empirical method
Testing through experience
The empirical method is an approach to knowledge that relies on systematic observation and experiment rather than pure reasoning or authority.
It forms the foundation of scientific inquiry: hypotheses are tested against observable evidence, and conclusions must be reproducible.
The empirical method requires that claims be verified through controlled experiments.
- positivismPhilosophy demanding verifiable evidence
- surveySystematic data collection
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- null hypothesisAssumed no relationship exists
falsifiability · experimentation · double blind · control group · instrumentation · epistemology · statistical analysis · inductive reasoning · measurement · verification · hard evidence · realism · sampling · data collection · raw data · reproducibility · pragmatism · Bacon
empirical methodrationalism
Reason as knowledge source
pure reason · armchair philosophy · speculation · abstract reasoning · divine revelation
empirical methodguesswork
Conclusions drawn without proof
conjecture · common sense · gut feeling · anecdotal evidence · folk wisdom
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