Empirical: What does that mean? Definition & Example

Often, even before starting your final thesis, you hear: "Why don't you do some empirical research?". But what does "empirical research" mean and how does it ideally work? To give you a good introduction to the topic, we've put together the field of empirical research for you step by step - in individual chapters. 

What do the words "empiricism", "empirical" and "empirical research" mean?

The word empiricism means "experience" - empirical thus means "based on experience".
The translation already shows what this type of research is about. The goal is to gain insights about a research object through a systematic and standardized process that are based on experience. It is not just the theoretical description of phenomena and theories, but rather conclusions are drawn based on observations.

Empirical research plays a role in various fields of research:

• Natural sciences: Biology, physics, chemistry and earth sciences
• Social sciences: Economics, psychology, education, political science and history

In the social sciences, it is called "empirical social research". This investigates social phenomena - that is, human behavior, opinions, intentions, etc.

Why is empirical research used in science?

The goal of empirical research is to make statements and theories about research objects possible. However, statements and theories are only scientific if they don't merely reflect subjective views. Therefore, empirical research methods are used so that the statements are objective and comprehensible.

In the detailed article "Empirical Research in Bachelor's and Master's Theses", you'll find all the information you need to know on the topic.

How do you proceed "empirically"?

How you conduct empirical research always depends on various aspects. So you can't simply say: "do a survey" or "do an interview". Rather, you must always align the method you want to use for empirical research with the following criteria:

• What problem is being investigated?
• What theoretical background information exists?
• What resources are available?
• What is your own level of knowledge?

In principle, empirical research generally goes through seven process steps (based on Raithel 2008: 27-32; see also Beller 2016: 19-22), which we've summarized here in an easy-to-understand way: