The taxonomy of interdisciplinary legal research: Finding the way out of the desert

Abstract

This article identifies four different types of interdisciplinary legal research: one basic and three advanced types. Basic interdisciplinary research uses the same questions as starting points as traditional legal research; however, it also considers other academic disciplines in order to answer these questions. Advanced interdisciplinary research goes further: it can either deal with research questions that are not about the law as such (type 1), or incorporate 'scientific methods' into legal thinking (type 2), or combine both (type 3). This new taxonomy is useful in order to identify the benefits and difficulties of different types of interdisciplinary legal research. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.