General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6022 / JDOC6022 |
| Course name: | Advanced Research Methodology |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This is an introductory course focusing on how to conceptualize and execute both doctrinal and empirical legal research projects. We will briefly examine the philosophical issues that undergird such research, along with the nuts and bolts of actual research methods. At the end of this course, students should have a good sense of a range of research methods (comparative, qualitative, and—to a lesser extent—quantitative) as well as a sense of how to think about the kinds of research problems that will provide the core of a Ph.D. thesis.
The main intellectual agenda will be to develop a sophisticated and rigorous sense of how to ask-and answer-a scholarly research question concerning the workings of llaw, using both legal doctrine and social science and related data.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Stefano Osella | osella@hku.hk | CCT 504 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Develop familiarity with different research methods for conducting legal research (comparative, cultural analysis of law, qualitative, quantitative).
CLO 2 Learn how to ask scholarly research questions concerning the workings of law, using both legal doctrine and social science and related data.
CLO 3 Complete a research proposal including a literature review and overview of
methodology.
CLO 4 Conduct a pilot study of proposed research.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Timely and constant participation | N/A | 10% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| In-class interactions and exercises | TBC | 10% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Writing assignments | TBC | 35% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Final paper | 12 Dec 2023 | 45% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/