Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
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Description The module serves as a methodology module for the Masters in European Law and Policy. It covers the main methodological approaches to law and to policy. The module will first and foremost provide students with the methodological and theoretical tools to approach the study of EU law and policy, outlining the main approaches to European integration in general and in the field of banking and finance in particular. Several schools of thought and strands of research are relevant from theories of integration in Political Science and economic integration, to the diverse approaches of ‘Law and…’, such as Law and Governance, Law and Economics, Law and Technology, to name a few. All in all, the students will integrate legal analysis in public policy design and public policy questions into legal analysis through a multidisciplinary approach. Moreover, this sets the foundations for an informed law ‘in context’ approach that gives credit to contemporary developments and is instrumental for reflection upon practical solutions when facing legal and policy issues. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Acquire knowledge about academic legal research and the diverse approaches towards legal investigation and analysis including comparative, socio-legal, law and economics, and critical legal approaches 2. Locate and access legal data, particularly EU legal databases and resources 3. Critically evaluate in writing and orally methodologies employed in legal and public policy research 4. Adopt and adapt a particular methodology or combination of methodologies to both small and large research projects in the fields of law and public policy 5. Be able to integrate legal analysis in public policy design and public policy questions into legal analysis through an inter-disciplinary approach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Introduction: Theory, Methods and Interdisciplinarity A general overview of the role of theory and methods in social sciences in general and in relation to law and public policy in particular. General guidelines on how (not) to formulate a research question. Law and Economics An overview of the law and economics school and its approach to law and regulation. Socio-Legal Studies and Comparative Law An overview of the questions explored by socio-legal studies and comparative law, including their relationship to social theory. Methodology and EU Law A session dedicated to the specific questions raised by EU law and EU legal scholarship including methodological aspects and shifts. Law and Governance A session exploring the ways in which law can be approached as part of various forms and techniques of transnational governance, including European sites of governance. Methodologies in Policy Research: Quantitative Approaches A session introducing students to the application of social scientific inquiry to public policy analysis with a particular emphasis on quantitative approaches. Qualitative Approaches and Critical Policy Studies A session introducing students to qualitative approaches to policy research, including interpretation, and examining the ways in which questions are framed in critical policy studies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books: None Articles: None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Resources None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||