Talking about Methods

Welcome to Talking about Methods, a series of podcasts brought to you by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford. In each podcast, Professor Linda Mulcahy will be in conversation with leading scholars in the field about how a variety of different research methods have informed their Socio-Legal work. From surveys to semi-structured interviews and beyond, we delve into the challenges, dilemmas, and unexpected twists and turns of empirical research. The podcasts below are the first in a programme of podcasts about methods we will be developing at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford over the next couple of years. You will find a short reading list to accompany each talk to guide future reading. Enjoy!

View all of our episodes, categorised by methods and methodologies, at a glance here.

Black-and-white photograph of women in the Emily McPherson College Library in Melbourne, circa 1960s.

Feminist Legal Biography

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Professor Rosemary Auchmuty (School of Law, University of Reading) about feminist legal biography.

by Rosemary Auchmuty | 19 January 2022

A partially obscured form with a memo slip pointing at a lined space saying 'sign here'.

Doing Research with Intellectually Disabled Research Participants

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Professor Rosie Harding (University of Birmingham) about doing research with intellectually disabled participants.

by Rosie Harding | 22 December 2021

Four stacks of folders with memo slips sticking out.

Ethics in Socio-Legal Research

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Anna Tsalapatanis about ethics in Socio-Legal research.

by Anna Tsalapatanis | 24 November 2021

A typewriter with a sheet of paper displaying the text 'FEMINISM'.

Feminist Methodologies

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to DPhil student Ellie Whittingdale (Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford) about feminist methodologies.

by Ellie Whittingdale | 27 October 2021

Silhoutte of two people on a boat in a lake against the sunset.

Gaining the Trust of Closed Communities

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Associate Professor Florian Grisel about mixed methods and gaining of trust of closed communities.

by Florian Grisel | 22 September 2021

Experiments and Randomised Controlled Trials

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Professor Meredith Rossner (ANU) about using experiments and randomised controlled trials in Socio-Legal research.

by Meredith Rossner | 25 August 2021

A group of people around a table with notebooks and pens.

Focus Groups

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Marina Kurkchiyan (Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford) about using focus groups in Socio-Legal research.

by Marina Kurkchiyan | 28 July 2021

Two people facing each other at a table with coffee cups.

Introduction to Semi-Structured Interviewing

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Ellie Whittingdale talks to Professor Linda Mulcahy about the use of semi-structured interviews as a method in Socio-Legal research.

by Linda Mulcahy | 30 June 2021

Two people talking in a glass-walled meeting room with their laptops open.

Oral History

In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Anna Bryson from Queen’s University Belfast about the use of oral history as a method in Socio-Legal research.

by Anna Bryson | 2 June 2021