Book review: Legal Research and Methodology: Perspective, Process and Practice. Edited by B. C. Nirmal, Rajnish Kumar Singh, and Arti Nirmal, Satyam Law International, New Delhi
| Date | 01 January 2020 |
| Published date | 01 January 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2322005819881099 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
84 Book Reviews
the students watch video prior to examination (p. 69). Thus, all these measures can help an institution to
develop a flipped classroom.
Flipped classrooms are inexpensive as most of the devices are available readily in the market free of
cost. Tools are intuitive and easy to learn (p. 68). The most common cost component for any academic
institution is human resource, equipment and the usage cost. In flipped classrooms, these costs vary from
short-term and long-term perspectives. The fifth chapter gives an example of a study which targeted
public schools in the USA. It included expenditure at primary, middle and high school level and concluded
that blended learning was a lot cheaper than the traditional method but more expensive than the fully
virtual mode of learning (p. 74) suitability of one format over other can be beautifully described in the
words of Gottfredson who believes that students learning experience can be improved as long as teachers
make an effort to improve it (p. 22). Thus, a law teacher must accept that perfect pedagogy does not exist
(p. 61), it rather depends on an individual teachers’ ability to understand the varied needs of the students
and change the teaching method according to the content needed to be taught.
The book mentions about shortage of resources in legal education and rising demand for higher
education citing the example of the UK (pp. 2–3). If this is the condition of a developed world country,
situation seems pretty bleak for a developing nation which would soon be the most populated country in
the world and presently has the largest youth population globally. Many top ranked universities are
providing free MOOC’s or are offering courses at discounted rates to Global South students. Quite a few
universities also have their official YouTube channels where videos are regularly uploaded at varied
intervals. Popularity of websites like Square Space, Udemy, edX and Unacademy shows that flipped
classrooms can be feasible for legal education as well.
In short it seems a must read for every instructor who believes that ‘one-technique-fits-all’ does not
work with his/her teaching style, students who do not wish to limit themselves solely to in-classroom
activities, researchers from education discipline and anyone who is interested in learning the current
trend in pedagogy.
Manish Yadav
Assistant Professor of Law at Maharashtra
National Law University, Nagpur, India
Legal Research and Methodology: Perspective, Process and Practice. Edited by B. C. Nirmal, Rajnish
Kumar Singh, and Arti Nirmal, Satyam Law International, New Delhi, India, 2019. pp. xxv + 512, `1295.
ISBN: 978-93-87839-36-6 (Hardbound).
DOI: 10.1177/2322005819881099
Often talk on research, both in academic institutions and outside, involves little attention to an important
dimension, namely research methodology. As a result, the ultimate result ends up in a futile exercise of
endless word-spinning exercise with too many quotations. It may be noted, in the context of planning
and development, the signicance of research lies in its quality and not in quantity. The need, therefore,
is for those concerned with research to pay due attention to designing and adhering to the appropriate
With all due regards and sincere apology to editors of the book, restrictive space does not permit the reviewer to review every essay
thoroughly; however, an earnest effort is made to justify space.
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