Legal research methodology: approaches, methods, and practical tools

Authors

Oleksandr Petrovych Dzоban
Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University image/svg+xml , State Scientific Institution "Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine" image/svg+xml
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2075-7508

Keywords:

scientific research, legal research, scientific method, scientific approach, philosophical methods, general scientific methods, empirical methods, general logical methods, heuristic methods, specialised legal methods, interdisciplinary approaches, post-classical methodology, methodological design

Synopsis

This manual is dedicated to the methodology of scientific research in legal studies. The publication systematically examines the key levels of legal research methodology – philosophical, general scientific, and specialized legal – as well as classical and non-classical interdisciplinary approaches. It explores the cognitive potential and application specifics of philosophical, general scientific, and specialized legal methods, illustrating how they can be combined based on the research subject, aim, and objectives. The manual’s practical orientation is supported by examples, methodological matrices, and research design templates, enabling the direct application of the outlined principles in scholarly work. The publication integrates theoretical insights into methodology with practical recommendations for its application, encouraging researchers not only to understand scientific methods but also to select and employ them in a conscious, well-founded, and methodologically consistent manner.

The manual is intended for scholars, lecturers, postgraduate and doctoral students, and higher education students conducting research in the field of law, as well as for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of the methodological foundations of scientific work.

 

Author Biography

Oleksandr Petrovych Dzоban, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, State Scientific Institution "Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine"

Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, professor in the department of philosophy at the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, senior research fellow at the State Scientific Institution «Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine».
Research interests: research methodology, national security issues, information security issues, the information society, information processes.

Google Академії profile

Semantic Scholar profiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

 

References

Published

16 October 2026

Categories

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

CC BY-NC-SA – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

This license consists of the following elements:

Attribution (BY): You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial (NC): You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
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Details about the available publication format: Contents PDF

Contents PDF

ISBN-13 (15)

978-617-8852-43-6

Details about the available publication format: Buy

Buy

ISBN-13 (15)

978-617-8852-43-6

Physical Dimensions

How to Cite

Dzоban O. P. (2026). Legal research methodology: approaches, methods, and practical tools. Web portal "Pravnyk". https://doi.org/10.31359/9786178852436