Abstract
This article explores an innovative and visual data collection tool: The Diamond. The Diamond allows for participants to rank specified items or statements and place them onto a Diamond shape. It can measure various descriptors, such as importance, with the most important item at the top and the least at the bottom. This allows for the researcher to see the overarching relationships between the different items of statements. Participants are asked to discuss the reasoning behind the placements, which provides a qualitative element to a quantitative data set. This article is intended to be a practical guide as how to use the Diamond and analyse the results, discussing the practicalities of it and other potential uses. The examples used throughout are from researched which used the Diamond, namely in clinical legal education and youth justice studies.
Highlights
It has been established in the literature regarding clinical legal education that there is a lack of empirical research and evidence into our pedagogy.2 Further, it has been noted that the ‘quality of reliable statistical data was low to non-existent,’ along with ‘large gaps in the literature.’3 One possible explanation of this is legal educators are not often trained in empirical research methods, since legal education, and traditionally law generally, emphasise doctrinal research
Rachel Dunn is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at Northumbria University, United Kingdom. 33
Those who teach in law clinics may not be given appropriate time, resources and training in how to collect, analyse and report on findings
Summary
It has been established in the literature regarding clinical legal education that there is a lack of empirical research and evidence into our pedagogy. Further, it has been noted that the ‘quality of reliable statistical data was low to non-existent,’ along with ‘large gaps in the literature.’ One possible explanation of this is legal educators are not often trained in empirical research methods, since legal education, and traditionally law generally, emphasise doctrinal research. The method was chosen because it was quick, simple and generated several forms of relatively easy analysis It encourages group discussion, which will be explored in this article, allowing for both quantitative and qualitative data to be collected. A typical Diamond looks like the following: For more information, please see Dunn, R., The knowledge, skills and attributes considered necessary to start day one training competently and whether live client clinics develop them (2017) PhD thesis, Northumbria University 8 Clark, J., Laing, K., Tiplady, L. and Woolner, P., ‘Making Connections: Theory and Practice of Using Visual Methods to Aid Participation in Research,’ (2013) Research Centre for Learning and Teaching, Newcastle University, p.6. If we are providing participants with pre-determined cards only, the Diamond is a method created by the researcher to collect data, and by the participants to analyse as data. The knowledge, skills and attributes considered necessary to start day one training competently and whether live client clinics develop them (2017) PhD thesis, Northumbria University, 178
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