Empirical articles are those in which authors report on their own study. The authors will have collected data to answer a research question. Empirical research contains observed and measured examples that inform or answer the research question. The data can be collected in a variety of ways such as interviews, surveys, questionnaires, observations, and various other quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Anatomy of a Research Paper by Richard D. Branson published in Respir Care. 2004 October; 49(10): 1222–1228.
How to Read a Scholarly Chemistry Artricle - Rider Libraries tutorial.
How to read and understand a scientific paper - a guide for non-scientists - Violent Metaphors (blog post).
Compare your article to this table to help determine you have located an empirical study/research report.
Look for the following words in the title/abstract: empirical, experiment, research, or study.
|
Section |
Defintion |
|
Abstract |
A short synopsis of the article’s content |
|
Introduction |
Need and rational of this particular research project with research question, statement, and hypothesis. |
|
Literature Review (sometimes included in the Introduction) |
Supporting their ideas with other scholarly research |
|
Methods |
Describes the methodology including a description of the participants, and a description of the research method, measure, research design, or approach to data analysis. |
|
Results or Findings |
Uses narrative, charts, tables, graphs, or other graphics to describe the findings of the paper |
|
Discussion/Conclusion/Implications |
Provides a discussion, summary, or conclusion, bringing together the research question, statement, |
|
References |
References all the articlesdiscussed and cited in the paper- mostly in the literature or results sections |
