# Introduction

Policy research involves investigating the current operation of an area of the law in order to inform, improve or update the law itself or how it is used in practice. This is important so that individuals can easily understand their legal rights and how to enforce them.

Figure 1 Carrying out applied policy research

Joanna Otterburn, Chief Executive of the Law Commission of England and Wales highlighted this when she said:

> I think there are other aspects to access to justice, beyond the importance of advice and representation, that are additionally important. One of those is the work of reforming the law so that when that individual comes to navigate the justice system, they find that they can understand the basic rules in play, that their rights under it are meaningful, and that the system makes sense.

(Otterburn, 2023)

Law reform can be prompted by many different motives: to improve a law or regulation which does not work effectively, provide rules for situations not currently covered by the law, remove out-of-date law, simplify the law or make it easier for the public to understand and use. Whatever the reason for the change in the law, policy research provides the information or evidence to support the proposal, which makes it more persuasive and authoritative. This course will explain how to carry out effective policy research, including designing your methodology, researching ethically, collating your data, analysing it and presenting it in a written report format.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course W360 Justice in action.

OpenLearn - Carrying out research for policy and advocacy work
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