Samenvatting

By now, Empirical Legal Studies has established itself as a distinct academic field within Dutch universities, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative studies. Moving on from a debate purely about methods, this essay argues that more attention should be given to the epistemological and ontological beliefs that inform ELS research. Explicitly considering beliefs about what constitutes legitimate knowledge and how knowledge can be gained clarifies that methodologically empirical (legal) research can be based in distinct scientific paradigms. While ELS has developed mostly on the basis of an objectivist epistemology and a realist ontology, this essay demonstrates the significance of being inclusive of research informed by other understandings of knowledge and knowledge production. After briefly introducing such different scientific paradigms, the essay turns to a concrete example of empirical legal research that applies an interpretivist empirical method: quasi-ethnography.