Designed for use by post-graduate students in law and legal studies this book provides a useful and critically rigorous introduction to the different research methodologies available to the student. The book will give students who are setting out on a project or dissertation a firm grounding on which they can base their research. The methodological approaches covered include: Doctrinal Research Socio-Legal Research Empirical research Critical approaches Feminist Legal approaches Comparative Research Law and Humanities Each approach is described by an expert in the field who sets out how each particular methodology can be successfully applied, what type of research it is suitable for as well as its limitations. The book sets out an overarching broad research topic, that of lay decision makers in the legal system. Every contributor addresses this topic from the particular methodological perspective, explaining how they would approach the issue and discussing why their particular methodology might, or might not, be suited to this topic. The contributor goes on to identify a more focused research question within the broader topic in order to highlight the importance of, and the skills involved in determining an appropriate research question. This book will enable students to understand the different methodological approaches which may be used in law, and to choose an appropriate method when producing a substantial piece of research.