ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the methods that are employed in the study. First, introduces an overview of the research design and its major conceptual categories. Then, presents the data of the study and Then, discusses the instrumentation of each conceptual variable and finally presents the ways in which the data are analyzed. The author analyzes all of the federal court cases regarding the copyright protection of computer software programs that were filed and published by 1993. As the judge's opinions and decisions that define precedent are what become influential in the process of copyright law, examining the court reports written by the judges will provide a valuable insight into the processes in which structural rules are reproduced and transformed through communicative interactions among the legal actors. Information on the appointed year, age of the judges, and education was also found in the American Bench, Judges of the Nation and BNA's Directory of State and Federal Courts, Judges, and Clerks.
