General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6313 / JDOC6313 |
| Course name: | Quantitative Methods for Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | TBA |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credit / 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 30 |
1.2 Course description
The ability to reason quantitatively is important to both legal practitioners and scholars. This course provides a basic introduction to probability and statistics and how they can be applied in legal contexts. Topics to be covered include causality, measurement, prediction and discovery. Concepts and techniques are demonstrated using the R programming language. While methods such as regression, matching, classification and clustering are treated in some depth, the course emphasizes critical thinking and research design over technical details. No background in mathematics beyond elementary algebra and simple calculus is required. No background in programming is expected. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to evaluate the credibility of quantitative arguments and start to undertake their own empirical research.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Benjamin Chen | benched@hku.hk | CCT 512 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain basic notions of probability and statistics.
CLO 2 Describe and explain how probability and statistics can be used to illuminate empirical relationships germane to law and legal institutions—or to mislead.
CLO 3 Apply their knowledge of probability and statistics to evaluate expert evidence or academic findings.
CLO 4 Demonstrate their knowledge of probability and statistics by designing credible studies.
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 |
| Problem sets | TBA | 50% | 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Exam | TBA | 50% | 1, 3 | 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/