empirical study
Data-driven investigation
An empirical study is research based on direct observation or experiment rather than theory alone.
The term appears frequently in academic and scientific contexts, where claims must be supported by collected data: The empirical study found no link between the vaccine and autism.
Empirical studies contrast with purely theoretical or speculative analysis.
- research questionQuery guiding systematic investigation
- research methodsSystematic inquiry procedures
- market researchAnalyzing buyer preferences systematically
- hypothesis testingStatistical method for evaluating claims
- double blindStudy hiding group assignments
interviews · clinical trials · statistical analysis · ethnography · questionnaires · laboratory experiments · field research · data collection · reproducibility · replication · meta-analysis · operationalization · focus groups · surveys · primary sources · controlled · control group · sample
- researchresearch papers, researching, archive, peer review, investigating
- research methodshypothesis, deduction, experiments, induction, scientific method
- research papersresearch paper, journal article, scholarly article, dissertation, original research
- sciencebiology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, geology
- ancient scienceAristotle, Plato, Ptolemy, Galen, Pythagoras
- Peer Reviewpeer feedback, feedback, reviewer, referee, evaluation
empirical studypure theory
armchair philosophy · thought experiment · deductive reasoning · abstract reasoning · theoretical model
empirical studydogma
Unchallengeable official beliefs
received wisdom · folk belief · superstition · intuition · anecdotal evidence
empirical studycasual observation
Unstudied comment or notice
anecdote · personal experience · testimonial · gut feeling · hunch
study, student, studied, experiment, studying, studies, studious, experimental, empirical