LAW 7170 :
Empirical Analysis of Law

Positive analysis of law is essential for normative legal reasoning. Empirical methods for positive analysis have been developed and used for many years, and in the last few decades have been gaining traction in positive analysis of law. This course focuses on quantitative analytical methods. It consists of two main parts: First, an introduction to the fundamentals of research design, data collection, data analysis (including descriptive statistics and regression analysis) and communication of empirical results. Second, students are introduced to selected empirical studies, spanning various legal disciplines (e.g. property law, criminal procedure, employment law, tax law, judicial descision-making, litigation and more) and various empirical methods. Through guided reading of the studies, students learn to identify the different components of an empirical project to critically evaluate it. The course is intended for students who want to gain a better understanding of existing empirical studies. It does not require an empirical, statistics or economics background. Grades are based on class participation, several short assignments and a final paper in which students will analyze an empirical question using existing empirical studies. Exam Info: No Exam