Happenings

Sessions Report –Ph.D Coursework (Online Mode)

Jan 07, 2022

A Ph.D Course was organized in online mode via Google meet between 7th to 12th January, 2022. And some students participated in the workshop. Around 15 students participated in the workshop. The aim of the workshop was directed to give to the participants, PhD students and researchers, the possibility to relate theoretical assumptions and best practices, which in various forms they have already studied, with the concrete problems of feasibility in a case study. A range of topics such as " Research Ethics and Footnoting", “Legal Research and Inter-disciplinary approach”, “Research Methodology”, “Computer Software used in Legal Research and Plagiarism”, “Rules of Interpretation of Statues”, “Research and Publication Ethics” and “Legal Research” were discussed by experts. The speakers were from different parts of the institutes in India. The Workshop was co-ordinated and all the sessions were hosted by Dr.S.Krishnan, Associate Professor, Dr. Samrat Datta, Assistant Professor, Dr. Govind Yadav, Assistant Professor and Mr Sheikh Inam Ul Mansoor, Assistant Professor. The workshop was concluded by Mr. Sheikh inam Ul Mansoor, Assistant Professor.

Day 1: 07/01/2022 (Friday)		Report	Students
Lecture 1: 10am to 11.30pm	Topic: Research Ethics and Footnoting Prof (Dr). Naresh Vats Professor and Registrar Rajiv Gandhi National Law University of Law, Patiala	Prof (Dr) Naresh Vats explained about the aspects of study design and conduct that can be ethically problematic including subject selection, research-related risks, research modalities, conflicts of interest, privacy, etc. He used case studies and group discussion to help the participants explored ethics related to research. He explained the students to articulate their own ethical framework and understand and appreciate alternate views and consider a range of ethical issues that may arise during university research. He recognized the key concepts in the responsible conduct of research, including data acquisition, publication practices and authorship standards, conflicts of interest and commitment, and scientific misconduct. He discussed the style of footing in terms of Harvard standard, or Chicago style or APA format.	9
Lecture 2: 12pm to 1.30pm	Topic: Need for Legal Research and Importance of inter-disciplinary approach Prof (Dr) Bharti Kumar Professor, National Law University, New Delhi	Prof (Dr) Bharti Kumar provided an initial forum towards the critical exploration of interdisciplinary research/studies in and of law, as well as the formation of an informal research network for the Ph.D Students. She observed, for example, that interdisciplinary attempts in legal research borrow methods or material (however successfully) from another discipline in order to then near-exclusively address a legal audience, without manifesting, in fact, a genuine attempt to study as well as engage with that other discipline’s audience. Prof Kumar believed that if interdisciplinary begins only once it admits that distinctions run through disciplines as much as between them, one has to study them rigorously in all sorts of ways (be they methodological and theoretical, instrumental and critical)	10

Day 3: 08/01/2022 (Saturday)		Report	Students
Lecture 3: 2.30pm to 4pm	Topic: Rules of Interpretation of Statues Lecture Dr. Fatima Shah Assistant Professor University of Kashmir	While speaking on “Interpretation of Statutes”, Dr Fatima Shah provided an advanced study of the rules and principles governing statutory interpretation and will consider how statutes have been read and are being read by the Indian courts. She systematically examined the body of law that is relevant when determining the intention of Parliament as expressed in legislative instruments. In addition to developing students’ interpretation skills, Dr. Shah focused on legal research and opinion writing. She engaged the students in the interpretation of statutes and critically analysed with the main arguments that characterised modern interpretive practice.	10

Day 3: 10/01/2022 (Monday)		Report	Students
Lecture 1: 10am to 11.30pm	Topic: Legal Research Dr. Sangita Laha Associate Professor and Dean, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi	Dr. Sangita Laha, Associate Professor and Dean, explained about the steps of a research process and discussed them briefly – choosing the topic and title, understanding and explaining the framework of research, coming up with a research problem, making a research question & hypothesis, deciding the research methodology & method, and writing & presenting the research. She was developing skills of the participants in the areas of construction and applications of empirical and doctrinal legal research and data analysis.	9
Lecture 2: 12pm to 1.30pm	Topic: Research Methodology Dr. Venoo Rajpurohit Associate Professor & Head of the Law Dept Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur	Dr Venoo Rajpurohit acquainted the participant with the process and steps involved in Research. She enabled the participants to understand the process of appropriate selection of design, sample, sample size, data collection, and selection of appropriate measures of data collection analysis and interpretation of results and data. She encouraged the participants to advance their understanding of methods and software of data analysis in both qualitative and quantitative research.	9

Day 4: 11/01/2022 (Tuesday)		Report	Students
Lecture 3: 2.30pm to 4pm	Topic: Computer Software used in Legal Research and Plagiarism Dr Rewa Prasad Mishra Associate Professor Indore Institute of Law, Indore	Dr Rewa Prasad Mishra made the participants understand the basic knowledge of research methodology and its application in quality publications. He applied appropriate statistical tests and techniques using software’s like SPSS adding on value to the research. He discussed about the plagiarism, where students, research scholars and teachers can check research work through software like, Turnitin, Ithenticate, Plagiarism Checker, Viper, Duplichecker, Copyleaks, Paperrater, Plagium, Plagiarisma, Plagscan etc. Dr Mishra demonstrated different steps of plagiarism check and also how to avoid duplication in research output. He said the research is an important component of gaining, creating and disseminating knowledge. He said the transparency and honesty in the data collection is the cornerstone of research and asked the scholars to follow the research ethics in toto. In his lecture, he also stressed the importance of critical study, maintenance of ethics and determination for successful research.	9
Lecture 2: 12pm to 1.30pm	Topic: Research Methodology Dr. Venoo Rajpurohit Associate Professor & Head of the Law Dept Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur	Dr Venoo Rajpurohit acquainted the participant with the process and steps involved in Research. She enabled the participants to understand the process of appropriate selection of design, sample, sample size, data collection, and selection of appropriate measures of data collection analysis and interpretation of results and data. She encouraged the participants to advance their understanding of methods and software of data analysis in both qualitative and quantitative research.	8

Day 5: 12/01/2022 (Wednesday)		Report	Students
Lecture 1: 11am to 12.30pm	Topic: Research and Publication Ethics Dr. Sangita Laha Associate Professor and Dean, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi	Dr. Sangita Laha discussed about academic honesty, integrity and research ethics, which are underlying tenets for conducting qualitative research. She asked the research scholars to primarily focus on the quality of research than quantity. “A good researcher is always known by his research quality and not by the quantity of data and information he or she incorporates in the thesis,” Dr Laha said, adding the scholar should always conduct the research with utmost honesty, integrity and truthfulness as there have been several instances wherein the scholars had to pay a huge price for resorting to alleged malpractices.	12