All together now: Building a shared access to justice research framework for theoretical insight and actionable intelligence

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1357

Keywords:

access to justice, effectiveness, sustainability, scaling, Acceso a la justicia, eficacia, sostenibilidad, ampliación

Abstract

As empirical research into access to justice burgeons around the world, contemporary work offers opportunities for integration and synthesis, generating insights that can inform both policy priorities and practical decisions about program design and implementation. Access to justice is historically a problem-focused research field, but an important strand of contemporary access to justice research focuses on solutions, or a deeper understanding “what works.” This paper offers a three-part framework for thinking about how research about “what works” in one jurisdiction can inform understanding of what might work in others. We propose a common core of research questions; a framework for conceptualizing the objects of study (in the example here, programs); and a framework for conceptualizing the contexts in which those programs might operate. 

A medida que la investigación empírica sobre el acceso a la justicia crece en todo el mundo, el trabajo contemporáneo ofrece oportunidades para la integración y la síntesis, generando ideas que pueden informar tanto las prioridades políticas como las decisiones prácticas sobre el diseño y la implementación de programas. El acceso a la justicia es históricamente un campo de investigación centrado en los problemas, pero una importante vertiente de la investigación contemporánea sobre el acceso a la justicia se centra en las soluciones, o en una comprensión más profunda de “lo que funciona”. Este documento ofrece un marco de tres partes para pensar en cómo la investigación sobre “lo que funciona” en una jurisdicción puede informar sobre lo que podría funcionar en otras. Proponemos un núcleo común de preguntas de investigación; un marco para conceptualizar los objetos de estudio (en el ejemplo que nos ocupa, los programas); y un marco para conceptualizar los contextos en los que podrían funcionar esos programas.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1357

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Author Biographies

Rebecca Sandefur, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Professor, Arizona State University and Faculty Fellow, American Bar Foundation.

Matthew Burnett, American Bar Foundation/Arizona State University

Senior Program Officer, American Bar Foundation and Visiting Scholar, Arizona State University.

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Published

28-07-2023

How to Cite

Sandefur, R. and Burnett, M. (2023) “All together now: Building a shared access to justice research framework for theoretical insight and actionable intelligence”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 13(4), pp. 1330–1350. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1357.