Legal Research Methodology: A Practical Approach to Research Report Writing

A research report is the end product of a successful research. It contains the procedure a researcher followed in the investigation of a research problem; the techniques he adopted in collecting, analyzing and interpreting data; the findings; the recommendations and the conclusion; and, in the case of higher degree research, the contributions to knowledge and the suggested areas for further research. This paper presents a practical approach to research report writing. It adopts the doctrinal research methodology. It examines the major parts of a research report under preliminary part, main part and terminal part. It demonstrates the various parts of a research report with practical examples that cut across disciplinary boundaries. It found that there is dearth of standard journal articles and textbooks on research methodology based on the NALT Guide. It suggests that institutions of higher learning and research funding organizations should fund the production of standard journal articles and textbooks on research methodology based on the NALT Guide.