Introduction
Except for the opinion of Julius Hermann vor kirchmann (who in his work Die Wertlosigkeit als Wissenchaft, published in 1847, argued to form the school of legal realism, that jurisprudence is not science), no one today denies the nature of law as science of law. purpose, following Ricker's classification. The science of law includes, consequently, as the entire legal scientific work, both legal knowledge and the resources that served to obtain it.
In this work, two elements are combined since its inception: one objective (the more or less rich stock of matter) and the other objective (the author's thought that collects, interprets and systematizes it).
The documentary research technique, as a technique of intellectual work, is applicable to all compositions of this genre. The present work exposes, in addition to the generic norms repeated unanimously in methodological manuals, the specific ones, applications to legal research.
The techniques and methods analyzed and suggested are framed within the methodology and logic; and in a research process guided by the teleology and axiology of research. No research in the legal area is justified if it is not directly or indirectly inserted in the task of carrying out justice, legal security, peace, the good of the human being and the harmony of humanity to promote the development of law as a science and The search of the truth.
The methodology of law constitutes a very practical instrument to carry out scientific research on doctrinal, legislative, jurisdictional, jurisprudential and conventional law. Foundations of scientific research of law in which the teleology of research stands out to motivate the researcher from the beginning.
The word science has two meanings: as a systematic complex of knowledge and as a set of all scientific work and its results. the second meaning more used than the first, concludes in addition to scientific knowledge, the resources used to obtain them.
There are three stages of scientific work: research, systematization and exposition. Research directly handles the objects of knowledge, systematization organizes the knowledge acquired by research into increasingly hierarchical unitary complexes. And finally, the exhibition distributes the knowledge acquired and systematized in tables suitable to be understood by its recipients.
1.- Stages of Scientific Work:
1.1.- Investigation.
Except for the opinion of Julius Hermann vor kirchmann (who in his work Die Wertlosigkeit als Wissenchaft, published in 1847, argued to form the school of legal realism, that jurisprudence is not science), no one today denies the nature of law as science of law. purpose, following Ricker's classification. The science of law includes, consequently, as the entire legal scientific work, both legal knowledge and the resources that served to obtain it.
In this work, two elements are combined since its inception: one objective (the more or less rich stock of matter) and the other objective (the author's thought that collects, interprets and systematizes it).
The documentary research technique, as a technique of intellectual work, is applicable to all compositions of this genre. The present work exposes, in addition to the generic norms repeated unanimously in methodological manuals, the specific ones, applications to legal research.
1.1.1.- Choice of Theme.- The choice of the theme of the work should be the result of meditation and not improvisation. In the first place, because the problems whose approach arises in the field of the science of law, offers a great variety of forms and richness of content, so that their resolutions are, in general, debatable. And secondly, because it is not uncommon for the novice researcher to have been seduced by certain issues that, in the course of her career, have aroused a personal interest, whose degree of importance does not coincide with the scientific one.
The choice of topic must therefore fall on the object of legal knowledge that, on the one hand, is included in the cultural heritage of the student or intern and, on the other, has provoked in him an attitude of authentic, reasoned and persistent conviction. It should not be forgotten either that the choice of topic must be conditioned by the greater or lesser availability of resources and informative materials.
1.1.2.- Formulation of the General Plan.- The preparatory readings guide the researcher towards the formulation of the general work plan.
This must necessarily understand the following aspects:
HISTORY.- The investigation of the subject will be a necessary complement to the legal investigation. Many legal institutions can only be explained by the past. The historical background, both national and foreign, will be sought in works of recognized authority and, if possible, in original sources.
DOCTRINE.- Both national and foreign doctrine must be the object of a careful selection, under the direction of the teacher. The essential of this selection is not the quantity but the quality. The legal criterion of the supporter should inspire the presentation and prosecution of the opinions of the authors, both favorable and adverse to the particular point of view of the thesis.
LEGISLATION.- It is convenient to select the national and foreign legislation that regulates the subject. The concordances and references to the different codes and laws in force in the republic will have been taken as the basis of the exposition the codes and laws of the state in question, if possible the original texts, published in newspapers or official editions, will be used. In this regard, it is advisable to consult as far as possible: the official journal of the federation: The official gazette of the federal district: In the case of the states, their official publication body.
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES.- Many aspects of domestic law are governed by treaties signed by Mexico. In such cases, it is advisable to consult the treaty as it appears published in the official gazette or in collections published by the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
JURISPRUDENCE.- The thesis must contain a selection of both national and foreign jurisprudence. The exposition of the national jurisprudence should not be limited to that supported by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and by the Collegiate Circuit Courts (Article 192 to 197-B of the Amparo Law) but should be extended, if possible, to the jurisprudence produced by the Federal Court of Fiscal and Administrative Justice, formerly the Federal Tax Court, among others.
1.1.3.- Sources of Documentary Information.- The preparation of a professional thesis or any other research work with more ambitious or modest claims, requires the completion of a preparatory documentation stage.
1.1.4.- Bibliographic material meeting.- Legal bibliography, like any bibliography, is integrated with three classes of productions:
THE MONOGRAPHS.- They only contain the study of a singular topic, generally investigated, systematized and exposed with extraordinary detail, that is to say, exhausted.
THE MANUALS.- They summarize the most essential topics of the subject; usually a branch of objective law.
THE TREATIES.- The treaties present the totality of the knowledge in the matter that includes, rigorously ordered, the treaties come to be the sum of the science until then known and sometimes they appear signed by several authors, as a necessity imposed by the severe modern scientific specialization.
1.2.- Systematization.
1.2.1.- Systematic Development.- The supporter will follow, by common the deductive method. The relationship between the proximate gender and the specific difference will be, in any case, the best methodical guide. If, for example, he is developing the theme related to the various theories about the state, which, as we know, are fundamentally three: that of the object state, the subject state and the competence state, the latter postulated by Vedros and Kelsen, after having exposed the subject in its general guidelines, it will descend to do the same with the theories in kind. However, it will be necessary at all times to prevent rising from the next genre to the remote one.
DEFINITION.- We know that the definition is the answer to the question What is this ?, which can be answered, as the logic manuals teach, with a series of answers, oriented towards the determination of the object, that is, to expose, with increasing clarity and precision, his essential characters that, we could say, make him equal to himself and different from others.
a).- The definition must refer to the content of the object defined in the historical moment in which it is going to be defined, not to its etymological significance.
b).- The definition must be convertible, that is, what has to be defined (definiendum) must be equivalent to what it defines.
c).- The especially legal definition should not be too broad or excessively restricted. Every concept has a double meaning.
d).- What is defined should not be assumed or included in the definition. If it were, the nature of the definition would be altered by suppressing the defining judgment, since what is defined is its subject.
e).- The definition should not be tautological, that is, it should not be a repetition of what is defined, expressed in different words.
f).- The definition should not be negative if it can be positive.
CLASSIFICATION.- It is achieved starting from a principle of divisions or it will be of a character or note of the concept to be divided. If, for example, we find ourselves writing about political systems, which we try to derive from power, if we want to classify them we will take as principles of division the manifestations of power: intensity, ownership and location.
INORDINATION.- The inordination of the concepts, which is the basis of the distribution of the work in chapters, is obtained from the material compiled in the file itself. The task is not difficult if we know how to carry it out with method.
CONCLUSIONS.- They should go to the end of the thesis, in a separate chapter, progressively numbered and written clearly and concisely, without repeating the arguments developed in the text.
1.2.2.- Demonstration and Argumentation.
DEMONSTRATION.- All affirmation demands to be demonstrated, that is, to deduce syllogistically the judgment that it is to demonstrate of others recognized as true and necessary. All affirmation starts, however, from something not demonstrable, because if it were required that the judgment that serves as the basis of the demonstration was, in turn, demonstrated, we would go to infinity without demonstrating anything.
STAGES OF THE DEMONSTRATION PROCESS.- The stages of the demonstration process are two:
- Thesis.- is the statement whose truthfulness and falsehood are to be demonstrated. The argument is, in turn, the proper reasoning to achieve it. The proof of argument is sometimes distinguished, saying from the former that it is a logical proof of universal validity, and from the latter that it is a proof of a particular type.
- The argument.- is a simple means of persuasion, the arguments must be related to each other, in the form of sorites, compound syllogism, in which the conclusion of each one of the syllogisms that form in the demonstrative process, is the major premise of the following. For the rest, the argument serves both to demonstrate the veracity and the falsity of the thesis.
MOST FREQUENT ARGUMENTS.- The most frequently used arguments in a legal thesis are the following: general arguments, the exclusion of the middle term, axioms, definitions, criteria of authority, facts, purposes and method.
REFUTATION.-The demonstration of the falsity of the thesis, receives the name of refutation. It can be done in two ways: to demonstrate the thesis that is refuted or the veracity of another thesis that is totally compatible with the refuted one and that, therefore, excludes it.
1.2.3.- Interpretation of Norms and Texts.- The future graduate, teacher or doctor in law, will handle on many occasions, to elaborate his degree thesis, norms extracted from the legal, national, state or foreign system, norms that he sees in the realms of lege lata or de lege ferenda, it necessarily needs to interpret, that is, to unravel its meaning.
EXEGETIC METHOD.- Exegesis, which receives the name of the method used for the interpretation of the sacred scriptures, consists of using isolated words or related to others to unravel the meaning of the norm, through propositions that appear in their context.
SYSTEMATIC METHOD.- is the way to find the meaning of a rule related, depending on the case, with the other rules of the legal system to which it belongs, or with those of the entire state legal system. This method, which is based on the principle that the legal order forms a system, that is, a set of rules linked to each other by supra-ordering relationships.
TELEOLOGICAL METHOD.- This method, which is complementary to the systematic one, is the way to find the meaning of the norm, relating it to the gift that it tries to satisfy within the whole that constitutes the legal system.
1.3.- Exposure.
1.3.1.- Exhibition, Writing and Style.- The final stage of the scientific work is constituted by the exhibition, which serves to present to the reader in general and to the examining jury in particular, the results of the investigation and the systematization.
1.3.2.- Footnotes.- It is not the quantity of citations, but the quality of the author and the work, which gives the research scientific category. As a general rule, the name of the author should go in the text of the work, and the mention of the work in the footnote. The norta must follow the following order:
- In parentheses the number that corresponds to the call of the text.
- Title of the work, underlined so that the printer can form it in the appropriate type.
- In its case, the edition, the volume or volume of the work, abbreviated, with the point that indicates the abbreviation and the number thereof.
- The editorial place and year of publication.
- The word page in singular or plural but always abbreviated with Pág.
1.3.3.- Presentation and Publication.-The origin destined for the printing press will be typed, taking care to copy it with the greatest accuracy and neatness, on a single page, letter size, open line, with wide margins in order to be able to write in them, if necessary, the signs or observations required by the printing.
2.- General Purposes of Legal Research:
The main motivation to enter the scientific investigation of law is to discover and specify the general purposes of this transcendent task, consequently; Among these aims are; the realization of the values of law, the development of law as a science, the good of the human being, the search for truth, the realization of peace in harmony, human dignity in love, etc. That we address separately right away.
2.1.- The Realization Of The Values Of Law Justice And Legal Security.- The realization of justice in the various spheres of law as a science constitutes the central objective of all legal research; value that is complemented with that of legal security.
No legal research task is justified without the aspiration to satisfy a specific or general need for justice.
2.2.- The Realization Of The Values Of The Law Justice And Legal Security.- The scientific investigation of the law is closely linked to the advancement of legal science; no research is applied without its modest or splendid contribution to science.
The link between research and scientific advancement occurs mainly in two aspects: in terms of the need to investigate the experience of other researchers regarding the object to be investigated and in relation to the imperative that each new research contributes to the scientific advancement of the respective area. Legal science, like all science, is dynamic, its contents are subject to permanent scientific confrontation that make possible better forms of social coexistence.
2.3.- Diagnosis of the Legal Investigation.-
2.3.1.- Problems of Legal Research.- The problems of legal research are closely related to the problems of the other social sciences, the problems of the teaching-learning process of law and the national educational system: in effect it is difficult to delineate and treat separately these interlocking problems.
2.3.2.- Alternatives.- Regarding the problem of a theological nature, we propose the design of a national legal research plan that coordinates the efforts carried out in a disjointed manner by various universities and public, private and social institutions. The national design of legal research can be implemented by the national system of researchers in its area of human and social sciences created by a presidential agreement published in the official gazette of the federation on July 26, 1984.
2.3.3.- Alternative Problems of Spontaneous Investigation.-
a).- Problems.- Spontaneous research in the legal area has had a special meaning, various legal works have been produced in this context. The problems that this type of research presents are minor because they do not mean expenditures of public spending and yes, transcendental contributions for social development.
b).- Alternatives.- We propose the creation of an annual national stimulus to the best legal work produced by jurists not immersed in institutional research, whose opinion can be produced by the National System of Researchers, through the Judging Commission in Social Sciences and Humanas in Mexico. Most of the Latin American countries suffer from the same problems as Mexico, consequently the alternatives indicated are applicable s similar situations.
3.- Legal Research Classes:
In order to specify the field of study of scientific research on law, we address the study of its classification, which we have grouped into seven parts:
3.1.- Pure or basic research.- Pure research also called basic or fundamental “is aimed at the elaboration of the abstract postulates that constitute the content of a science”, it is characterized by the general character of its postulates without worrying about the application of its results, "pursues generalizations with a view to developing a theory based on principle and laws."
3.2.- Applied research.- Applied research aims to put the general postulates of basic or pure research at the service of solving problems or specific cases of this research that lacks technique and technology. "Applied research seeks to know to do, to act, to build, to modify"
3.3.- Documentary or direct research.- Documentary research is characterized by the predominant use of all kinds of documents as sources of information: graphic, videographic, audiographic, iconographic records, etc. “It is normally associated with archival and bibliographic research; the concept of document, however, is broader, covering for example: microfilms, microfiche, slides, plans, discs, tapes and films "
3.4.- Direct or field research.- Field research is more direct, generally the researcher comes into closer contact with the purpose of investigating, ”field research is the one that completes, helps, and improves documentary information. Field research is the work methodically carried out to collect or collect direct material of the information in the same place where the phenomenon that wants to be studied is presented to where those aspects that can be subject to study are carried out "
3.5.- Free or spontaneous research.- Free research is carried out by a person or a group of people on their own initiative and independently. Despite the limited stimulus for this kind of research, there are numerous examples of its importance and its role in the development of science.
3.6.- Institutional research.- Institutional research is carried out according to certain guidelines and research programs, it is the inquiry induced or promoted by public, private or social institutions, and particularly by educational institutions.
3.7.- Other classification criteria.- There are other classification criteria such as the one that systematizes legal research, in formative research, empirical and mixed dogmatics. Among these types of research, the formative research that is carried out in order to train the student of law stands out; the lawyer, the specialist, the teacher and the doctor of law.
4.- Process of Legal Investigation Techniques:
The current state of humanity with its great progress is the result of the force of many men who have felt a great love for the truth and that constant and permanent questions are asked trying to understand the world and drink in its different manifestations and others. wondering about the raison d'être of things they have worked to provide satisfactory answers, both for themselves and for others.
4.1.- First Stage of the Investigation.-
4.1.1.- The problem.- We have said that the objective of the investigation is to find the truth, but in order to search for it, the first thing that is necessary is that we suspect its existence; This suspicion only occurs in people who have a certain culture in the discipline or subject to which such truth belongs.
When someone finds that certain knowledge does not agree with another or others, they are precisely with a problem and if this problem makes them the object of their precautions, that is, they intend to solve it, they will have started the investigation process.
The problems are not usually noticeable to the common man, but are manifested in data that only the connoisseur can detect as incompatible with others, that is why he has said. H. Selye: "It is not worth seeing something first, but establishing solid links between what is previously known and what is hitherto unknown, which constitutes the essence of scientific discovery."
4.1.2.- Choice of topic.- The problem that an investigation is going to determine can be of two kinds, depending on the level at which we find ourselves: it may be a problem that arises spontaneously in the course of our readings and reflections, that is to say, a free problem or perhaps it will be a problem imposed on us, as when it comes to doing a job according to the teacher's instructions.
Both types of problems have various implications that will serve as paths that can easily get us lost in a tangle of issues if we do not take certain precautions; the most important are the following:
- Seek clarity in the capture of the problem, because if it is confusing it will be impossible for us to advance in the work.
- The main problem must be determined and unique, because if there are two or more we should do as much research as we find problems.
- Avoid the falsity of one or more of its assumptions, that is to say that the observation that we make of the problem must be careful.
- The issues in which we dismantle the problem must be transcendent for its solution, otherwise we will only wander without obtaining results.
- The breadth of the issues must be comprehensible so that we do not have to stay halfway.
4.1.3.- The hypothesis.- Imagining one or more possible solutions, according to our degree of preparation and experience, this is called a hypothesis. The definitive hypothesis has the important function of guiding the investigation, helping us to formulate the work plan that we must design as the logical way to verify it and to guide us in the search for materials relevant to our purpose.
4.2.- Second Stage of the Investigation.
4.2.1.- Information.- Pretending to carry out an investigation implies that we have a certain level of knowledge about the point that we propose to address. This level of preparation varies in each person, in any case the knowledge that we have will be insufficient for the development of a scientific work. Once the topic is specified, we must set ourselves the task of looking for information about it.
4.2.2.- The Library.- Based on the fact that the information necessary for the development of any legal research is contained, for the most part, in books, having knowledge of some rules of the operation of libraries is essential.
a).- Dewey system.- Possibly the most widespread classifies the books into ten main selections to which the following numbers correspond:
-General works
-Philosophy and psychology
- Religion
-Social Sciences.
-Linguistics.
- Pure Sciences.
-Applied Science.
-Arts and recreation.
-Literature.
-Geography and History.
B).- System Of The Library Of Congress Of The United States.- designed to overcome the deficiencies of Dewey, as a result of the completion of the library building in 1897, classifies books by assigning them the letters of the English alphabet, which are 26, except the "i", and the "o".
C).- System Of The Library Of The Legal Research Institute Of The UNAM.- It is a recently created system, formulated in the institute of its name, destined to satisfy the requirements of a library specialized in law.
4.2.3.- The Newspaper Library.- Both legal and any other specialty, consisting of periodical publications, is an integral part of every library; its importance is fundamental for research, since as a general rule the most up-to-date state of any science is disclosed in scientific articles published by specialized journals.
4.2.4.- The Legislation.- A primary element for the researcher, normally it constitutes a section of the libraries, however, the normal thing is that its legislative collection is incomplete; the richest that exist in Mexico is, without a doubt, that of the UNAM Legal Institute, established in 1942 as a section that functions independently of the library.
4.2.5.- The Jurisprudence.- The jurisprudence established by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, as well as its important theses have appeared mainly in a publication called “Judicial Weekly of the Federation”, divided into eight periods (to date), in turn gathered into two groups:
The first one made up of the first to fourth periods is known as "historical jurisprudence" or "not applicable", giving the change in the legal system imposed in the country by the 1917 constitution.
4.2.6.- The Book And Its Parts.- Physically, the book is a non-periodic publication of many pages. In 1964 UNOSCO defined the book as a publication of more than 49 pages. A printed publication, without periodicity, of not less than five pages nor more than forty-eight is a brochure.
The parts of a book are:
- Outer cover or cover: it is the protective part of the book.
- Flaps.- If there are, they are small extensions of the cover, when it is rustic or the linings that protect.
- Guards.- are the blank or marbled sheets that follow the outer cover or that precede the back of the cover.
- Cover.- is a page that does not contain more than the title of the book.
- Inside cover.- is an important part of the book in which we are offered the necessary data for identification.
- Copyright pages.- appears on the back of the inside cover.
- Dedication page.- in some cases the author dedicates his work to a person or institution that has favorably influenced its realization.
- General index.- it is usually placed in the order in which we are exposing them.
- Prologue.- is a brief writing whose purpose is to present the author of the work to the possible reader in order to recommend it, referring to its merits.
- Introduction.- is the author's presentation
- Conclusion.- your point of view of the author.
- Bibliographies.- is the list of works that served as a source of information to the author of the work.
- Annexes.- are documents that are added to the work with the purpose of illustrating what is said.
- Appendices.- These are broader writings than a simple note that are closely related to what is exposed in the body of the work.
4.2.7.- The Bibliographic Files.- Once the subject is specified, the researcher dedicates himself to locating the information he needs, every time he finds a book, a journal article, a jurisprudence thesis or a data in a file, he proceeds to his identification by writing down on a card the data necessary to remember them.
4.2.8.- Work Sheets.- Once the sources have been detected, we must proceed to extract the information that is contained in them, taking notes that later will constitute the material of our work. These notes are known as worksheets, without them we would not get anywhere.
4.3.- Third Stage of the Investigation.-
4.3.1.- Organization of the Work Material.- in the heuristic or erudition stage we are dedicated to collecting the data that we consider could be useful for our purposes, although in this process we have tried to collect the material in a methodical way, that is, Following the order of our work scheme, the data was not presented to us in that order. When we found a piece of information that could be useful for the integration of the final chapter, we collected it, regardless of the fact that we had barely started the task of making cards.
4.3.2.- Work Plan and Exhibition Order.- It is convenient to clarify that “work plan” and “exhibition order” are not the same; The first idea refers to the structure of the central part of the work, the time required for its completion, human and material resources, such as available libraries, archives, financing, etc.
For its part, the order of presentation refers to the sequence that must be followed not only by the parts of the body of the work, if not all the material that will be offered to the reader, its preparation does not have to follow the same order of its presentation.
4.4.- Fourth Stage of the Investigation.-
4.4.1.- The Drafting.- our work material is complete and carefully organized, in such a way that the reading of the files in the order in which the facts provided would constitute a logical and complete sequence if it were not for the necessary lack of unity in style imposed by notes drawn from a plurality of information sources. The time has come to give research the necessary form so that the potential reader gets the most out of it that we can offer them.
4.4.2.- The Documentary Apparatus.- the scientific quality of a work depends on the materials used and the way of processing them to reach the conclusions. In the intellectual world, the claim rests on the sole prestige of the one who makes, an argument from authority, in itself it does not have sufficient value; the support of logical arguments, objective data or the axiomatic weight of a position are always required.
5.- Legal Documentary Research Techniques:
5.1.- General Consideration; Purpose and Importance.-
Legal research techniques are classified into two large groups: the documentary or indirect research technique and the field or direct research techniques.
We consider their classification in order to analyze separately each of the research classes in the following topics. The objective of the documentary research technique is to capture the knowledge, experiences and most significant advances of the phenomenon to be investigated in the shortest possible time and with the most satisfactory results. The adequate instrumentation of documentary research techniques constitutes the first essential element for the training of the researcher.
5.2.- Main Documentary Research Techniques.-
5.2.1.- Bibliographic Research Technique.-
A).- Characteristics.- "The bibliography is a valuable aid to reach the sources of human knowledge." The bibliographic research technique, like the other documentary research techniques, are intended to capture scientific-legal advances in the shortest possible time and with the most satisfactory results. This technique additionally implies the ability to understand the reading as soon as possible.
B).- General Integration Of The Bibliographic Reference Note.- The notes corresponding to this technique are generally integrated in the following order:
-Name or denomination of the author.-
-Title of the work
-Translator, compiler, volume if they exist.
-Editorial.
-Edition number
-Serial title if it exists.
-Place and date of edition.
-Page or pages consulted.
C).- Modalities of Bibliographic Notes.- Notes of bibliographic sources can adopt the following modalities:
- Works by two or three authors.- If the source is from two or more authors, they will be noted beginning with their surnames.
- Works by more than three authors.- When the research source contains more than three authors, the name of the first should be noted, starting with his surname, followed by the word and others.
-Institutional author or legal person.- When the source is generated by an institution or legal person, the name of the institution or legal person will be noted at the beginning.
- Author of compilations and collective works.- Notes whose sources are generated by a compiler, a director or coordinator of collective research, are integrated in two forms: citation and model.
- Anonymous author.- In cases where the author's name is not known, the note begins with the title of the work.
5.2.2.- Hemerographic Research Techniques.-
A).- Characteristics and Application.- Newspaper research is carried out in specialized magazines and newspapers. The selection of the articles related to the object of the research is made and they are recorded in the content files directly in the body of the research, highlighting the corresponding notes.
B).- Integration of Hemerographic Reference Notes.- Notes from hemerographic research sources can be from magazines or newspapers or newspapers, we consider them separately.
The journal notes integration and modalities, the journal notes are integrated with the following data:
- Author of the article
-Title of the article in quotes
-The word next to the title of the magazine.
- Magazine title underlined
-Roman number of the volume and Arabic number of the fascicle.
5.2.3.- Archival Research Techniques.
A).- Characteristics And Application.- The purpose of this technique is to capture the extraordinary information contained in general files and is extensive in the case of special or particular files.
B).- Integration.- In general, the file notes are integrated with the following data:
- Author or institution generating the document.
- Name of the document and its characteristics.
- Name of the file and its physical location.
- Location data of the document in the file.
- Page or pages of the document consulted.
6.- The Legal Techniques of Direct or Field Research:
6.1.- Prior Consideration.- Direct or field research techniques are complementary to the documentary research technique and are also called by some authors, social research techniques due to their application in the social sciences, some more erroneously have called them technical empirical.
Through the technique it is possible to capture data directly from the source where they are generated, which provides direct information regarding the object of the investigation, avoiding the triangulation that frequently occurs in other procedures.
6.2.- Classification Criteria.- Direct or field research techniques have been subject to various classifications; Lundberg classifies field work into two main genres: 1).- Direct observations of any social phenomenon, including behavior. 2).- The oral or written testimonies of people.
6.3.- Main Direct or Field Research Techniques.
6.3.1.- Scientific Observation Techniques.
A).- Characteristics.- “Observation can take many forms, and is both the oldest and the most modern of the techniques for research (…) There are many techniques for observation and each one of them has its own uses ”science begins with observation and finally has to return to it to find its final validation.
Legal research is social research, consequently the observations that we make of the observation on social research are applicable to our direct object of study, which refers to scientific research on law.
B).- Classification And Modalities Of The Scientific Observation Technique.- Unstructured observation is the simple observation of the phenomena that surround us, whose importance is obvious by virtue of the fact that an observation can be generated from unstructured observation.
In this type of observation, the researcher produces the phenomenon under certain conditions or circumstances in order to study the relationships between the variables. From this study it is feasible to draw conclusions.
C).- The Use Of The Record, The Citation And The Note In The Techniques Of Scientific Observation.- The work record or scientific observation content is intended to collect data from the observed reality and is integrated are the following elements:
- In the upper central part of the card, the objective of the observation must be written down, it can be presented with a title and subtitle.
- On the right side of the card or card, the name of the observer and the place and date of the observation must be noted.
- In the central part the content of the observation will be noted with the corresponding results, this part can be extended to two or more cards.
6.3.2.- The General Techniques of Oral and Written Testimony.-
A).- Introduction. The diversity of data, case and processes that are presented in reality, constitute the fundamental sources for conducting legal research. In this section we will address the study of the techniques that can be used for its capture, for its analysis, processing and for its interpretation and evaluation.
B).- Classification.
-Survey Technique. It is characterized by the collection of oral or written testimonies, provoked and directed with the purpose of finding out facts, opinions and attitudes. Survey planning should include documentary work whenever literature is available on the subject. Facts, opinions and attitudes are data of great value for legal research, because their obvious implications in human relationships.
-Sampling Technique. It is a direct research technique that is based on the possibility of capturing partial aspect information of a totality or universe in view of the impossibility of covering the entire universe. When the universe subject to investigation is extensive that it is impossible for us to consider in the inquiry, the alternative is the sample of that universe in order to establish probabilities constants.
-Interview Technique. The interview is another direct or field research technique that is based on the conversation between interviewer and interviewee. In addition to its character as a research technique, the interview is a daily form of communication and convenience, through which children learn from parents, students from teachers.
For the application of the interview technique, favorable preconditions are required: its programming, the forecast of the variables, its execution and consideration of the possible interviewees, as well as the instruments required for data capture. The scheduling of the interview constitutes the starting point for the research, within this comes the definition of the objective as well as the elaboration of questionnaires for the purpose of achieving the best results.
-The Statistical Techniques. It is the general technique that aims to evaluate facts, opinions, experiences, and other phenomena from numerical representations. Statistics, as a general technique, is complemented by other techniques such as the survey, the sampling, the interview, etc.
conclusion
We have that the investigation will be a necessary complement to the legal investigation. Many legal institutions can only be explained by the past. The historical background, both national and foreign, will be sought in works of recognized authority and, if possible, in original sources.
And his research techniques are based on the elaboration of the abstract postulates that constitute the content of a science, characterized by the general nature of its postulates without worrying about the application of its results.
These types of research techniques are different in this work, the following were considered: Pure or basic research.- which is the one that is aimed at the elaboration of the abstract postulates that constitute the content of a science, Applied research is the which aims to put the general postulates of basic or pure research at the service of solving problems or specific cases of this research lacks technique and technology.
Another type of documentary or direct research.- and it is characterized by the predominant use of all types of documents, another of the research which is contemplated in this work was direct or field research that is more direct, generally the researcher comes into closer contact with the object of inquiry. As well as we speak of free or spontaneous research and institutional research, one of which studies the group and people and the other the guidelines or programs.
As well as within this research work and the process of legal research techniques we saw what were the parts of a book that is a jurisprudence, which is a thesis, how a work should be handled how it should be developed and the parts that make up said work as well as we also spoke broadly about two types of investigation techniques which were: the legal technique of direct or field investigation is complementary to the documentary investigation technique and are also called by some authors, technical of social research for its application in the social sciences, some have more erroneously called them empirical techniques the Documentary Research Techniques,the first talks about and the second talks about capturing the scientific-legal advances in the shortest possible time and with the most satisfactory results.
Therefore, said research work is very complete since it finds definitions on which it can be based for the development of a better legal research technique.
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