Content of legal research/ proposal

1. Topic/title of your research

2. Introduction
3. Statement of the problem
4. Aims and objectives
5. Methodology
6. Scope of the research
7. Literature review
8. Justification
9. Definition of terms
10. Plan of study / organisational layout [Chapterisation]

1. Getting a Topic

In writing a proposal/ legal research, some major segment are claimed to ensure a good
research/ research proposal. The first of them all is to have a proposed topic/ a good one for
that matter.

The formulation of an appropriate and interesting research topic is perhaps the most
demanding and difficult part of any research. But it is ok if student don’t have a clear topic
from the start because the process of research is often not a linear one, it moves logically
from phase to phase. It should also be noted that vast majority of students had been known to
submit very ambitious topics and at the end of the day, they are unable to manage it well.
Some fear that they may not have enough to say or write if their topic is too narrow whereas,
this fear is usually based on not really understanding the narrow complexity of the issue at
hand. Rather investigate a small topic in depth than a large topic superficially.
It is advisable to focus the topic on a problematic issue,
It must touch on the subject matter directly.
it must be catchy i.e attract attention to itself
it must be brief and not be too verbose.
It must be within the approved word limit - It is important to note that some universities
recommend that titles do not exceed 15 or 21 words
It is preferable to research on a topic that is narrower and in-dept than have a broad topic
 2. Introduction/ Background to the study

After getting a topic you must have an introduction or background information. The
background of a study is the first section of the research and it establishes the context
underlying the research. The background information identifies and describes the history
and nature of a well-defined research problem with reference to the existing literature. It
contains the rationale, the key problem statement, and a brief overview of research questions
that are addressed in the body of the work.
The background forms the crux of the study because it introduces an unaware audience to the
research and its importance in a clear and logical manner. At times, the background may
explore whether the study builds on or refutes findings from previous studies. Lastly, any
relevant information that the readers need to know before delving into the paper should be
made available to them in the background.

In a nut shell,

- Student should use the introduction to acquaint the reader with the topic and to let the
audience know the importance of the study.
- Background to the study/Introduction must be written in a way that should arouse the
readers’ interest and build a desire to read more and more. [increase engagement]
- Set the stage for what comes after by putting/ making available any relevant information
that the readers need to know before delving into the main work.
- the background must be short, direct and not tedious.
- Make the introduction a tasty, titbit and a sample of the good things to come.

3. Statement of the Problem

This could be said to be the purpose of the research. It is your opportunity as a student to
explain why you care and what you propose to do in the way of researching the problem. A
problem statement is an explanation in research that describes the issue that is in need of
study. What problem is the research attempting to address?
The research problem is likened to the engine of a car, -[ so is statement of the problem seen
as the engines of a thesis] - it drives the various sections, it directs your discussion towards the
destination you want to get to and informs the way you will develop your thesis.

It is usually a very short section and the most important part of the proposal/research. It lays
down a guide to follow in all that comes after. At the same time it is a serious agreement
between the proposal and the faculty. Once accepted the statement of the problem would be
the problem for the student researcher and that individual would live with it until the mission
is completed.
4. Aims/ objectives
This is the specific destination that you are aiming at in your research. They should express
clearly and precisely the anticipated achievements of the research study. They are expression
of the things which you hope you will know and understand at the end of the study, which you
do not know now/at the beginning. Aims of the study therefore provide a measure of success
for the research study. As they express the things you hope you will achieve, they provide a
yardstick by which to judge your study.
In a nut shell - Aims provide the overall direction for the research while objectives provide
specific targets that must be achieved to accomplish the aims. Aims provide a broad context
for the research, while the objectives provide smaller steps that the researcher must take to
accomplish the overall research goals.
Note -
Student should avoid having too many aims because it is an indication that you do not have a
clear idea of your destination. Usually, 1or 2 aims with at least 3 to 4 specific objectives will
suffice.

5. Methodology of study
This is the method you will adopt in collating/getting information for the research.
Methodology itself is a branch of philosophy dealing with the science of method and
procedure with each discipline having its own system of methods. The use of methodology
implies that the investigation will be conducted according to a method and not at random.
The term research methodology of law means the exposition, the description, the explanation
and justification of methods used in conducting research in the discipline of law.
In this section, an outline of the proposed research methods should be provided. For example
a research method may include a visit to particular library or archives, a proposed field work,
interviews or sociological or other inquiry. Where research visits are a key part of the project,
it may be useful to explain the decision to undertake the research in a particular location.
In addition, student should clearly name and describe his/her choice of research methods.
They include analytical, comparative, experimental, case study, quantitative, empirical
research methods and many more. You are also free to either use one or all research methods
depending on your choice. But your choice of the research methods must directly relate to the
problem statement. In effect, the section describes the manner in which the research will be
undertaken and the key question here is HOW will you undertake this research.

6. Scope of the research

This describes the extent. And the extent here could be territorial or it could even mean
period. The wider the scope of the research, the shallower the discussion is likely to be. The
narrower a research scope, the more in-depth the research could be.

7. Literature Review
Basically, literature review is a discussion on already existing material in a subject area which
requires collection, compilation, classification, and evaluation of published (in print or online)
works on what other researchers have written on selected research topic. Hence, literature
review is a basic component of any research thesis or a paper on a subject matter.
The main function of literature review is to familiarise the researcher with works that have
been done in the area of the research and therefore ascertain the state of the knowledge. For a
researcher to contribute to knowledge he/she needs to familiarise with the work previous
scholars or researchers have done.

Importance of Literature Review in Legal Research

1. A well-reviewed literature is very important in writing a good project, dissertation or

thesis because one cannot conduct any meaningful research work without first
understanding the contents of the literature which actually helps the researcher to
improve his/her knowledge on the topic;
2. It provides current and up-to date information on the subject matter to prevent
meaningless exercises on issues that have been over flogged in a replicated manner.
3. It also serves as a stepping stone to more research works and better analysis.
4. Literature review provides the means of assessing the researcher/student’s knowledge
and understanding of the research study.
5. More importantly, literature review helps to determine the credibility of any research
work since without a well-researched literature review, the quality of the paper will be
rated poorly in the sense that disjointed ideas or facts do not significantly contribute to
knowledge.

Sources of Literature for Review

A researcher must bear in mind that sourcing for literature to review matters a lot
because of its relevancy and adequacy. The following sources are considered useful in
literature review.
a. Thesis of Post-graduate Students. – These are available in various departments,
faculties and main libraries of all higher institutions. Sometimes, Ph.D. thesis can be
found online. For example Ethos. Ethos comprises of Ph.D. thesis from different
schools in United Kingdom.
 b. Journals: - these contain several papers written by various subscribers on vital
information in various areas of specialization and published periodically for specific
occasions and particularly for promotion cases.
c. Textbooks: these contain various ideas, observations and experiences of a writer about
specific topic/ theme of a subject. Detailed and very comprehensive information are
usually published as standard text books by reputable publishers.
d. Newspapers/magazines/government Official Reports: special reports about people, the
environmental conditions, society news and important official reports are sometimes
published or circulated for people’s knowledge and information
e. Electronic sources of information collection. e.g Radio/Television for society news
and Internet source from various database like Hein online, lexis- nexis, Google
scholar for articles, and Law Pavilion for decided Cases/Case Commentaries

8. Justification

In your proposal/research work you must provide good reasons for your research. You must
give a reason why you are embarking on the project and list the beneficiary of the research
work. The beneficiaries can include scholars, students, legislatures, reformers, lecturers,
masses, students etc. depending on your level, you might be required to state how your work
intend to contribute to knowledge.

9. Definition of terms

You may have or intend to use some technical terms with technical meanings. There are two
major reasons for defining one’s term in a research. First, define each expression that is being
used in the proposal in a special, very precise sense. Unless it is defined, there is not always
agreement on the meaning you intend for a word or groups of words. A fairly common word
sometimes used by a professional in a specific and precise way, needs to be defined.
Secondly, the proposed research may depend on an operational definition of a term.

10. Chapters outline

This implies summary of each chapter. What each chapter entails should be clearly stated.

Note please
 After successfully defending your proposal, this proposal will serve as a guide to the
project work and the contents of your proposal would form the bulk of what your chapter
one should contain.

Bibliography and citation – check out the article.

A citation is a reference to the source of information used in your research. Any time you
directly quote, paraphrase or summarize the essential elements of someone else's idea in your
work, an in-text citation should follow. An in-text citation is a brief notation within the text
of your paper or presentation which refers the reader to a fuller notation, or end-of-paper
citation that provides all necessary details about that source of information.

In the body of a paper, the in-text citation acknowledges the source of information used. It is
important to note that there are different styles of citing an in- text citation this includes,
MLA, APA, OSCOLA and many others. However, for every Nigerian law students, NALT
referencing styles has been recommended.

In NALT style, in-text citations usually appear as superscript numerals, or note numbers and
these note numbers are associated with full citations that can appear as footnotes (bottom of
page), and with a lists of cited references at the end of the paper.

Bibliography on the other hand

A bibliography is a list of books and other source material that you have used in preparing a
research paper. Sometimes these lists will include works that you consulted but did not cite
specifically in your project work.

Citation Signals

The abbreviation ‘ibid’ stands for Latin word ibidem literally meaning ‘in the same place.’ It
is used to repeat a citation that has been made in the immediate preceding footnote’ that is
where there is no intervening footnote.

Once there is an intervening source in a footnote, ibid will not be used in the next footnote:
you may use the symbol ‘(n ).’ The ‘n’ stands for note (meaning footnote), while the
remaining space is for the footnote number where the information cited first appeared. That
is,

it takes you back to the footnote where that source of information was first cited.
Note that each time you cite that particular source, you should go back to the same footnote
number where you first cite it and indicate the footnote number in the ‘(n )’ bracket.