Independent Research Booklet 2013.doc - Beenleigh State...

Beenleigh State High School
Year 12 Legal Studies
Semester 4, 2013
Independent Research Project
Research Booklet
Student Name: _____________________________
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Collecting Information
1. Collect information from a range of resources including:
 Books
 Television
 Newspapers
 Magazines
 Brochures
 Internet
 Experts – interview
 Legislation
 Survey/questionnaire
2. Put information into a folder
3. Highlight important facts
4. Ensure that you have the source written on each resource
USE YOUR TIME IN THE COMPUTER ROOM AND LIBRARY WISELY!!
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Bit of a Checklist of Information needed:

Names of specific legislation

Legal and social consequences

Why is there conflict? Discussion of both sides of the situation.

What are the issues that have arisen?

Who is involved ie who are the stakeholders?

What does society as a whole think about your hypothesis?

Specific cases – current and historically – to evaluate the law and its
effectiveness

Suggested solutions or recommendations
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Guidelines for the task
Knowledge and Understanding
Define the problem or issue, which you are investigating. State the relevant laws, which
currently apply to this issue. Identify, summarise and explain existing state of law (if relevant,
in comparison to previous laws or the laws of other jurisdictions), including its sources,
function and purpose.
Investigation
Identify the main legal principles that relate to the topic and analyse whether the current
applications of the legal principles to the matters in dispute provide legally justifiable
responses and solutions. Analyse the results of your survey and comment on the views
reflected in your findings.
Evaluation
Comment on how effectively the current law deals with competing social interests in our
community. Make and justify recommendations for improvements in the law that will serve
the competing social interests in the fairest way in the future. What reforms do you envisage
as essential? What are the legal and social consequences of these reforms? Are these
reforms acceptable to our present society and our current legal system? ie. Justify these
reforms (Consider justice, fairness, ethics, and limitations of our legal system)
Communication
Communication should be sequential and fluent. Ensure language conventions are correctly
used and legal terms are stated clearly, concisely and accurately.
Requirements of the task
a. You are required to choose a current, relevant issue of your choice from the suggested
area of study (from the list given or in consultation with your teacher).
b. From the topic chosen you will develop a well reasoned hypothesis which must then be
negotiated with your teacher.