The relationship between sociology and cognate disciplines: law

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between sociology and law, as a cognate discipline, through a discussion of social research into legal processes and settings, sometimes referred to as empirical socio-legal research. It first addresses the different meanings of research for social scientists and for lawyers, then investigates some particular challenges for cross/inter/multidisciplinary socio-legal research, and identifies the growing demands for empirical analyses of law and legal processes.