Research and evaluation
Research
Research
We see research and theory as two of the essentials of better public legal education. Only by improving research, both theoretical and empirical, and growing the body of researchers interested in the subject, will PLE develop as a unique discipline. We aim to encourage inter-disciplinary learning and relationships, and encourage researchers and scholars to contribute to the public legal education movement. Our approaches are multidisciplinary and reflect the diversity of theoretical underpinnings. Here you can find a selection of our own commissioned research, research completed by Law for Life's forerunner (the Public Legal Education Network), and studies by colleagues in PLE and associated fields. If you have some research you would like to share here, please contact us.
Legal Needs, Legal Capability and the Role of Public Legal Education
- Assessing the information and training resource needs of tenants in the private rented sector
- How successful are people at using the internet to find solutions to law-related issues?
- Developing capable citizens: the role of public legal education
- Education implications from the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Survey
- Towards a national strategy for public legal education
- The socio-economic value of a PLE project
- Streetlaw legal capability micro-pilot
- Legal aid and access to justice: Back to basics
- Public Legal Education – unfinished business?
- Legal consciousness: some observations
- Capabilities as fundamental entitlements: Sen and Social Justice
- Self-Helpers need help too
- Applications for the internet of public legal education
- The end of lawyers? Rethinking the nature of legal services
- Potential for public legal education in adult learning
- Why the “haves” come out ahead: speculations on the limits of legal change
- (Un)covering identity in civil rights and poverty law
- Teaching law as a life skill – Street Law Maryland
- Measuring young people’s legal capability
- When legal rights are not a reality: do individuals know their rights and how can we tell?
- Subjective legal empowerment and self efficacy
- A study into best practice in community legal information
- Legal aid, accessible courts, or legal information? Three access to justice strategies compared
- LSRC Research: ‘Knowledge, capability and experience of rights problems’
- Civil Courts Structure Review interim report Law for Life response
- The Bach Commission on Access to Justice
- LASPO Implementation Review Consultation Response
- Law for Life (incorporating Advicenow) submission to the Justice Select Committee inquiry into access to justice impacts of the court and tribunal reforms
- The Triple Dividend: Thriving lives. Costing less. Contributing more. Introducing the ‘ready for everything’ agenda
Evaluation
Evaluation is vital for public legal education projects. We need to know what works and we need to demonstrate that PLE is effective in helping people to navigate the hazards of modern life. Law for Life’s evaluation framework for public legal education, produced jointly with the University of Bristol, is based on a clear conceptual model of legal capability – what people need to know and be able to do in order to deal with law-related issues. We are continuing to develop and refine this model through ongoing community education projects.
- Researching and evaluating public legal education: principles and practice
- Levels of financial capability: the results of a base-line survey
- Evaluating public legal education and information
- Pro bono advice and legal services project – Evaluation report
- Evaluating public legal education for Advice Champions in Early Action Advice project
- Public legal education evaluation framework