ELS Atelier – for lawyers who want to learn about empirical research
Choose a methodological track and follow the full path of conducting ELS research
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An increasing amount of empirical research is being conducted in the field of law and there is also growing interest at our faculty in relation to this type of research. The ELS Atelier is a course that is open to all staff at Leiden Law School who are interested in the fascinating world of empirical law. Perhaps you would like to conduct empirical legal research yourself. Or perhaps you’re a PhD supervisor who wants to improve supervision of a thesis that is based (partly) on empirical research. Or you might be a lecturer who wants to incorporate empirical evidence and skills in your course. In all these cases, the ELS Atelier can offer insights and tools necessary to achieve your goals.
The empirical legal research cycle starts by formulating a research question. After designing the research and collecting data, you then proceed to writing an empirical legal article. By participating in the ELS Atelier you will learn how to go through this process under the supervision of a lecturer who is an expert in the field of the method you have chosen to use.
We offer a trajectory for qualitative methods (interviews) and a trajectory for quantitative methods (survey and experiment). The qualitative methods are taught by Jessie Pool and the quantitative methods are taught by Helen Pluut. The sessions will be held throughout the academic year 2023-2024, which allows you to make progress in your research in between sessions. All sessions will be held onsite (no hybrid option) and in English. There will be a weekly consultation hour for participants in the ELS Atelier to ask questions about their empirical research.
The ELS Atelier is particularly suitable for acquiring skills to help set up and conduct your own research project. The course comprises lectures and workshops – in the real sense of the word – where, in small groups with fellow legal scholars, you will actively set to work with your own research project. It is also possible to attend only the lectures. We call this the ‘passive skills’ track, which is essentially a light version of the full-blown ELS Atelier. This could be a good option if you don’t have your own research project, but are keen to gain basic knowledge about empirical research.
Programme is available here.