Sales, B. D., & Krauss, D. A. (2015). Using valid and reliable scientific methods. In B. D. Sales & D. A. Krauss, The law and public policy: Psychology and the social sciences. The psychology of law: Human behavior, legal institutions, and law (pp. 95-116). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14593-006
This chapter addresses methodological issues that psycholegal researchers face when studying law. Specifically, it considers problems in creating relevant hypotheses, effectively operationalizing legal variables, and successfully designing methods. For the purposes of this chapter, we often turn to examples from jury simulation studies because this area has produced a significant portion of psycholegal research carried out to date and offers easily discernible examples of the difficulties with achieving valid and reliable research on law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)