“like veal pies, are good if you know the person that made them, and are sure of the ingredients”. By the same token, the advantages of abstractions are undeniable.The same trait that inevitably calls the objectivity of statistical data into question, is simultaneously its raison d’être. Much like the eye will shift from peripheral to central vision in an act of visual concentration, the mind will focus on the essential, disregarding the non-essential, with the help of numbers. Something will be lost in the process, but the potential gain will often offset that loss. Numbers – yes, even statistics – may therefore serve certain purposes. In1996two empirical studies were carried out amongst a selection of Swedish jurists. The aim of both surveys was to investigate how the profession perceives its use of legal sources.Approximately forty jurists from the north of Sweden – among them ten lower-court judges, ten practicing lawyers and ten prosecutors – were subjected to in-depth interviews. In the autumn of 1996, a questionnaire was sent out to1,970 active jurists, representing five different career paths within the field of law: Lower-court judges, prosecutors, practicing lawyers, in-house lawyers and lawyers in local government.Answers from1,438participants were collated and analyzed. In1999the results of both studies were published in a leading Swedish legal journal.2 The respondents were, first of all, asked to rank sources of law according to their accessibility. 1,433 of the 1,438 jurists found private editions of Swedish statute law, the so called lagbok, to be easily accessible and 1,358 jurists found the authoritative statute text – Svensk författningssamling (SFS) – to be easily accessible.3 Additionally, approximately 1,300jurists stated that case law reports, legal journals and legal textbooks were all within easy reach at their workplace. Considering the development of web-based legal resources during the intervening period, the main legal sources can be presumed to be even more accessible today than in 1996. The respondents were then asked to rank sources of law according to the frequency by which they are used when jurists research a point of law.When asked which legal sources were used every day, 79.4perre cht swi s s e n scha f t al s j ur i st i sch e dok t r i n 296 2 Sandgren, Claes,Vad gör juristen? Och hur? Part I – II, JuridiskTidskrift,Vol 3 - 4, 1999-2000. 3 Ibidem, Part I, pp 595 -596. Lies, damn lies and statistics
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