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Where are the numbers? Challenging the barriers to quantitative socio‐legal scholarship in the United Kingdom
Author(s) -
CAHILLO'CALLAGHAN RACHEL,
MULCAHY LINDA
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of law and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.263
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1467-6478
pISSN - 0263-323X
DOI - 10.1111/jols.12376
Subject(s) - scholarship , quantitative analysis (chemistry) , work (physics) , sociology , qualitative property , political science , tribalism , engineering ethics , law , mechanical engineering , chemistry , chromatography , machine learning , politics , computer science , engineering
Legal scholars in the United Kingdom (UK) rarely adopt a quantitative approach to addressing socio‐legal questions. Reasons for this are typically grounded in the nature of general education, legal education, and research training. In this article, we argue that an intellectual debate on capacity building needs to consider the conditions that have limited the production of quantitative work both within and beyond our discipline. This article draws on an empirical analysis of published socio‐legal articles to understand the nature of quantitative scholarship and evidence an increasing body of work that reflects a flexible approach to data collection and analysis. Moving beyond the tribalism often associated with the qualitative/quantitative divide, we draw attention to the shift away from understandings of quantitative work as hypothesis testing towards those that are accepting of the importance of critical reflection and exploration of nuance. It is hoped that the article will prompt further discussion about capacity building to develop and sustain good‐quality quantitative socio‐legal scholarship in the UK.