What is an empirical article?

Answer

Empirical research is defined as research based on observed and measured phenomena.  It is research that derives knowledge from actual experience rather than from theory or belief.

When looking at an article or the abstract of an article, here are some guidelines to use to decide if an article is an empirical article:

  • Is the article published in an academic, scholarly, or professional journal? Popular magazines such as Business Week or Newsweek do not publish empirical articles; academic journals such as Business Communication Quarterly or Journal of Psychology may publish empirical articles. Some professional journals such as JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association publish empirical research. Other professional journals such as Coach & Athletic Director publish articles of professional interest, but they do not usually publish research articles.

 

  • Does the abstract of the article mention a study, an observation, an analysis, or a number of participants or subjects? Was data collected, a survey or questionnaire administered, an assessment or measurement used, or an interview conducted? All of these terms indicate possible methodologies used in empirical research.

Empirical articles normally contain these sections:

   1. Introduction

   2. Literature review

   3. Methodology

   4. Results

   5. Discussion

   6. Conclusion

   7. References

The sections may be combined and may have different headings or no headings at all; however, the information that would fall within these sections should be present in an empirical article.

An empirical article is usually substantial; it is normally three or more pages long.

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  • Last Updated Jul 05, 2018
  • Views 71
  • Answered By Adam Keim

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