Methodology of Foreign Constitutional Law Study: Types of Research Design

The article is devoted to the methodological aspects of studying foreign constitutional experience. It introduces two main configurations of working with foreign legal orders — analysis of a small number of cases (case-study) and statistical research (cross-study), the procedures for their implementation, including the rules for collecting data on the legal systems or institutions, the use of a certain range of sources, presentation and interpretation of the results, as well as the potential benefits and difficulties of research work of both configurations. Based on the consideration of the most common cognitive biases inherent in the thought process, some control points will be proposed for specialists in the field of foreign or comparative constitutional law, especially with regard to the requirements for working with texts in foreign languages, the completeness of the sample of countries and impartiality in the presentation of relevant material. The idea of combining qualitative and quantitative methods of working with foreign legal orders is substantiated. In general, the article is aimed at involving in the scientific discussion of the rules for working with a wide variety of legal systems, which is important in the conditions of the modern multipolar world and resulting in an increase in reliable scientific knowledge.