.Malinowski, ADiary in the Strict Sense of the Term (1967).
ß2009 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2009 Cardiff University Law School
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