Empirical Research

The first part of the book has set out the legal framework governing family participation in investigations following a death in custody. The book will now move on to considering the experiences of those who have participated in inquests themselves, in a variety of roles. Gathering the views of those with experience was central to the aim of this book, to understand how the legal framework was working in practice, on a day-to-day basis. Given the relevant rarity of inquests following deaths in custody, the number of people with direct experience is low. So the author took an approach followed primarily in psychological research, which allows the detailed views of a small set of people to be gathered and analysed to create a narrative that represents what is happening in practice.